Eggplant and Potato Baked Dish

Recipe Courtsey - Smita Chowdhri

Ingredients
1 medium-sized eggplant - sliced 1/2" thick
3 large potatoes - sliced 1/2" thick
1/2 - 3/4 bottle any store-brand marinara sauce
Olive oil
Garlic powder1/2 - 3/4 packet shredded
3 cheese blend
Shredded mozzarella cheese (optional)
Salt - to taste

Method
1. Rub the eggplant and potato slices with salt and garlic powder and set aside.
2. In a saute pan, pour enough olive oil for shallow frying, and fry the eggplant slices and potato slices separately till soft (you will need to turn over once).
3. Remove onto a plate and dab with kitchen roll to remove excess oil.
4. Preheat oven to 325 degrees.
5. Spray some PAM in a pyrex rectangular 9-inch baking dish, and first spread about 2 tbsps of marinara sauce (this prevents the eggplant/potato from sticking to the bottom).
6. Layer the eggplant slices first, followed with the potato slices stacked on top of each eggplant slice. Then, spread a few tbsps of marinara sauce till completely covered.
7. Generously sprinkle some pasta seasoning over it.Top with 3 cheese blend (only lightly cover - do not put too much). Repeat the layer again. However, the 2nd time, generously cover with the 3 cheese blend. - You can also add some more mozzarella cheese and go light on the 3 cheese blend for the top layer to make it nice and stringy.
8. Cover dish with foil, and bake for approximately 15 minutes or until cheese has melted.
9. Once baked, you can also then remove the foil, and place in oven for a quick 5 min broil to brown the cheese on top. Note:If you do not like to shallow fry - you can also also place the uncooked slices of eggplant and potato in the baked dish, but you will have to drizzle with olive oil and will have to bake it in the oven for a little longer so that it cooks throroughly.