White and Purple Eggplant Pizza

This recipe uses both purple and white eggplants that I purchased at the Farmer’s Market. Once you see white eggplants, you will immediately realize how eggplants got their name. I first sliced the eggplants and roasted them in their skins. Never having seen white eggplants, nor cooked with them before, I learned that the skins of the white eggplants are really really thick! In this recipe, I alternated the purple and white eggplants with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella for both color and flavor. It is gorgeous and tastes even better. In the future, I will peel the white eggplants prior to cooking. You can have the same visual effect by using 2 purple eggplants, and peeling only one of them. If you are in a rush, you can use store bought pizza dough. Here’s the recipe:

Servings: 68| Prep time: 15 min; allow extra time if making own dough (45 minutes)| Cook time: 45 min

INGREDIENTS

Dough
1 packet dry yeast
1 teaspoon sugar or honey
1 cup warm water
2 1/2 cups flour
pinch of salt
2 tablespoons olive oil
vegetable oil spray

Topping
marinara sauce
2 eggplants, cut into rounds, and brushed with olive oil and seasoned with salt and pepper
2 beefsteak tomatoes, sliced
fresh mozzarella cheese
20 fresh basil leaves

DIRECTIONS

Preheat oven to 425˚ F.
Add the yeast and sugar to the warm water, mix and let stand for 10-15 minutes, until bubbly.
Mix in the flour, salt and olive oil and knead the dough. Place in a bowl, cover with a warm towel, and let rise until doubled in size (approximately 30 minutes).
Press into a baking sheet sprayed with vegetable oil spray.
While the dough is rising, place the eggplant slices on a baking sheet and roast 10 minutes each side.
To assemble the pizza, add a thin layer of marinara sauce on top of the crust. Layer the eggplant, tomatoes, and mozzarella. Alternate the purple and white eggplant. Sprinkle with the fresh basil leaves and bake in the oven for 25 minutes.