Chicken Parmesan Gets Far Creamier With An Easy Cheese Swap

There's no doubt in our minds that chicken parmesan is delicious. What's not to love about a breaded fried chicken bathed in a bright tomato sauce and blanketed in mozzarella cheese? There's only a few basic parts to the dish, but if you want to amp up the creaminess, celebrity chef Brooklyn Peltz Beckham (yep, the son of David and Victoria Beckham), who's recently partnered with Barilla to celebrate the new line of pasta, Al Bronzo, has a suggestion on how to use burrata in place of the traditional mozzarella.

Beckham said, "I love fresh burrata, so I don't think it, traditionally, needs to go in the oven. Once you're finished cooking the chicken parm, just put the fresh burrata on top with a little bit more tomato sauce and maybe some basil." 

This isn't any different from the usual way burrata is served, by putting it with your favorite accompaniments (like, say, peak summer heirloom tomatoes), along with some high-quality flaky salt, plus that good olive oil you save for drizzling. You can either leave it whole for your eaters to disassemble for themselves, revealing the cream and shredded mozzarella center, or you can slice it open beforehand, letting the contents ooze over the top of the hot, crispy chicken.

Brooklyn Beckham said that even though you're not cooking the burrata in the oven, the rest of the chicken parmesan should be cooked the proper way to ensure you're not getting (for lack of a better term) medium-rare chicken. "I like my chicken well done. I don't really like it pink in the middle," Beckham explained. After you pour the tomato sauce over the chicken, let it bake in the oven. Once cooked, remove from the oven and add the burrata on top.

This saves you time, as you don't have to put the chicken in the oven again for the final step of melting the mozzarella. It's a nice bonus, and the cooking process can be sped up even more, provided you have your kitchen prep set up in advance or you use frozen chicken nuggets. Another added benefit is how burrata cheese feels like an upgrade to your meal without doing too much — in fact, you'll be doing even less.