Skinny Chicken Parmesan Calzones

That's right ladies and gentleman, I'm back! It's been a crazy, hectic month and I can't even tell you how amazing it feels to FINALLY be on Christmas break. Every free minute I had was spent reading, writing, and researching for finals. Now that I have 3 weeks of freedom, I plan on cooking as many new things as possible. 

About a week ago I made Chicken Parmesan for dinner and was beyond pleased with the results. Typical chicken parm. recipes use a flour, egg, breadcrumb dredging process but I decided to make things a bit easier on myself and used just breadcrumbs and butter. The chicken turned out just as amazing and was a LOT less messy (something I'm sure Adam was very pleased about). I also baked the chicken instead of frying it. 

I was starving when I woke up this morning and didn't have the effort to make myself breakfast so I sat around and looked at food blogs (not a good idea when you're already hungry). I got an instant craving for breakfast burritos...then snickerdoodle cookies...then calzones. Breakfast burritos required too many ingredients so I got over that craving pretty quickly. Cookies were out of the question, especially at 9am. Calzones however, sounded pretty doable. I found a recipe for buffalo chicken calzones and got inspired to come up with a chicken Parmesan calzone. 

This recipe requires some waiting but not a lot of work and believe me, the waiting is worth it.

Skinny Chicken Parmesan Calzones

Yield: 2 generous servings

• 2 boneless, skinless chicken breasts
• 2 tbsp light butter (I like Smart Balance light butter with flaxseed oil)
• 1/4 cup Italian breadcrumbs
• 1 tsp grated Parmesan cheese
• 1 can Pillsbury refrigerated classic pizza crust
• 6 slices Sargento ultra thin sliced provolone cheese
• 4 tbsp marinara sauce, plus more for dipping
• Egg wash (1 egg, 1/2 tsp water)
• 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
• 1 tsp fresh grated Parmesan

For the chicken: 

Preheat oven to 450°. Combine 1tsp grated Parmesan cheese and breadcrumbs in a bowl. In another bowl, melt butter. Brush melted butter on both sides of chicken breast and dip in breadcrumb mixture, evenly coating both sides. Place on greased baking sheet and lightly spray the top of chicken with cooking oil. 

Bake for 15 minutes, turn chicken and bake another 5 minutes. Let chicken cool while preparing pizza dough.

For the calzones:

Remove dough from packaging and roll into a ball. Divide dough in two and roll out. 

Place 3 slices of provolone, chicken breast, and 2 tbsp's marinara sauce in each calzone. 

Fold dough in half and pinch edges closed. Whisk together egg and water. Brush calzones with egg wash. Sprinkle Italian seasoning and fresh grated Parmesan over the top of the calzones. Bake 10-15 minutes (oven should still be set at 450°). 

(The egg wash helps to create a shiny exterior without burning the dough).