Chicken and Eggplant Stacks- May 2013

Ingredients-

• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup extra virgin olive oil
• 4 chicken breasts- sliced in half
• leaves from 2 rosemary sprigs, finely chopped
• salt and fresh ground pepper
• 8 cloves of garlic, finely chopped
• 1 red onion, chopped
• 1/4 teaspoon crushed red pepper
• 1 (28 ounce) can of fire roasted crushed tomatoes
• 1 pound smoked mozzarella, sliced
• 8 basil leaves, torn
• 2 eggplant, peeled (leaving some of the skin on for color or texture)

• Preheat a grill pan or counter top grill to high. Place a baking sheet in the oven and preheat to 250 degrees.
• Combine vinegar and 2 tablespoons of oil on a plate and coat chicken with it. Sprinkle with rosemary, season with salt and pepper, then set aside.
• Pour 1/4 of the oil into a small dish and brush eggplant slices on each side and season with salt and pepper.
• Grill the chicken for 2-3 minutes on each side and place in the oven to keep warm. Grill the eggplant until tender, about 5 minutes on each side. Add eggplant with the chicken in the oven.
• Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil over medium heat. Add the garlic, onion and crushed red pepper, cook until onions are tender. Add the tomatoes and heat through. Season with salt and pepper.
• Preheat the broiler to high, remove the chicken and eggplant from oven.
• Assemble the stacks on the baking sheet by layering a chicken slice, a little sauce and slice of mozzarella, an eggplant slice, a little sauce and slice of mozzarella. Repeat step once more, so each stack consists of 2 slices of chicken and 2 slices of eggplant.
• Repeat steps until out of chicken and eggplant.
• Broil the stacks until the top layer of mozzarella melts. Sprinkle with basil and serve with remaining sauce on the side.