Grilled Eggplant White Pizza
Eyeing the vegetables this past week at the grocery store I thought I was going to make my eggplant Parmesan recipe that has fooled many. “How is there eggplant in that?” is a typical response, or “I’m not sure I will like that.” And then a few bites in and they are complete converts! Who doesn’t love layers of ricotta, mzozarella with eggplant that has been breaded and pan-fried. It’s heaven!
I recently made a low cal version on my blog with the Crispy Oven-Baked Eggplant Stack, so I decided to go another direction. I thought grilling the naked slices and then tossing them on fresh pizza dough would be yummy. I would have grilled the pizza dough too if the weather would have cooperated.
I love a white pizza. One of my favorites was at a restaurant in my former stomping grounds, Richmond, VA, which was full of ricotta and spinach. Here I added arugula and also pine nuts and basil.
The pizza crust is very quick. It’s a basic recipe that I modified slightly from Genius Kitchen. It literally comes together in about 20 minutes. No more store-bought pizza dough! You can make it while you are grilling your eggplant.
Makes one large pizza
2 cups of flour
1 package of yeast
1⁄2 teaspoon of salt
1 tablespoon of sugar
2⁄3 cup lukewarm water (plus an additional 2 tbsp)
One eggplant sliced 1/4 inch thick rounds
1/2 cup of ricotta cheese
1 – 1/2 cups of mozzarella cheese
1/2 cup of chopped arugula or spinach
Two tablespoons of pine nuts
Basil
Olive Oil
Mix 1 cup of flour with the yeast, salt, sugar and water. Gradually add second cup of flour until it forms a ball. Use your hands to form and knead the dough. Let the dough rest 10-15 minutes in a bowl covered with a dish towel or plastic wrap to keep it warm. Optional: I found using a little olive oil on the dough helped me handle it easier. Spread the dough onto a greased pizza pan and pre-bake at 400 for 5 minutes.
Meanwhile, heat a grill pan on medium to high heat with nonstick spray. Add eggplant rounds and top with salt, pepper and other seasonings (I used Italian seasoning). Grill for a few minutes on each side.
Brush one tablespoon of olive oil over pre-baked pizza crust. Spread the ricotta cheese. Top with eggplant rounds, arugula, mozzarella and pine nuts. Bake for 5-10 more minutes until crust is golden brown. Top with basil.
