Roasted Eggplant Pizza

 

This is the culmination of a week-long dream of eating eggplant on something crusty and delicious and full of fresh basil (a current flavor obsession). When I made it tonight I only had one layer of eggplant, but I think it needs more. So in the recipe I’m recommending two. This pizza has a white sauce (olive oil, ricotta cheese) because I am just not feeling the tomato sauce lately. But I’m sure you could use tomato sauce instead and it would be very tasty.

Dough:

1 1/2 C white flour

1 1/2 C wheat flour

1 tsp dry active yeast

2 tsp kosher salt

2 Tbs olive oil

1 1/4 C water

Combine all ingredients in your food processor. Process for 30 seconds until mixture forms a ball. Turn out onto a lightly floured surface and knead a few times until smooth. Place in an oiled bowl and cover with a dish towel. Let rise in a warm place for 1-2 hours.

Topping:

2 large eggplants

2-3 cloves garlic, minced

3 Tbs olive oil

2/3 C ricotta cheese

1/2 C fresh grated parmesan cheese

8 oz. buffalo mozzarella, sliced

1 bunch fresh basil, stems removed

olive oil for roasting eggplant, salt, pepper

Slice the eggplants into 1/4 in. slices. Salt slices generously and place in a colander to drain for 30 minutes. Rinse, line up in a single layer on two baking sheets, drizzle with olive oil and roast at 450 degrees for 12 minutes. Flip the slices with tongs and return to the oven for 10 more minutes. Place slices in a large bowl, drizzle with more olive oil and sprinkle with salt. Raise oven temperature to 500 degrees.

Press the crust onto a cookie sheet and brush with the 3 tablespoons olive oil. Spread the minced garlic, then use your fingers to spread the ricotta cheese over the crust. Line up half of the whole basil leaves over the ricotta cheese and sprinkle liberally with fresh ground pepper.

 

Lay a first layer of eggplant slices. Cover eggplant with mozzarella slices, and sprinkle parmesan on top. As you can see, this is where I did not have a layer of eggplant, but I recommend that you do.

Lay a final layer of eggplant slices on top of cheese. Chop remaining basil leaves and sprinkle over eggplant, then grind a final dousing of black pepper over the top.

Bake the pizza for 12-14 minutes.