Recipe: Carnival Cruise Line’s Chicken Parmigiana and Viking River Cruises’ Mississippi Sunset

Cheese Louise - May is American Cheese Month! To celebrate, we thought it would be a gouda idea to share the delicious recipe for Carnival’s Chicken Parmigiana served at Cucina del Capitano. This sharp dish pairs the gooey-goodness of whole mozzarella and parmesan cheese. It pairs great with Viking River Cruises’ Mississippi Sunset, a citrusy vodka-based cocktail. We hope you have a grate meal! 

Chicken Parmigiana - Carnival Cruise Line

Ingredients:

Chicken

• 10 Chicken breasts
• 2 oz Olive oil
• 5 Garlic cloves
• 2 lb Panko bread crumbs
• 6 Eggs
• 6 oz Flour
• 0.5 lb Whole mozzarella

Sauce

• 1 Can of San Marzano tomato sauce
• 5 Garlic cloves, sliced
• 4 oz Olive oil
• Salt (to taste)
• Crushed red pepper (to taste)
• ¼ Fresh basil
• Fried basil for garnish

Parmesan Crumble

• 3½ oz Parmesan cheese
• 4½ oz Cubed butter
• 5⅓ oz High-gluten flour
• Salt (to taste)

Instructions: 

1. In a hot saucepan oiled up with olive oil, sauté the garlic, the crushed red pepper, and the San Marzano tomatoes. Stir continuously.
2. Cook for 30 minutes and finish with salt, pepper, and more olive oil (plus a little sugar if you’d like). The sauce should be very light in consistency.

Make Parmesan Crumbles:

1. Grab a blender and add grated parmesan cheese, butter, high-gluten flour and salt.
2. Blend well, then pass through a fine sieve.
3. Scatter the mixture across a baking tray and bake for 240°F for 8 minutes, or until crisp and light golden-brown in color. When cold, break it into crumbles and store in an airtight container.

Prepare Chicken:

1. Trim and clean the chicken breast. Cover it so it doesn’t squirt, then pound it with a steak hammer (or meat flattener) until it’s pretty flat. Just make sure the overall shape is retained.
2. Beat the eggs, dip the chicken in there, and then cover the chicken with panko bread crumbs.
3. Shallow-fry the chicken in olive oil along with a spring of rosemary and hand-crushed garlic until chicken is cooked. (You’ll know when it’s a nice golden color on all sides.)

Bring It All Together: 

1. Top the cooked meat with tomato sauce. (Reserve some sauce for later.)
2. Place thin slices of mozzarella cheese atop the sauce.
3. Gratinate (look it up!) the assembled chicken in a salamander (in this case, we’re talking about the stove) until the cheese melts.
4. After removing from the salamander, sprinkle with chopped parsley and chili flakes.
5. Pour more tomato sauce onto a plate and place the assembled chicken atop the sauce.

Mississippi Sunset - Viking River Cruises

Ingredients:

• 1 oz (29½ ml) Citrus vodka
• ½ oz (14¾ ml) Orange liqueur
• ½ oz (14¾ ml) Strawberry liqueur
• 2 oz (59 ml) Sweet-and-sour mix
• ½ tsp (2½ ml) Lemon juice, freshly squeezed
• 1 Lemon wedge for garnish 

Instructions: 

1. Fill a cocktail shaker with ice halfway
2. Add all ingredients 
3. Shake and strain over a chilled cocktail glass
4. Garnish with one lemon wedge