Delicious Fall

Roasted Eggplant and Yellow Pepper Lasagna

Assemble the ingredients:
Take one very large, late season eggplant and cut it into 1/2 inch slices. Drub each side with olive oil, sprinkle with coarse salt, and cook in a 425 degree oven--turning once--for about 10 minutes. Set aside.
Trim 3 sweet yellow peppers, drub them also with olive oil, open them flat on your best roasting sheet.
Slice the top from one or two heads of garlic, moisten with oil, and nestle them amongst the peppers. Bake in that hot oven for about 8 minutes, turning the peppers so the skin side browns and blisters. When cool enough to handle, coarsely chop the peppers. Squeeze the roasted garlic cloves from their skins and roughly chop them. Set aside.
Thinly slice one pound of mozzarella cheese. Freely substitute asiago, fontina, or provolone for part of the mozzarella. Set aside.
Grate about 1/2 cup of romano or parmesan cheese.
Mix 8 oz ricotta with 2 eggs, the grated romano, 1/4 tsp freshly grated nutmeg, and a scatter of sea salt. Set aside.
Assemble the dish:
Line a pan with your favorite tomato sauce. Arrange a layer of noodles, then a layer of sliced cheese, then eggplant slices, then scatter yellow peppers and roasted garlic chunks.
Top the vegetables with the ricotta custard, creating and even layer. Follow with noodles, sauce, sliced cheese, the rest of the vegetables. Finish with sauce and all the remaining cheese slices.
Bake at 325 for about 1/2 hours. Bake covered for first 1/2 hour. If you like, sprinkle with walnuts of pignolias during the last half hour.
For best flavor, bake one hour, then remove from oven. Let it get to know itself for several hours or overnight. Before serving, bake the remaining 1/2 hour. Let the lasagna stand 10-15 minutes before cutting so each serving will hold together.

I served this with a plate of strong spicy salad greens (arugula, mustards, kale, and lettuces), shaved cucumber slices, chopped tomato, all gentled and turned succulent with a classic balsamic vinaigrette.

Classic Balsamic Vinaigrette
Start with two cloves fresh garlic, crushed and macerated an hour or two in
1/2 cup good olive oil, with a
pinch of coarse sea salt.
To the oil, add:
1 teaspoon of simple sugar syrup, or a little sugar
1/3 cup balsamic vinegar
1/2 tsp prepared brown mustard