Eggplant and Late Summer Tomato Pizza

^T

here were several pounds of both eggplants and tomatoes in this week's Wolf Pine Farm CSA share, so I was looking for a way to use the eggplants and at the same time take advantage of the bounty of fresh tomatoes. This Mediterranean-influcenced pizza -- with smoked capiello, onions, garlic, the eggplant, some oil-cured black olives, topped with juicy chunks of fresh tomato -- was a nearly perfect vehicle for all this late summer  goodness.  By the way, not only the tomatoes and eggplant but also the garlic, onions and basil came to us in our weekly Wolf Pine Farm bag!

Eggplant and Late Summer Tomato Pizza

1/2 recipe pizza dough
1 medium eggplant (about 3/4 lb) sliced crosswise 3/8" thick
salt
olive oil
1 medium onion, sliced thin
4 cloves garlic, chopped
8 oz smoked capiello, shredded
1 T dried oregano
1 T dried Thai basil
1 oz Parmigiano Reggiano, shredded
2 small (2"diameter) very ripe small tomatoes (or 1 large)
12 oil-cured black olives, pitted and chopped

Salt the eggplant slices on both sides and allow to sit for 30 minutes. Rinse in cool water and dry thoroughly.

Stretch and flatten the dough into a pizza shell, place on a cornmealed peel and cover with a clean cloth. Allow to rise 30 minutes.

Meanwhile, brush the eggplant slices with oil and broil in a 500º oven 2 or 3 inches from the heat source about 3-5 minutes on a side, until just starting to brown. (The pizza stone should already be on a middle rack in the oven so that it's nice and hot when it's time to bake the pizza.) When done, turn the oven down to 450º.

Spread 2 tablespoons of olive oil on the pizza shell, then scatter on the onion rings and garlic. Cover with the capiello, leaving about 1" between the edge of the pizza and the edge of the crust. Scatter on the dried herbs and bake on the hot stone for about 10 minutes, until the cheese is bubbly and starting to brown.

Meanwhile, cut the tomatoes into irregular chunks, about 1" average dimension. Drain in a sieve for a few minutes, then toss in a bowl with some olive oil.

Lay the the eggplant on the pizza in a ring of overlapping slices. Scatter on the Parmesan cheese, then the olive chunks and then the tomato chunks. (Reserve the liquid left in the tomato bowl.) Lower the oven temperature to 400º and bake the pizza another ten or so minutes, until the crust is a nice golden brown.

To serve, scatter on a little salt, brush the crust edges with the reserved tomato oil and cut in 8 slices.

Comments

[Jeff]

Good moving salting the eggplant...my wife never does this step and the eggplant is always bitter :Z

[Ellie]

I've been having a bit of a hankering for home-made pizza, and after seeing this beauty I think I know what I'm having for lunch today :)

[scott]

Salting the eggplant! I'd been doing that for zuccini, but I didn't know I should do it for eggplant too! another day, another synapse formed. Oh, and the pizza sounds awesome.

[Karina]

That, Stephen, is a thing of beauty!

[Jeanne]

Oh, Stephen, why do you torture me so?!?!? Gonna have to go home and make pizza! That looks just marvellous. And yes, I always salt my aubergines but the zucchini in the UK are so sweet they don't need salting (back in South Africa they did!) I was at the Munich Oktoberfest over the weekend and munched on thinly sliced giant radishes - the locals informed us that they are meant to be salted and left to sweat for a while too - and BOY did that make them taste good.

[Paz]

Your pizza looks terrific!

Paz

[Scott at RealEpicurean]

Salting the eggplant (Aubergine in England) is a good move as it drains some of the water content from it.

A very well thought out pizza.

[Bradley]

Great looking pizza. I like to use the grill rather then the oven to bake the pie. From the step of placing the dough on the cornmealed peel then place on medium heat until the side becomes done and crisp 2-3 minutes. Place all of the toppings onto the grilled side of the dough and then slide back onto grill to finish cooking.

[farmgirl]

When you first posted this, I kept the page open on my computer for several days. I would just pop it up and gaze at it adoringly (okay, adroolingly) a couple of times a day. Pure torture, but I couldn't help myself. The first year I planted a garden in Missouri I hit the lucky eggplant jackpot or something. I must have had 30 of them--all ready at the same time of course. For years afterward I would buy and start various types of seeds, but I never harvested a single eggplant. I finally gave up (I'm pretty stubborn when it comes to the garden.) This recipe just may have me ordering some eggplant seeds come winter.

[sher]

That looks wonderful. I have a lot of eggplant that I harvested from my garden. They are productive plants, I must say. I love the way your pizza looks and it would be an ideal way to use some. Thanks!