Home Comforts: The (No) Chicken Parmo from Middlesbrough
Growing up in the North East, more specifically in the Teeside area, there’s one thing that we take very seriously, and that’s the Chicken Parmo.
A parmo is simply, breaded chicken or pork escalope topped with creamy béchamel sauce and sprinkled with (A LOT of) cheddar. Some people may get this mixed up with Chicken Parmigiana, which makes a lot of Teessiders upset. There are even World Parmo Championships, so it's a pretty big deal.
Bob Mortimer, Middlesbrough’s finest, made Paul Whitehouse a Parmo on ‘Gone Fishing’ this Christmas!
When I decided to go to Uni in London, I definitely expected a few jokes about my accent, but not my takeaway choice. To my surprise, apparently people outside of the North East didn’t have a clue what a Parmo was, so I took it myself to introduce the delicious dish to all my freshers flat-mates way back when. Years later, they’re obsessed!
Only thing is, I stopped eating meat about 4 years ago, which I wanted to do sooner, but… parmos. Though, I learned pretty quickly that like so many dishes, it can easily be replicated and taste just as good - veggie style.
So for you veggies out there, try this recipe for a taste of Teesside.
Ingredients
For the Bechamel:
Half cup of Butter
Half cup of flour (Say it like Nadine Coyle for a laugh)
Sprinkle of salt, pepper, and any other seasonings you love
Crushed garlic
Cup of milk
2 bay leaves
Teaspoon of mustard (optional)
For Chips:
1 or 2 Maris Piper potatoes
Olive oil
Salt, pepper and seasonings
Rosemary (optional)
For the Parmo:
2 Quorn Chicken Fillets (This is the one I use: Quorn Crispy Fillets)
Pre-made Bechamel
Cheese (Red Leicester or Cheddar) - as much as you like!
Method
First of all, prepare your dreamy creamy béchamel sauce in advance. To make this, add butter and crushed garlic to a pan on low heat. As the butter melts, slowly add your flour to the butter. In no time, it should be looking thick.
Add the bay leaf, mustard, and salt and pepper to the milk to season it up.
Add that milk to the pan, slowly, while stirring to create a sauce-like consistency. Taste regularly, I add a little bit of nutritional yeast if I want to taste cheesier. Once you’ve got your sauce, leave it to cool.
Next up, wash, peel and cut up your potatoes. Chip shape is ideal but whatever you fancy!
Pop them in a pan with salted boiling water and allow to boil for 15 minutes. While waiting, turn your oven on to 180°C.
Drain your chips and add to a baking tray. Drizzle olive oil all over. Here, add your seasonings. I use salt, pepper, rosemary and garlic. If I fancy it, I’ll add a teaspoon of flour to add some crispiness. Shake that all about and pop into the oven for 30 minutes or until golden. Check on them every 15 mins and toss them about so none of your chips stick to the baking tray.
Now, grab your quorn crispy chicken fillet and pop that in the oven for as long as the packaging tells you (usually 22 minutes).
Once your fillet is fully cooked, add the béchamel sauce to the top of it generously. Make sure to remove the bay leaf as you do this. Then grate up some cheese and add to the top. Then add more cheese. Pop under the grill for 10 minutes or until the cheese has melted to perfection.
Plate everything up and tuck in. You’ve just made your first Parmo!
Tip: This can be veganized so easily, you just have to switch the dairy products up for dairy-free ones, there are loads of options available now. Vegan cheese stan here! Also, equally, if you fancy the real deal - just switch the Quorn chicken fillet for a meat alternative.
Enjoy!
Written by Danielle Conlon
Danielle is a Filipino born, North-East girl at heart who’s lived in London and Barcelona the past few years only to find herself back up North (UTB) since Ms Pandemic. She now spends her days writing about food, travel, anything funky and dancing (badly).
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