Eggplant and Chicken Puttanesca Stacks

Don't you just love January? It's a great time to "reset" and get back on track or change your life's path. I for one don't make resolutions but I do take the time to evaluate my life, where I am and where I want to go. At this point in my life I am pretty happy with things. I like my job, I am healthy and I am madly in love with my best friend and husband. Life is good!

I found the original recipe for Eggplant and Chicken Puttanesca Stacks on The Daily Green while searching for something new and interesting to do with eggplant. When I am searching for a new recipe, I type in the main ingredient in Google then do an image search. From there I flip through hundreds of images until I find something that looks good, I am a visual person!

If you haven't heard of Puttanesca sauce, it is a tomato based sauce that combines olives and capers and it is delicious. Many people don't like anchovies so feel free to omit them and add a few extra olives instead. You could also omit the chicken and call it vegetarian, although I love the chicken and don't recommend it!

We fell in love with this recipe and have made it at least five times in the last few months. At first glance the recipe might look like a lot of effort for a dinner for two, but when you break it down it's only a few steps and it actually goes pretty quick. Expect about an hour for preparation.

Eggplant & Chicken Puttanesca Stacks 

 click here for printable recipe

Ingredients: for 2-4 Servings

For Eggplant:

1 lg. eggplant, cut into 1/2-inch slices

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1/2 cup all-purpose flour, or as needed

1 eggs, beaten

1/2 cup panko bread crumbs

3 tablespoons vegetable oil

For Chicken:

1 boneless, skinless chicken breast

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

All-purpose flour (use remaining flour after breading the eggplant)

1 tablespoon olive oil

For Sauce and Cheese:

1/2 cup white wine

3-4 cloves garlic, minced

3 anchovy fillets packed in oil, chopped (we used 1/2 teaspoon anchovy paste)

1/4 teaspoon dried chile flakes

1/4 cup chicken stock

1/4 cup pitted Kalamata olives (about 10 olives), chopped

1 28-ounce can diced tomatoes

Zest and juice of 1/2 lemon

3/4 cup fresh parsley leaves, coarsely chopped, divided

Kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper

1 cup fresh ricotta cheese, at room temperature

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Slice the eggplant into 1/4" slices, pat dry and sprinkle with black pepper.In three separate shallow bowls or pie plates, put the flour, eggs, and panko crumbs. Dip the eggplant slice in the flour both sides. Next, coat the floured slice with egg, dredge the eggplant slice in the panko. Repeat with the remaining eggplant.

Heat the vegetable oil in a large sauté pan over medium-high heat. Working in batches to avoid overcrowding the pan, fry the eggplant slices for about 2 minutes on each side, or until golden brown. Transfer the eggplant to the lined baking sheet and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Flip the slices over and continue baking for an additional 10 minutes.

While the eggplant is in the oven, prepare the chicken. Slice the chicken into 1/2" pieces, lightly pound flat with a meat mallet. Season the pieces with salt and pepper then coat each piece in flour and shake off excess. Place chicken pieces in sauté pan with 2 tbsp. of olive oil over medium-high heat. Working in batches, sauté the chicken pieces for about 2 minutes on each side, until lightly browned and cooked through. Remove the chicken from the pan and cover to keep warm.

For the sauce, pour the wine into the pan to deglaze, scraping the bits from the bottom. Add the garlic, anchovies, and chile flakes and sauté for 30 seconds. Stir in the stock, olives, tomatoes, lemon juice, and 1/2 cup of the parsley, and add the chicken back into the pan. Reduce the heat to low and let simmer while the eggplant finishes baking. Taste for seasoning and adjust as needed.

In a small bowl, mix the Riccota cheese, the remaining 1/4 cup parsley, the lemon zest, salt, and ground black pepper.

When the eggplant is done, start building your stacks! Start with one slice of eggplant, top with a spoonful of the cheese mixture, add a piece of chicken, a little more cheese, then a heaping spoon of the Puttenesco sauce, then another piece of eggplant. If desired, spoon some remaining sauce and cheese on top of each stack and serve.

Enjoy!