OPTION:
Slice eggplant into 1/4 inch thick rounds and cover lightly with sea salt. Let sit for 15 minutes on a plate, drain excess water and pat dry. Coat lightly with coconut oil and place on a baking sheet in the oven for 15 minutes at 375 degrees.
Or skip this step and just slice the eggplant for baking in the dish. I will mention that this method makes the dish very wet and soupy since there are no pasta noodles to soak up the excess water. But it’s still super delicious!
Mix ricocotta, cottage cheese, egg, parmesan and nutmeg in a large mixing bowl.
In a mixing bowl, combine ground meat, drop of oregano, drop of black pepper, basil, and sea salt.
In a large 6 quart crock pot, begin by layering one light layer of pasta sauce on the bottom of the pot, followed by a sprinkle of mozarella cheese shreds and then layer several slices of eggplant to cover the bottom.
Follow with the ricotta mixture and then dot the top with small bits of the meat mixture.
Cover with Sauce.
Repeat layering until you reach the top or run out of ingredients.
I cooked mine on high for 4 hours and then warm for another two hours which had it bubbling pretty nicely.
I opted not to pre-ccok my eggplant this time but if I make this one again I will probably either pre-cook or use zucchini as noodles instead. Only because some of the eggplant was not the tenderness I prefer. Meat was cooked through and cheese was bubbling though. All of the flavors were fantastic together.