Vegan Eggplant Bake

 As a vegan, I'm sure it's no surprise that I love all vegetables. But eggplant is one of my absolute favourites; it's that extra bit indulgent when lightly fried and never fails to pair well with anything from Middle Eastern flavours to European. This eggplant layered bake is one of my goes to not only for comfort but for convenience as well. Layers of golden fried eggplant, pumpkin and cheese with fresh oregano. It's something you want to curl up to on the couch after a long day, no guilt to accompany.

Ingredients
1 large eggplant, thinly sliced
1/2 cup plain flour
1/2 cup oil, for frying
1 brown onion, diced
1 can lentils, drained
1 bottle pasata sauce
2 tsp dried oregano
2 tbsp tomato sauce
500g pumpkin, cut into thin slices no more than 2cm thick
1/2 cup vegan cheese
2 tbsp fresh oregano
+ 2 tbsp vegan red wine, optional
+ 2 tbsp nutritional yeast, for topping, optional
+ 1 tsp dried oregano, for topping

Method
Steam the thin slices of pumpkin, set aside. In a large frying pan, heat 1/4 of the oil. Meanwhile, coat the eggplant discs in the plain flour. Fry in the oil each side until golden brown, transfer to a plate with paper towel on it to drain off excess oil. In a small saucepan, cook the diced onion in some olive oil until golden brown. Add the lentils, dried oregano, tomato sauce, pasata sauce, and fresh oregano. Simmer for 5 minutes. Add the red wine if you have on hand. Remove from heat. Layer the golden brown eggplant slices into a baking dish, top with lentil mixture. Layer the steamed pumpkin slices. Then top again with lentil mixture. Repeat until no more of the eggplant and lentils remain. You should have one layer of pumpkin and at least 2 layers of eggplant, if not 3, depending how thick you spread your lentil mixture. On the top, add the vegan cheese and the nutritional yeast and 1 tsp dried oregano as the final topping. Bake in oven at 170-180 degrees for around 15 minutes, or until cheese has melted.