Roasted Eggplant Pizzas

I don’t recall ever tasting, much less cooking, eggplant until after I was married. I saw it at the grocery store one day and decided I wanted to see if I liked it. I looked up an eggplant panini recipe to try and fell in love. It was SO good. (I need to find that recipe again and post it soon.) I made the paninis a few times, but have never tried any other ways of cooking eggplant.

I was at the grocery store the other day and eggplants were on sale. I picked one up and decided to try some roasted eggplant pizzas. Can’t go wrong with pizza, right?

I started with a fairly large eggplant. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Slice the eggplant into about 3/4 inch rounds. Place on a dry towel (can use paper towels, but I was out). Generously salt the rounds to pull out the moisture. Let sit for approximately 30 minutes.

 While the rounds sit for that half hour, you can start the sauce. Using about 2 tsp olive oil (I used garlic infused olive oil), saute 1 large garlic clove and about 1/3 cup red onion.

Add 1 1/4 cups pasta sauce, dry herbs & pepper flakes.

Let sauce simmer, stirring occasionally. You want to get out most of the moisture, but watch it closely so that it doesn’t scorch. Take off heat once you can scoop it to one side and it doesn’t run everywhere.

 After the 30 minutes are up, your eggplant should look something like this. Using a towel, dab off all the excess moisture along with most of the salt.

 Transfer the eggplant to a baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with dried herbs of choice.  Place in 375 degree oven and roast for approximately 20 minutes. (Watch closely so that they don’t get too mushy and lose their shape.)

While the eggplant roasts in the oven, mix your cheeses in a small bowl.

 When the eggplant is done roasting it should look something like this.

Divide the sauce amongst the eggplant rounds and spread over the whole top. Generously top with cheese. Place back in the oven and broil until cheese is melted and slightly golden.

It should only take a few minutes on broil to look like this.

If you would rather follow the recipe without the pictures, I’ve posted it below as well.

Ingredients

1 large eggplant
salt
2 tsp olive oil (for sauteing)
1 large garlic clove
1/3 c. red onion, diced
1 1/4 c. pasta sauce
1 tsp dried Italian seasoning
1 tsp dried basil flakes
3/4 tsp dried oregano flakes
1/4 tsp red pepper flakes
additional olive oil (for brushing)
additional dried herbs (optional)
1 1/4 c. mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 Tbsp Parmesan cheese, grated

Directions

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.

Slice the eggplant into about 3/4 inch rounds. Place on a dry towel. Generously salt the rounds to pull out the moisture. Let sit for approximately 30 minutes.

While the rounds sit for that half hour, start the sauce. Using the 2 tsp olive oil for roasting (I used garlic infused olive oil), saute the garlic clove and the 1/3 cup red onion.

Add the pasta sauce, dry herbs & pepper flakes.

Let sauce simmer, stirring occasionally. You want to get out most of the moisture, but watch it closely so that it doesn’t scorch. Take off heat once you can scoop it to one side and it doesn’t run everywhere.

After the 30 minutes are up, your eggplant should have some liquid draining out of it. Using a towel, dab off all the excess moisture along with most of the salt.

Transfer the eggplant to a baking sheet and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with dried herbs of choice (optional).  Place in 375 degree oven and roast for approximately 20 minutes. (Watch closely so that they don’t get too mushy and lose their shape.)

While the eggplant roasts in the oven, mix your cheeses in a small bowl.

Divide the sauce amongst the eggplant rounds and spread over the whole top. Generously top with cheese. Place back in the oven and broil until cheese is melted and slightly golden.