Ingredients:

For the meat sauce:
2 Tbps. olive oil
2 onions (finely chopped)
4 cloves of garlic (crushed)
2 sprigs of fresh thyme
1 bay leaf
1 pound ground beef
1/2 pound ground pork
1 cup red wine
28 oz of peeled, whole tomatoes

For the béchamel sauce:
1 stick butter
1cup all purpose flour
1 quart full fat/whole milk
1/4 whole nutmeg, grated
salt and fresh ground pepper

For the eggplant layers:
3 eggplants (sliced into ½ inch slices)
1/4 cup salt
olive oil

For the garnish:
1/4 cup parsley, chopped

Method:

To make the meat sauce:
Place a large heavy based pan over a med- high heat.  In a little olive oil sauté the onions for 1-2 minutes. Add the garlic and the herbs and cook for 5-7 minutes until onions and garlic are soft, this should be with out color. 

Add the ground beef and ground pork. Cook for a further 10 minutes. Add the red wine and deglaze pan. Add the tomatoes and bring to a gentle simmer for 3 hours.
Remove bay leaf and thyme stems.

To make the béchamel sauce:
Place med sized saucepan over a low to med heat. Add the butter and flour and stir with a wooden spoon for 3 minutes. Slowly add the milk and stir constantly until sauce has no lumps. This process will take 10 minutes or so. Season the sauce with a little nutmeg, salt and pepper.

To make the eggplant layers:
Preheat the oven to 175c/350 degrees.
 
Sprinkle the salt over the slices of eggplant and allow to sit for 15 minutes. Wash the salt off under running water and fry slices off eggplant in a large fry-pan or wok in a little oil (you do not need to cook the egg plant all the way through, simply color either side). Pat the cooked eggplant on paper towels.

To assemble the dish:
Place two ladles of the meat sauce on the bottom of a large oven proof dish (at least 9-inches x 13-inches) and then place a layer of sliced eggplant.  Ladle half of the meat sauce over the eggplant then half of the béchamel sauce on top. Repeat this process finishing with a layer of béchamel sauce.

Cover with foil and bake in the oven for 30 minutes. Remove foil and return to the oven for 15-20 minutes.  Remove from the oven, sprinkle with chopped parsley and serve.