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.
