Chicken and Rice: Cheesy Oven-Fried Chicken

I keep thinking about the oven-fried chicken idea Nizdaar at ZAM gave me: pound the chicken thin, bread it, bake it, and just before it finishes add some sauce and cheese. Yum! My brain insists on making it an Italian-style thing, and every time I go to make it I haven't the right stuff. So Friday I punted and came up with:

Cheesy Oven-Fried Chicken

4 boneless skinless chicken breasts
1 cup Italian bread crumbs
2 eggs
chicken gravy (one packet mix prepared per instructions)
1 cup shredded cheddar cheese

Preheat oven to 350°.

Pat the chicken dry.  Pound the chicken breasts thin:  place them one at a time between sheets of plastic wrap or waxed paper and use a meat mallet or rolling pin until they're the desired thickness.  I trimmed them to 4 ounces each and breaded the smaller bits for the kids.  Put the breadcrumbs on a flat plate.  Scramble the eggs in a separate flat bowl.  Bread the chicken by first pressing it in the crumbs (both sides), then the egg, then the crumbs again.  Repeat until it's all breaded, adding more crumbs or egg if needed.

Put the chicken on a cookie sheet and bake uncovered at 350° for about 40 minutes.  In the meantime, make the gravy and shred the cheese.

Remove the chicken from the oven.  Spoon a little gravy on each piece and top with shredded cheese.  Return to the oven until the cheese is melted.

Serve with rice.