Italian baked chicken with tomatoes and mozzarella

This classic Italian chicken dish can easily be prepared in advance and cooked just before serving.
Serves 4

1 tablespoon olive oil
1 garlic clove, crushed
400g/14oz can chopped tomatoes
1 tablespoon tomato purÈe
1 x 20g/3/4oz packet basil, chopped
50g/2oz finely grated Parmesan cheese
25g/1oz seasoned plain flour
1 egg, beaten
25g/1oz butter
4 skinned, boneless chicken breasts
1 x 150g/5oz mozzarella cheese, drained and sliced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
Fresh basil sprigs to garnish

For the parsley butter noodles:
350g/12oz egg tagliatelle
25g/1oz butter
1 small garlic clove, crushed
The leaves from 1 x 20g/3/4oz packet flat-leaf parsley, chopped

Preheat the oven to 200C/400F/Gas Mark 6. Put the olive oil and garlic into a medium-sized pan and as soon as it starts to sizzle, add the tomatoes and tomato purÈe. Simmer for about 10 minutes until thickened. Stir in the basil and some seasoning to taste. Set to one side.
Mix half of the grated Parmesan cheese into the seasoned flour and tip it into a shallow dish. Tip the egg into another shallow dish.
Melt the butter in a medium-sized frying pan. Dip the chicken breasts into the beaten egg and then the flour and cheese mixture, add them to the pan and cook over a medium-high heat for about 3 minutes on each side until lightly golden. Transfer them to a small, shallow ovenproof dish and pour over the tomato sauce.
Lay two slices of the mozzarella cheese on top of each chicken breast, sprinkle over the rest of the Parmesan cheese, cover the dish loosely with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Then uncover and cook for a further 15 minutes or until the cheese is lightly browned.
Meanwhile, bring a large pan of salted water to the boil. Add the tagliatelle and cook for 8-9 minutes or until ‘al dente’. Mix the butter with the garlic, chopped parsley and some seasoning to taste. Drain the noodles, return them to the pan with the parsley butter and toss together well. Remove the chicken from the oven and serve with the noodles, garnished with the fresh basil sprigs.