Preheat the broiler. Line rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper or aluminum foil. Place a cooling rack on the baking sheet.
To make the sauce: In a medium saucepan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the garlic and stir for 30 seconds until it starts to turn golden, then add the tomatoes, oregano, basil, and sugar, and season with salt and pepper. Bring to a simmer and simmer for 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, bread the chicken cutlets. Place the flour in another shallow bowl. Beat the eggs with a bit of salt and pepper in another shallow bowl. Place the Panko and 1/2 cup Parmesan in another shallow bowl.
Place each chicken cutlet in the bowl with the flour and press it so that the flour coats the cutlets. Transfer it to the bowl with the eggs, and turn so it is coated with the egg mixture, then make sure any excess egg is allowed to drip back into the bowl — tongs are helpful for this. Transfer the chicken to the Panko bowl and turn to coat, pressing gently onto the cutlet so that the crumbs adhere. Place the breaded cutlets on the wire rack as they are finished, and let them rest for at least 5 minutes so the coating dries out a bit and will stick to the chicken as it cooks.
Heat half the oil over medium heat in the largest skillet you own, and add as many pieces of chicken as will fit without crowding. Cook for about 3 to 4 minutes on each side, or until the exterior is nicely browned and the chicken is just cooked through. Return the cooked chicken to a clean wire rack on the baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the breaded cutlets adding more oil as needed, until all of the chicken is browned.
Sprinkle over about 3 tablespoons of mozzarella and a heaping teaspoon of Parmesan over each breast. Broil for about 2 to 3 minutes, watching carefully, until the cheese is melted and lightly browned in some spots.
Meanwhile toss the hot pasta with 2 cups of warm tomato sauce, reserving about 1 cup. Divide the pasta between 4 plates. Place two pieces of chicken on top of each plate of pasta, and drizzle the remaining sauce over the cutlets.
Notes
You can either buy thinly sliced cutlets or slice regular chicken breasts horizontally into two thinner cutlets.
In this recipe, the cheese is melted directly onto the breaded and browned cutlets. Then they are baked to finish cooking the chicken and melt the mozzarella. After, the sauce is spooned over so the chicken stays nice and crispy, not at all soggy.
If you don’t feel like making the marinara sauce, don’t worry yourself about that for a minute. That is, in fact, what jarred sauce is for: to make life easier. If homemade sauce stands between you and Chicken Parmigiana, that would be a crime.
Start the pasta while you are browning the chicken breasts. It should be ready to drain and sauce when you are finishing the chicken under the broiler.
Using a wire rack on top of the baking sheet allows air to circulate under the chicken so that it is crispy on top and bottom.