Preparation:

• Heat oven to 300. For the sauce, place the whole tomatoes, roughly cut red bell pepper (a few big slices is perfect), and whole head of garlic (top sliced off, but skin still on) onto a baking sheet. Drizzle everything with olive oil. Roast until the tomatoes are blistered/very soft, about 45 min-1 hour.
• While those are cooking, soak your slivered almonds in very hot water for 30 minutes. (Just fill until the water covers the nuts.)
• Now prepare the eggplant. Cut off the ends. You’ll want to slice into very thin slices, the long way. Thick enough so that they maintain their shape, but thin enough to layer. About ⅛ an inch.
• Place eggplant into a large bowl and sprinkle with a good amount of sea salt, tossing to coat. Let sit for 10-15 minutes. This step helps to pull out some of it’s water content. Don’t skip it!
• After that time has passed, dump the excess water and blot the eggplant with a towel to soak up some of the extra salt. Line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silicone cooking pad (to prevent sticking) and place the egg plant down, as close as possible, but not overlapping. Drizzle with a little olive oil. Set aside.
• Once the tomato pan is done, take it out and let cool. Turn the oven to 400.
• Once the oven is adjusted in temperature, put the eggplant in. You can use a couple of sheet pans or just do a few rounds as you’ll only keep them in for 8-10 min at a time, just to pre-cook them a bit. Take out when they start to get a little golden on the edges. Set aside to cool.
• Now to make the “cheese”. Drain your almonds and discard the water. Combine into a food processor with all ingredients besides the chopped herbs. I usually start with 3/4 cups of water and then can add more if it needs to be thinned out a bit. Same with the salt. Start small and you can always adjust at the end. Process until creamy. Add in the chopped herbs and pulse again to combine. Taste to see if you need more salt and then set aside.
• De-stem and chop the kale very small. Saute with a little coconut oil or olive oil and pinch of salt. Once cooked down/wilted a bit, set aside.
• For the sauce, squeeze out the roasted garlic cloves from the bulb- they should come right out. Place them into a blender with the red pepper and the tomatoes (all skins left on). Add in the rest of the sauce ingredients and blend until smooth. Add more salt if needed.

Assembly:

• We’re FINALLY ready to assemble! Grab a deep baking/casserole dish and very lightly grease the bottom. I used an avocado oil spray.
• I ended up doing about 3.5 layers so you’ll just have to eyeball your amounts into thirds.
• Layer down the eggplant, one slice next to the other, until the bottom is mostly covered (it’s not going to be perfect and can overlap a bit, so do not worry). Now layer the almond ricotta on top, pressing it into a thin layer. Sprinkle the sautéed kale over that and then top with a thin layer of sauce. Repeat.
• Drizzle with olive oil and bake on 350 for 20-25 minutes, until it’s sizzling and the top is slightly browned. Top with fresh parmesan if you wish. You can cook this in advance and just pop back in to re-heat. It’s also perfect for leftovers!