To begin, lay out a couple of tea towels on your bench. Place the rounds of eggplant on top and sprinkle very generously with salt. Let them sit for 30-60 minutes. After this time you will see that droplets of water have been drawn out of the eggplant. Firmly dab each eggplant with paper towel to soak up the water. You will also collect a lot of the salt.
2 large eggplants, Salt
While you are waiting for your eggplant, you can make your sauce.
Heat up the olive oil on medium in a pan and saute the onions and garlic for 5 minutes. Then add in the tomato paste, tomatoes, oregano, salt and pepper and reduce the heat to low. Cook this until you’re ready to assemble the tray bake.
¼ cup olive oil, 1 red onion, 3 garlic cloves, 2 tbs tomato paste, 1 can, ½ tsp dried oregano, ½ tsp salt, ½ tsp cracked black pepper
While the sauce is cooking on low, heat your oven to 355F (180C) and lay the eggplant out in a single layer onto baking paper lined trays. Bake for 15 minutes until softened.
Then in a rectangle baking dish, layer the eggplant and sauce in alternating layers until you’ve used it all then top with mozzarella and breadcrumbs. Gently push down on top of the breadcrumbs to flatten it out then baking for 40 minutes until golden. You can bake it slightly longer if you love an extra crispy top. Rest for 5 minutes then slice and serve.
1 ½ cup mozzarella, 1 cup breadcrumbs