Pollo Impanato al Forno - Breaded Chicken Baked

My 92 year-old father-in-law Giorgio, is a great chef. He invents new recipes every other day and always phones me to illustrate his new creations in detail. I like to promote his enthusiastic creativity. 

His new trend, or better, obsession, is cooking without any fat and in this recipe he gives his best. You end up with a chicken, which looks fried but is just baked, without any fat. It is the triumph of lightness and taste.

To start with, buy chicken with skin on, which will release the fat.  Aditionally, marinating the chicken in lemon is essential to tenderize the meat, while using homemade breadcrumbs guarantees the perfect crust. 
Finally, to make your own breadcrumbs you only need to blend either stale bread, crust included, or just plain grissini (bread sticks). If you keep it a bit coarse, it will be better for a perfect crust. Never go for the commercial breadcrumbs, as they're full of additives and too finely ground. It would give a fake flavour and a poor texture to the dish.

Pollo impanato al forno – Breaded Chicken Baked 
Without any oil

4 chicken thighs, skin on
4 chicken drumsticks, skin on
The fresh juice of 3 lemons
Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
100 g homemade breadcrumbs

Serves 4
Preparation time: 10 minutes, plus 60 minutes for the marinate
Cooking time: 50 minutes

1. Juice the lemons and pour it into a bowl big enough to hold the chicken. 
2. Stir in salt and black pepper. 
3. Coat each chicken piece with the marinate, cover the bowl with cling film and leave in the fridge for 60 minutes, turning he pieces once. 
4. Preheat the oven to 180°C. 
5. Remove the chicken from the fridge and coat each piece with the breadcrumbs. Press it carefully into the breadcrumbs to have it fully breaded. 
6. Line and oven tray with parchment and arrange the chicken pieces over. 
7. Bake for 25 minutes. Remove from the oven and turn the chicken on the other side. 
8. Bake for another 25 minutes until brown all over. 
9. Remove from the oven and serve at once, along with any vegetable you like.