Red Barn Cafe-

Life is hectic - Savor every Bite!








Saturday, August 31, 2013

Eggplant Chicken Casserole

My Mom used to make a similar dish- using up leftover chicken, tomato sauce, mozzarella and other vegetables. Makes 6 servings or (as in our case) 2 with a lot of delicious lunches!

Ingredients:

1 lb chicken cutlets
1 Italian Eggplant (the round purple ones) or you can use regular purple, skinned and sliced thin- 1/8"
2 cups tomato sauce*
8 oz ball mozzarella, sliced thin
1 cup sliced mushrooms
4 Tbsp olive oil
3/4 cup shredded Italian cheese, aged provolone is good, or Asiago
2 cups baby spinach or 1 pkg frozen, thawed and drained
5 basil leaves, chopped
3 garlic cloves, minced

Have 2 skillets heating 1 tbsp. of olive oil. In one saute chicken 3-4 min each side until browned and cooked through. Remove and set aside. In the other saute eggplant a few pieces at a time until browned on both sides. Remove. Saute spinach in one skillet until limp, 2 min, or skip this step is using thawed frozen spinach. Saute mushrooms in the other skillet until lightly browned, turning to brown both sides, about 3-4 min., then add garlic for 2 more minutes.

In a large casserole dish ladle in 1/2 cup tomato sauce, top with chicken, eggplant, spinach, mushrooms and mozzarella. Sprinkle a little of the shredded cheese, then repeat layers, topping with the rest of the mozzarella and shredded cheese.

Bake in a preheated 350 degree oven for 20 min covered and remove cover and bake additional 10 min until bubbly and lightly browned.

Season to your liking, I did not add salt because the cheese seemed to have enough. I did pepper the chicken on both sides. You can also add 1/2-1 tsp chili flakes if you like.

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