Stephencooks

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.