Broke-Ass Recipes: Chicken Parmesan Sandwich
By James Conrad
Pollo alla parmigiana, better known in the United States as chicken parmesan or chicken parm for short is rooted in the Italian immigrant community throughout the eastern United States, from Rhode Island to Delaware to New Orleans throughout the late 19th and early 20th century. It was adapted from the recipe for melanzane alla parmigiana, or eggplant parmesan, as back then, eggplants were not commonly grown in the United States, and chicken, being more commonplace, was chosen as a substitute.
Around the same time, sandwiches served on oblong rolls became a staple of the working-class Italian-American diet. During the World Wars and afterwards, they became even more popular, owing to their vague resemblance to submarines. Not surprisingly, chicken parmesan would inevitably become a popular choice of filling.
In San Francisco, the average price of a chicken parm sandwich at a Mom and Pop pizza shop or deli generally ranges from twelve to fifteen dollars, maybe a little more.
Fortunately, there is an easy – and economical – way to make it at home.
Since I don’t have a great deal of refrigerator space, I prefer to use cooked chicken. Raw chicken can be messy to handle, and the juice poses the danger of salmonellosis if it is not cleaned up as quickly as humanly possible. Instead of the canned stuff I generally use in my picadillo and egg drop soup recipes, I opt for a one-pound box of cooked chicken breast meat, which can be procured from Trader Joe’s for about nine bucks a pound. Since this chicken comes off a bit dry, I like to marinade it in balsamic vinegar for at least 15 minutes, making sure each piece of chicken is well-coated. I also sprinkle a generous amount of oregano, black pepper, and minced onion and garlic, along with a moderate amount of salt.
As for the bread, I tend to go back and forth between one of those big loaves of the Italian bread or a pair of ciabatta or French baguettes, all found at Trader Joe’s. The tradeoff is that the Italian bread is plenty crispy on the outside, whereas the ciabatta and French baguettes are softer and could do with a quick turn in a toaster oven or a short spell on the stove in a covered pan with a little olive oil. The choice is yours. Either way, one loaf of Trader Joe’s Italian bread or two of their ciabatta baguettes will neatly use up your pound of chicken.
I chop off a portion of about six inches or so from the baguette, then cut it on the side and in the middle, but not all the way through, separating the two portions like an open book and bending them backwards and away from each other until the bread can decently lie flat on a plate. Once that is accomplished, I add the marinated chicken and add some Trader Joe’s own-brand pizza sauce and some Quattro Formaggio, then set it on a plate and pop it in the microwave.
Cooking about three or four minutes for every six inches of sandwich is likely a safe ratio, but you will know the sandwich is ready when the cheese is completely melted. The filling is most definitely going to be incredibly hot, so be very careful removing the sandwich from the microwave and let it cool for at least two or three minutes before taking that first bite.
And now to tally the cost.
About four dollars will get you one Italian loaf or two French or ciabatta baguettes. The pound of chicken will set you back eight bucks. For the jar of pizza sauce, about two bucks. One bag of quattro formaggi costs $5.50. For only $2.50, Trader Joe’s offers a bottle of balsamic vinegar that according to the label, is produced in Italy – Modena, to be exact. Small jars of crushed oregano and minced garlic and onion go for a dollar and a half each at Target, so for those three and a six-dollar jar of Old Bay, that’s $10.50. For one 26-ounce container of own-brand salt at Target, that’s one more dollar. So, the grand total comes to $33.50. If you want some olive oil for crisping the softer baguettes on the stovetop, that adds an extra three bucks for the sprayable version available at Trader Joe’s. Fortunately, for that much, you get about two or four feet worth of sandwich. And if we were to call six inches one portion, the price per can range from approximately $4.25 to roughly $8.50 per each.
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