I ended up making eggplant lasagne

Yesterday I was looking at my recipe for Moroccan eggplant and potato au gratin and wonder what I wanted to do. I decided I wanted melted cheese in the dish, since it was being made with lasagna noodles. I was going to the supermarket anyway, so I bought some shredded mozzarella cheese to add to the tomato sauce, eggplant rounds, and noodles. Here's the process and the result. The first thing to do was make the sauce. I put some ras el-hanout in, but not as much as I had initially planned.

This is the sauce I made. It includes crushed tomatoes, sliced onions, chopped garlic cloves, ground beef, spices, salt, pepper, and herbs (bay leaves and dried oregano).

These photos show the process step-by-step. Make the sauce first and let it simmer for an hour or so. While it cooks, slice the eggplants, brush the slices with olive oil, and bake them in a hot oven on a sheet plan until they are soft. Optionally and separately, soak the lasagne noodles in warm water. That will make them soft and pliable so they are easy to work with.

Pour a layer of sauce into the bottom of a baking dish. Put a layer of noodles over the sauce. Arrange rounds of cooked eggplant over the noodles and top them with a layer of grated cheese. Arrange another layer of noodles over the eggplant rounds and cheese. Spoon sauce over those noodles and put on more grated cheese. I used mozzarella but use whatever cheese you like. I also sprinkled on some grated Parmesan for more flavor.

Bake the dish in the oven until the cheese is melted and is starting to turn golden brown. If the sauce and the eggplant slices are still hot, it won't take long. If you make the dish ahead of time and let it cool down, put it in a medium oven until the ingredients are heated through. Then turn the heat up for a few minutes to brown the top layer just before you take it out of the oven and serve it.