Getting a reservation at Don Angie, Scott Tacinelli and Angie Rito’s Manhattan restaurant, known for its expert Italian-American cooking, is no easy feat. If you sit in the softly lit restaurant, you can try some amazing classic dishes, like the hearty pinwheel lasagna or the sourdough bread, which won a Michelin star in 2021 and is a hit with critics and diners of praise.
Luckily for us, you don’t need to pre-order for today’s specials. In the video above, Chef Rito shows us how to make her favorite version of Chicken Parmesan. Here are her expert tips.
Smaller chicken breasts are ideal.
The first step to making tender chicken is to start by carving the chicken. “The bigger the breasts, the bigger the fibers and muscles,” says Rito. Smaller breasts may be softer. Some chicken breasts weigh up to 8 ounces. or more, aim for closer to 5 ounces.
Cut the chicken into pieces, Then Smash it.
Chicken breasts are not uniform in thickness, so it’s important to make them even. “I want it to be as even as possible because when I fry them in the pan, they cook more evenly,” Rito explains. She cuts the thicker head of the breast diagonally, creating two similarly sized sections. Afterwards, she hits them with a mallet to flatten and soften them.
Be picky about canned tomatoes.
Choosing the right tomatoes is a key part of making the best chicken parmesan. At Don Angie, Rito uses DOP San Marzano tomatoes, grown in a specific area near Mount Vesuvius in Naples, Italy. If you can’t find DOP San Marzanos, Rito said, “regular San Marzanos are a good substitute.”
Crush the tomatoes with your hands.
Rito prefers to crush canned tomatoes with his hands rather than blend them into a completely uniform, smooth consistency. That way, she says, the sauce is “full of rustic tomato chunks,” which gives it a variety of textures.
Add potato starch to the bread crumbs.
Adding potato starch to the bread crumbs and herbs takes the schnitzel’s crust to the next level. Potato starch “can help you get a really crispy crust on something like breaded fried chicken,” Rito said.
Springy noodles, crispy tofu, silky sauces and more.
Check your dried herbs carefully.
Not all dried herbs are created equal, Rito said. “When you buy something in a store, you don’t know how old it is,” Rito said. “The quality and flavor of these things diminish over time.” If you really want to, she says, “you can dry the herbs in an ultra-low oven or in the sun like my grandma used to do.” Or try This shortcut for drying herbs in the microwave.
But dried herbs aren’t the only flavoring.
When it comes to adding flavor, vanilla isn’t your only option. At Don Angie, Rito turns to tomato powder made from dehydrated and crushed tomatoes to give the breading more depth. “It adds more intense umami tomato flavor in unexpected places.”
In addition to Parmesan cheese, add Roquefort cheese.
For chicken parm, of course, you need parm. But Rito said that at Don Angie, they use complex Parmigiano-Reggiano wines and Pecorino Toscano wines that are aged for 24 months. “It’s less salty and pungent,” she says, and more “rich and earthy.”
When spreading bread crumbs, give each hand its own task.
Okay, here’s the hard part: breading the chicken. Rito recommends designating one wet hand (for dipping into the beaten eggs) and one dry hand (for dipping into the seasoned bread crumbs). “Otherwise,” she said, “you’ll end up with crumbs along the way.”
Fry in a mixture of neutral oil and olive oil.
We love olive oil, but unfortunately, it’s not perfect. Its low smoke point makes it difficult to fry. “We still wanted to get that olive oil flavor, so we mixed it half and half with a neutral oil to maintain a high smoke point,” Rito said. Neutral oils can be vegetable oil, canola oil, grapeseed oil—whatever you have around.
Use the perimeter of the pot.
Rito likes to use a cast iron skillet for frying and likes to place the cutlets near the edges. “These outside areas are actually a little warmer, so I strategically place the chickens there.”
Whether you want to spend $20 or $200, these are recommended by the pros because they allow for even heating, beautiful browning, and fast searing.
Two mozzarella cheeses are better than one.
After frying the steak, it’s time to stuff it with some cheese. Rito uses shredded, low-moisture mozzarella cheese to create elastic pull and ciliegine (little mozzarella cheese balls) to create dense pockets. Sometimes more is more.
Now, go ahead and apply this hard-won wisdom to your next partner.
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