Eggplant, Tomato And Mozzarella Stacks, Hot Or Cold - cooking recipe

Ingredients

2 eggplants (nicely round, not slender)
4 teaspoons olive oil (or more)
2 large ripe tomatoes
8 slices mozzarella cheese (pre-spiced is fine)
finely chopped herbs (like basil, oreganum, thyme)
salt and black pepper
4 tablespoons vinaigrette dressing (if making this a salad)

Preparation

Heat oven to 350 deg F/180 deg Celsius.
From each eggplant/aubergine, slice 6 rounds, about 1/3\" thick. Discard the thinner ends. You now have 12 rounds. Put a sheet of nonstick baking paper on a cookie tin. Arrange the slices in a single layer, and drizzle each with a little olive oil.
Bake for about 15 minutes, or until the slices are soft -- do not burn. Cool and keep.
To assemble, slice each tomato into 4 even slices, discarding the ends, so you have 8 tomato slices.
Chop your herbs of choice finely, or use dried herbs if fresh herbs are not available.
Starting with an eggplant slice, stack each of 4 stacks as follows: eggplant, tomato, mozzarella, eggplant again, tomato slice, eggplant, mozzarella slice.
SEASON each layer lightly as you go, with just tiny pinches of salt, and a sprinkle of herbs and black pepper.
You will have 4 stacks, serving 2 - 4 people.
As a warm side dish: heat gently in a warm oven (under cooking point of 212 deg F) until the tomato slices are warm and the mozzarella melts. Delicious with fried chicken pieces/.
As a salad: drizzle with a tangy French vinaigrette and serve with toasted bruschetta slices.