Preheat oven to 400°F. Line a baking sheet with parchment.

Place your whisked eggs into a shallow bowl or container.

In a large bowl, combine the flour, 1 ½ cups parmesan cheese, black pepper, and red pepper and toss to combine. Transfer the mixture to a shallow bowl or container.

One by one, dredge each chicken cutlet in the egg, then remove it, letting any excess egg drip off, and gently drop into the flour/parmesan mixture, coating it completely (see tip below). Handling the breaded chicken cutlet as minimally as possible, set it on the baking sheet. Repeat until all remaining chicken cutlets are breaded.

In a large non-stick skillet, over medium heat, heat ¼ cup of olive oil. Cooking in batches, add the breaded chicken cutlets and cook until golden brown, about 3 to 4 minutes per side. Carefully remove from the oil, and place on a paper towel, using a slotted spoon or spatula. Set aside. Note: If there are many crumbs left in the oil in between batches, wipe the oil out and add new oil in between each batch. Also, feel free to add more oil as needed in between each batch.

Using a medium saucepan, warm the tomato sauce.

Arrange the chicken breasts on a parchment-lined baking sheet. Add the mozzarella cheese over the breaded chicken breasts, and cook in the oven until the cheese is melted and the chicken is just about cooked through, about 10 to 15 minutes. Once the mozzarella has melted, quickly remove from the oven, top with ¼ cup of parmesan cheese, then return to the oven and cook until cheese the cheese has melted and is starting to brown, about 5 more minutes. Remove from the oven. Top each chicken breast with about 2 tablespoons to ¼ cup warm tomato sauce. Serve garnished with fresh basil and extra tomato sauce on the side and enjoy!

Teri’s Breading Tip: When dredging in wet and dry ingredients, I use my right hand for the egg and my left hand for the flour/parmesan flour, so I never accidentally mix the two.