Chicken and Eggplant Strata

I couldn't pass up the eggplant from the the Southside Farmers Market this afternoon, and I grabbed a beautiful bundle of radishes for my salad too. I had the chicken breast, the San Marzano canned whole tomatoes, the Italian scamorza cheese and the aged Piave, and of course I had the garlic, onions and basil on hand.

I boiled the chicken first in order to shred it with a fork once it was cooked and cooled. I sauteed the garlic and onions and added the

chicken in with those for a few minutes to absorb some of the flavorings, I then added the tomatoes which I mashed to chunks and poured a little wine in, then stewed for a good 30-40 minutes into a nice sauce. I cut the eggplant into 1/4 inch slices or so and when the sauce was nice and mixed, I placed some sauce at the bottom of a baking dish and then layered the eggplant, chicken and tomato sauce and the scamorza cheese. I also layered in some fresh basil and shaved the Piave cheese over top. I placed the

baking dish into the pre-heated 350 degree oven and cooked for another 25minutes.

In the meantime I made a fresh bibb and basil salad with radishes, tomatoes, purple onion, green pepper and lemon cucumbers which look like lemons, but taste like cucumbers. I whisked up a simple olive oil, white wine vinager, mustard, honey, ginger and garlic dressing. A little salt and pepper to taste and it's finished.

This was a great salad that was simple to make and a great meal that stacks beautifully and looks great on the plate. Also, I love having leftovers of baked Italian dishes. Somehow the flavors just concentrate that much more over night and the re-heated dinners are just as delicious if not better. This is also a great lasagna style dish that omits noodles for anyone watching their carbohydrate intake and for those of you who are not red meat eaters.