Mini Eggplant Pizzas

I honestly have to say that purple is my least favorite color BUT I can't help but love the rich deep purple hue of eggplants. Such a unique feature of a very healthy vegetable that happens to be in season right now. Last minute my mom asked me if I could pull together a family dinner and since I hadn't posted any meals for this week yet, I was quick to jump on the offer and even quicker to decide on eggplant as the feature. Although eggplant isn't a nutritional superstar, its skin is chalk full of antioxidants as you can imagine and it boasts lots of fiber. Interesting fact: Eggplant is considered a fruit but botanically its actually a berry. Huh?

After thumbing through a few of my favorite cookbooks, I didn't find anything that looked that appealing but then remembered a baby recipe I had seen in a magazine I was reading a while back. It had used eggplant as the "crust" to mini pizzas. It had also grilled the eggplant so that the edges became crispy. Seeing as I've never used a grill (and have really wanted to recently) and needed a quick option for the night I ran to the store to grab the few ingredients that these mini "pizzas" required. Here's all that was on my list:

Ellie's Grocery List

Eggplant

Pizza sauce

Parmesan Cheese

Basil

Pesto

As soon as I got home, I sliced up the eggplant (very thinly was the key to this recipe) and placed the slices between paper towels to soak up the moisture. Once the grill was lit, and heated I brushed both sides with some olive oil and sprinkled with himalayan sea salt. 

3-4 minutes later I flipped them. A few became martyrs to the grill as my flipping abilities are sub par and they slipped down into the coal. Whoopsie. 

Once all the slices were soft and edges crispy, I brought them inside and assembled the pizzas. A thin layer of pizza sauce and some shredded cheese went onto each little round and all the rounds went into a 400° oven to be melted. 

Meanwhile I put the pesto into a few cups of black rice (remember how yummy black rice is from a former meal?). I used the black rice as a bit of substance for the pizza rounds to lay on. I don't think eggplant pizzas would be enough for the whole meal and the pesto would be the perfect complement to the flavors of the eggplant and parmesan. 

I have to say, for a last minute dinner option, it turned out really well. I loved grilling and obviously need more practice so count on some more weekly meals incorporating some grilling. If you don't happen to have a grill, just cook the rounds at 400° on their own until soft and then continue with the rest of the procedure as I did. Enjoy!

What is your Favorite thing to Grill?