The new fall array includes nine items, seven of them involving chicken. This on top of Burger King’s unveiling of 10 new items last spring — mostly chicken strips, wraps, salads, fruit smoothies and frappes — and not a burger in the whole lot.

Uh, let me guess … beef prices are rising and chicken prices are holding steady?

That’s a lot of choices — 19 new items in one year. I usually prefer to shop at places that make my decisions simpler. For example, when I need a lamp, I know a store called Just Lamps. I buy my kid’s baseball bats at www.justbats.com. You would think Burger King …

Here’s the Chicken Parmesan Sandwich blueprint: crispy or grilled white-meat chicken breast, mozzarella and shaved Parmesan cheeses, plus tangy marinara sauce on an artisan-style bun.

Total calories: 610. Fat grams: 25. Sodium: 1,720 mg. Dietary fiber: 2 g. Protein: 25 g. Carbs: 60 g. Manufacturer’s suggested retail price: $4.79.

My favorite dish is chicken parm — with spaghetti, ravioli or in a sandwich. Nothing fits the hand better than a big, floppy, sloppy chicken parm sandwich leaking down your wrist, staining your cuffs. Hey, can you throw a few extra napkins into the bag?

So when I looked at Burger King’s new chicken choices, well, this one was easy. The Italian Basil Chicken Wrap, less than 400 calories, can wait. The last time I ate anything under 400 calories that tasted good was when my cousin Louis gave me half of his chicken parm sandwich.

Burger King has tried Italian-style chicken sandwiches before — remember BK’s “International Sandwiches”? They were more like “international incidents.”

First, I’ll pretend that this sandwich doesn’t also have a grilled chicken breast option. I prefer food that has flavor. Let’s go extra crispy. The new Chicken Parmesan Sandwich starts with BK’s excellent TenderCrisp breast fillet. This is a good-size piece of chicken that’s, whoa, a real breast from one chicken, not a chewed ‘n’ glued patty of who knows what from a hundred different chickens.

The mozzarella is melty, and the real shaved Parmesan is the touch that puts this sandwich over the top. You don’t often find shaved Parmesan in the drive-thru. I half expected the guy behind the counter to wave a pepper mill at me (and stick out his hand for a tip). The marinara is red and Italiany. I really dug this sandwich. Pricey, but worth the price.

Other thumbs-ups on BK’s new menu go to the Italian Basil Sandwich (I like the bun), the Italian Breakfast Burrito and the Raspberry Smoothie. I’m sure the salads are fine. You just got the wrong guy.