This eggplant pizza makes use of roasted slices as an alternative of dough for a fast, wholesome, gluten-free dinner. It’s simple to customise and prepared in about half-hour!
Right here’s a non-traditional pizza recipe that’s stolen my coronary heart: eggplant pizza! Right here roasted eggplant is the crust (not a topping!) and it’s a fast, wholesome, gluten-free various that’s excellent for busy evenings while you don’t have power to make a pizza.
As an professional in home made pizzas, my margherita pizza recipe is my delight and pleasure, honed over a decade of learning Italian pizza. However that doesn’t imply I don’t take pleasure in a fast and straightforward various! This eggplant pizza is definitely a spin on a Julia Youngster recipe I made as an appetizer years in the past when Alex and I had been first studying to cook dinner. It’ll all the time maintain a spot in my coronary heart: and I hope you’ll like it too!
5-Star Reader Evaluations
“Tremendous simple and yummy approach to make use of up a fall eggplant out of the backyard. Thanks for sharing!” -Megan
“I made this recipe for my husband and he simply cherished it! He by no means missed the crust. I discovered it the simplest and healthiest approach I’ve ever eaten eggplant. I’m rising eggplant and have many to make use of up so I actually respect a wholesome solution to serve eggplant.” -Nameless
Make Eggplant Pizza
Right here’s the fundamental idea behind eggplant pizza, or: pizza with a roasted eggplant crust! The principle steps are as follows (or bounce to the recipe):
- Step 1: Roast the eggplant. Slice an eggplant into rounds after which roast it for 15 to twenty minutes at 400°F. The feel you need is tender, however one thing that also holds its form: so you’ll be able to eat it together with your palms!
- Step 2: High with pizza sauce and toppings. Add pizza sauce (our home made sauce is epic!) and prime with cheese. In Julia’s pizza she places contemporary basil below the cheese, which makes for a pleasant contemporary taste.
- Step 3: Broil and serve. You then’ll broil the pizza till the cheese is melted and golden brown. And that’s it: excellent eggplant pizza!
Ideas for Finest Outcomes
Listed here are a number of ideas for making the very best eggplant pizza:
- Search for a globe eggplant that’s as uniform in measurement all the best way down as potential. Many globe eggplants have a skinny neck and get very massive on the backside. Which means while you slice them, you get numerous small circles after which huge circles. Discovering a uniformly sized eggplant helps so that every one your pizzas are nearer to the identical measurement. After all, this doesn’t have an effect on the flavour: so it’s not it’s not required.
- Slice at ¾ inch thickness. Thinner eggplant slices get too floppy; thicker ones are too heavy on the eggplant taste.
- Use home made pizza sauce. My simple pizza sauce takes simply 5 minutes to make in a blender. If you take a style of a spoonful, you’ll by no means return! Each time I make it, I style it and say: “Wow, that actually is the very best pizza sauce.”
Straightforward Variations to Strive
You’ll be able to add any toppings you prefer to this wholesome eggplant pizza! Whereas I really like them topped merely with cheese and contemporary basil, listed here are a number of extra concepts and variations:
- Pesto and contemporary tomatoes. See Pesto Pizza.
- Peppers, onions and arugula. See Finest Wholesome Pizza.
- Spinach and artichokes. See Spinach Artichoke Pizza.
- Olives, spinach & sundried tomatoes. See Mediterranean Pizza.
- Avocado, peppers, and goat cheese. See Veggie & Avocado Pizza.
- Air fryer model. Cook dinner the eggplant rounds at 375°F for about 8 to 10 minutes, then add toppings and air fry for one more 3 to 4 minutes till the cheese is melted and bubbly. It’s an amazing choice for a small batch.
- Pizza bites / appetizer fashion. Use a smaller Japanese eggplant and slice it thinner for bite-sized rounds which are excellent get together appetizers.
What to Serve With It
You’ll be able to serve this eggplant pizza as an appetizer, and it feeds about 4 to six folks. Or strive it as a fundamental dish! I’d advocate doubling the recipe under for 4, after which serving with some hearty sides. Right here are some things I’d pair with it:
- Inexperienced Salad. Strive Excellent Italian Salad, Chopped Salad, Finest Tossed Salad, Spinach Apple Salad, Traditional Spinach Salad, Arugula Beet Salad, or Fennel Orange Salad.
- Hearty Salad. Strive our Quinoa Salad, Kale Quinoa Salad, Easy Chickpea Salad, or French Lentil Salad for heartier selections.
- Sauteed Veggies. Whereas the oven is baking the eggplant, make some Sauteed Rainbow Chard, Finest Sauteed Kale, Easy Sauteed Broccoli, Sauteed Spinach or Finest Sauteed Mushrooms.
Storing & Reheating
Retailer leftovers hermetic within the fridge for as much as 3 days. The rounds will soften as they sit. Reheat in a 375°F oven or a toaster oven till warmed via and the cheese is re-melted. Reheating would additionally work nice in an air fryer!
I don’t advocate freezing eggplant pizza as a result of the eggplant turns into very mushy and watery when frozen and thawed.
Dietary Notes
This eggplant pizza recipe is vegetarian and gluten-free. It’s additionally appropriate for low-carb and keto diets: every serving has a fraction of the carbohydrates of conventional pizza dough. To make it vegan, use a plant-based mozzarella substitute.
Regularly Requested Questions
This recipe makes use of roasted eggplant because the crust, which isn’t sometimes crispy. It’s extra of a mushy, roasted vegetable consistency. If you happen to wished a crispy pizza, you would make a cheese pizza with roasted eggplant on prime.
You’ll be able to, however it is going to be a a lot smaller batch. To make eggplant pizza in an air fryer, air fry the seasoned slices at 375°F for 8 to 10 minutes till tender. Add the pizza sauce, basil, and cheese, then return to the air fryer for one more 3 to 4 minutes till the cheese is melted and the tops are golden. Work in batches to maintain the rounds in a single layer. The air fryer is a superb choice for a small serving.
Sure, eggplant pizza is a low-carb pizza choice. A standard slice of pizza can have 30 to 40 grams of carbohydrates from the pizza dough alone. Eggplant may be very low in carbohydrates (about 5 grams per cup), which makes these rounds a great match for low-carb and keto diets. The toppings add a small quantity of extra carbohydrates from the tomato sauce, however the total carbs is under that of any conventional pizza crust.
Straightforward Eggplant Pizza (Wholesome Crust Various)
This eggplant pizza makes use of roasted slices as an alternative of dough for a fast, wholesome, gluten-free dinner. It’s simple to customise and prepared in about half-hour!
- Prep Time: 10 minutes
- Cook dinner Time: 20 minutes
- Complete Time: half-hour
- Yield: 2 to 3 as a fundamental; 4 to six as an appetizer 1x
- Class: Most important Dish
- Methodology: Baked
- Delicacies: Italian
- Food plan: Vegetarian
Substances
- 2 kilos globe eggplant*
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1 cup Straightforward Pizza Sauce
- ½ cup mozzarella cheese
- ½ cup Parmesan cheese
- ¼ cup chopped contemporary basil, plus extra for garnish
- Kosher salt, to season
Directions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F.
- Slice the eggplant into ¾ inch thick slices. Brush either side with 2 tablespoons olive oil. Sprinkle the tops liberally kosher salt (about ¼ teaspoon complete) and the dried oregano.
- Place the eggplant on a baking sheet and bake for 15 to twenty minutes, till tender however nonetheless holding their form.
- Whereas the eggplant roasts, make the pizza sauce.
- High the eggplant with a skinny layer of the pizza sauce, then add the chopped basil, divided between the rounds. Sprinkle with mozzarella cheese and Parmesan cheese, divided between the rounds, and sprinkle the tops with a bit of extra kosher salt.
- Broil the eggplant till the cheese is melted and flippantly browned, about 3 to five minutes, rotating the pan as obligatory for even cooking (alternatively, you’ll be able to bake the pizzas till the cheese melts). High with extra contemporary basil and serve.
Notes
*This recipe is simple to double to feed 4 as a fundamental dish. If you happen to can, attempt to discover eggplant that could be a uniform measurement all the best way down the eggplant (eggplant that has a really massive bulb on the finish makes for extra variation in pizza measurement).
