Eggplant and Spinach Lasagna or Pasta

I adapted this from Gourmet 2002's September issue. I love eggplant and spinach and lasagna, so this was a great dish in my opinion. The recipe has you make your own marinara sauce by roasting plum tomatoes, but I skipped this step and used a nice jar of marinara sauce.

2 jars marinara sauce
2 lb. Asian or baby Italian eggplants, halved crosswise, then cut lengthwise into slices slightly less than 1/4" thick
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 large garlic clove, finely chopped
1 1/4 teaspoons salt
1/2 teaspoon black pepper
10 ounces baby spinach
1 pound ricotta (preferably fresh)
1 large egg yolk, lightly beaten
1/2 cup finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (1 oz)
8 dried lasagna noodles (not no-boil; 8 ounces), or 8 ounces of any kind of pasta

Toss eggplant slices with oil, garlic, 1/2 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper and arrange in 1 layer on 2 oiled baking sheets. Bake in upper and lower thirds of oven, switching position of sheets halfway through baking and turning slices over once, until tender, 12 to 14 minutes.

Cook spinach in 3-4 quart pot of boiling salted water, uncovered, 1 minute, then drain in a colander. When cool enough to handle, squeeze any excess water from spinach and coarsely chop. Stir together ricotta, yolk, spinach, parmesan, 3/4 teaspoon salt, and 1/4 teaspoon pepper until combined well.

Cook lasagne noodles (or other type of pasta noodles) in a 6-8 quart pot of boiling salted water, stirring occasionally, until tender. Drain noodles in a colander and rinse under cold running water.

Spoon 2 cups tomato sauce into a 13- by 9- inch glass baking dish. Lay out 4 lasagna noodles on a work surface, then spread 1/3 cup filling evenly over each noodle and cover with eggplant slices in one layer. Roll up each and arrange spirals, seam side down and without touching, over sauce in dish, then make 4 more rolls and arrange in dish. (If you're using another kind of noodle, just layer the noodles, then the filling, then the eggplant on top of that). Brush noodles with water, then spoon some sauce down middle of rolls and cover dish tightly with foil.

Bake in middle of oven until heated through, about 20 minutes. Heat remaining tomato sauce and serve on side.