Place the eggplant slices on a large baking sheet and sprinkle with the salt – leave it all to sit for about a half hour while you get everything else ready.  Preheat the oven to 425 and use a clean towel or paper towels to blot dry all of the eggplant (and the baking sheet!).  Lightly grease the same large baking sheet with olive oil, blot the eggplant again and arrange in a single layer on the sheet.  Drizzle the slices with more olive oil and several good grindings of pepper then bake for 20 minutes.  Use a thin spatula to carefully flip over all of the slices, then bake for about another 20 minutes until all are beautifully browned.  Plan to have your sauce ready at the same time your eggplant is done.

To assemble – Lightly grease your lasagna pan or another similar sized casserole dish then spoon a thin layer of sauce across the bottom.  Layer on half of the eggplant – it’s fine if some overlaps, then blob on your ricotta mix (or maybe a quarter of the mozzarella if you’re not using ricotta), then drizzle on another couple of spoonfuls of sauce over all.  Layer on the rest of the eggplant, the rest of the sauce, then the mozzarella and a sprinkle of extra Parmesan if you’d like.

Bake for 30 minutes until everything is bubbling and the cheese is as brown as you want it – you can also broil for a minute or 2.  Allow all to rest for a good 15 minutes to let all of the sauces soak in and settle then enjoy in big bowls with garlic toast or some fresh sour dough.