Baked Chicken Breasts With Parmesan-Garlic Crust

By june

Ingredients

• 1 cup bread crumbs, preferably fresh*
• 1/2 cup grated Parmesan cheese
• 3 garlic cloves, minced
• 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 tsp salt
• Pepper
• 4 boneless, skinless chicken breasts (6 to 7 ozs. each), trimmed
• 1/4 cup minced fresh basil
• 1/4 cup mayonnaise

Details

Servings 4

Preparation

Step 1

Adjust oven rack to upper-middle position and heat oven to 425 degrees. Combine bread crumbs, Parmesan, garlic, oil, salt, and pepper to taste in bowl.
Pat chicken dry with paper towels and transfer to 13 by 9-inch baking dish. Combine basil and mayonnaise in small bowl and spread mixture evenly over chicken. Sprinkle bread-crumb mixture over mayonnaise pressing lightly to adhere.
Bake until crumbs are golden brown and instant-read thermometer inserted in thickest part of chicken registers 160 degrees, 18 to 22 minutes.

*To make fresh bread crumbs, process 2 slices of hearty white sandwich bread in a food processor until coarsely ground.