Chicken Parm Pizza

Church is mine again. After two months of sitting home on Sundays — first from the surgery, then from the recovery, then from the stubbornness of a body that needed more rest than my spirit wanted to give it — I walked into First African Baptist Church on Sunday morning and sat in the third pew, left side, where I have sat since 1972. The pew was there. The wood was the same. The hymnal was in the rack. And when the choir started singing "Amazing Grace," I opened my mouth and I sang, and the sound that came out was not beautiful but it was present, and presence is enough.

People noticed. Of course they did. A church family notices when one of its own has been missing, the way a body notices when a tooth is gone — the space is there, the gap is felt, the absence changes the shape of everything. Mrs. Crawford hugged me and said, "We missed you, Dorothy." Deacon Johnson shook my hand with both of his and said, "Good to see you back, Dot." Gladys — Gladys, who hugs nobody, whose affection is expressed entirely through peach cobbler and mild insults — Gladys grabbed my elbow and said, "If you ever miss another boil because of a knee, I will come to your house and drag you there myself." I said, "Gladys, if you ever beat my cobbler, I will let you." She snorted. We understood each other.

Pastor Williams preached on restoration. I don't know if he chose the text for me or if God has a sense of timing, but the sermon hit different when you're sitting on two working knees for the first time in months. Restoration is not going back to what you were. Restoration is going forward as what you are — changed, repaired, carrying the scar and the titanium and the knowledge that you can be taken apart and put back together and still sing.

After service, the hospitality committee served coffee and pound cake in the fellowship hall. I was on the committee for twenty years. I made that pound cake for twenty years. Today someone else made it. It was good. Not mine good — different good. And different good is still good, which is a lesson I am learning at sixty-eight that I should have learned at thirty: other people can do the things you did, and the things survive, and the survival is the point.

Made Sunday dinner. The full spread. Roast chicken, rice, greens, cornbread, sweet potato pie. Standing. Cooking. On two knees that both work. The table set for the usual: me, Denise, Robert, Kayla, Devon, and the chair. Sunday dinner is restored.

Now go on and feed somebody.

After two months away from my kitchen the way I like it — standing up, moving around, feeding people who matter — I needed Sunday dinner to feel like a celebration without requiring me to prove something. The roast chicken and the full spread were for the table; this Chicken Parm Pizza is what I’d make the next Sunday, when the joy is still there but the knees have earned a slightly shorter shift. All the comfort of a proper chicken dinner, none of the apology — just good food, hot from the oven, set in front of the people you love.

Prep Time: 20 min | Cook Time: 25 min | Total Time: 45 min | Servings: 4–6

Ingredients

1 lb store-bought or homemade pizza dough, at room temperature
1 lb boneless, skinless chicken breasts (about 2 medium)
1/2 cup all-purpose flour
2 large eggs, beaten
3/4 cup Italian-seasoned breadcrumbs
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese, divided
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt
1/4 tsp black pepper
3 tbsp olive oil, divided
3/4 cup marinara sauce
1 1/2 cups shredded whole-milk mozzarella cheese
1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning
Fresh basil leaves, for garnish (optional)

Instructions

Preheat the oven. Place a rack in the center of your oven and preheat to 425°F. If you have a pizza stone, place it in the oven now. Otherwise, lightly grease a large rimmed baking sheet with olive oil.
Pound and season the chicken. Place chicken breasts between two sheets of plastic wrap and pound to an even 1/2-inch thickness. Season both sides with salt, pepper, and garlic powder.
Bread the chicken. Set up a dredging station: flour in one shallow bowl, beaten eggs in a second, and breadcrumbs mixed with 2 tablespoons of Parmesan in a third. Coat each chicken breast in flour (shake off excess), dip in egg, then press firmly into the breadcrumb mixture.
Pan-fry the chicken. Heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil in a large oven-safe skillet over medium-high heat. Cook breaded chicken 3–4 minutes per side until golden brown. The chicken does not need to be fully cooked through — it will finish in the oven. Transfer to a cutting board and slice into 1/2-inch strips.
Shape the dough. Stretch or roll pizza dough on a lightly floured surface into a 12–14 inch round or rectangle. Transfer to your prepared baking sheet or a piece of parchment if using a pizza stone.
Build the pizza. Spread marinara sauce evenly over the dough, leaving a 1-inch border. Scatter 1 cup of mozzarella over the sauce. Arrange chicken strips evenly on top. Sprinkle remaining mozzarella and remaining Parmesan over the chicken. Finish with a drizzle of olive oil and a pinch of Italian seasoning.
Bake. Bake for 18–22 minutes, until the crust is deep golden, the cheese is bubbling and lightly browned in spots, and the chicken is cooked through (internal temperature 165°F).
Rest and serve. Let the pizza rest 3–5 minutes before slicing. Scatter fresh basil on top if desired. Slice and serve hot.

Nutrition (per serving)

Chicken Parm Pizza — Sunday Dinner, Restored and Ready to Feed Somebody