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1
Using a vegetable peeler, peel random strips of skin from the eggplants; save the skins for use in my Vegetable Stock Recipe #135453; slice the eggplants thinly.
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2
Heat the oil in a large - preferably non-stick - pan. Make sure that the oil is hot (but not so hot that the crumbed eggplant slices burn) before adding each batch of crumbed eggplant slices so that the surface is immediately sealed; eggplant is notorious for absorbing oil and will do just that if the oil is too cool and you'll end up using a very large quantity of oil!
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3
Mix the minced garlic and dried basil with the breadcrumbs.
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4
Coat the eggplant slices in flour; shake off the excess; dip in the egg, then in the breadcrumb mixture; shallow-fry in batches, until lightly browned; drain on absorbent paper.
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5
Preheat the oven to 200u00b0C/180u00b0C fan-forced/400u00b0F/gas mark 6.
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6
Mix cheeses together and mix in the walnuts (if using).
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7
Spread about one-third of the pasta sauce over the base of a well-greased 2.5 litre (10-cup) ovenproof dish; top with about one-third of the eggplant, one-third of the cheeses and one-third of the oregano; repeat layering.
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8
Bake, covered, for 20 minutes; uncover (and add chopped bacon, if using); bake for 10 minutes or until the surface is lightly browned (and the bacon, if using, is cooked and crisped).
