fried eggplant pizza

Pasta alla Norma and eggplant parmesan might be my top two cravings. There are many ways to prepare eggplant. I can think of no preparation that I don’t like, but there are none that I love as much as frying it and incorporating it with some sort of carb (I’m looking at you, pasta and bread crumbs). Pizza makes for a natural companion.

I’ll be honest—this recipe is sort of high maintenance. Not more high maintenance than eggplant parm, but not exactly a chill weeknight meal. Ya gotta want it. Using just the dough makes things a little easier, but you do have to slice, soak and fry the eggplant. Save this recipe for when you want to have a little bit of a project. When you have some luxurious free time to spend making something special and hanging out with someone cute (you could be that cute person!). A good activity to drink wine to, if you will.

I like to use ricotta salata for this pizza because it’s salty in a briny sort of way and I think it goes well with the acidic tomato sauce and fried eggplant. However, this is not a melting cheese and that’s ok. This is not meant to be a cheesy pizza. If that doesn’t sit well with you, swap the ricotta salata for mozzarella for a brown and bubbly cheese moment. That’s a personal choice, and I get it. Don’t let me stand in your way.

Check out more instructions on how to bake the pizzas here

Fried eggplant pizza

Ingredients:

1 portion of just the dough

1 eggplant sliced into rounds, 1 cm thick

olive oil for frying (about 1/4 cup but this will depend on your pan)

pizza sauce

ricotta salata, thinly sliced

basil leaves

Step 1:

Preheat the oven to 500°F (or as high as it will go) with either a pizza stone or two sheet trays turned upside down already inside. See here for more ways to bake the pizza.

Step 2:

Remove the stem and butt from the eggplant and slice into 1 cm thick rounds. Transfer to a bowl, season with 3 tablespoons of salt and cover with water. Place a plate over the eggplant and a can or something to weigh it down. The idea here is to fully submerge the eggplant in the salted water for 30-45 minutes.

Step 3:

After 30-45 minutes, strain the eggplant and pat dry. No need to season, they already are from the salty water. Place a skillet over medium-medium high heat and add olive oil. The eggplant are very absorbent, so I say a 1/4 cup, but really I mean that the oil should always reach half way up the eggplant. You may need to add more as you go. test that the oil is ready by dipping part of the eggplant into the oil. The oil should bubble around it. Like lots of tiny bubbles, not big boiling bubbles. When the oil is ready, add the eggplant, one at a time, being sure to place them in so that oil splashes away from you.

Step4:

Fry the eggplant for about 2-3 minutes on each side until they are golden brown. Don’t over crowd the pan. They need space to do their thing, just like the rest of us. Transfer fried eggplants to a plate lined with lots of paper towels to absorb excess oil.

Step 5:

If you are using the recipe for focaccia, divide the dough into 5 portions, at the time when you would otherwise transfer to a an oiled sheet tray to bake to make focaccia. This dough will be sticky so be sure to use a floured surface.

If you are using just the dough, remove it from the freezer, and allow to thaw and come to room temperature.

Step 6:

Place your ball of dough onto a floured surface. Using your hands, gently, press the dough to flatten. Stretch the dough into a roughly 10” circle, using your palms. You can lift the dough to help stretch it. Put a piece of parchment paper on top of a pizza peel (or if you don’t have a pizza peel, just use the parchment paper).

Step 7:

Spread pizza sauce over the dough, being sure to leave a perimeter for crust. top with slices of ricotta salata, torn basil and eggplant.

Step 7:

Carefully, slide the parchment paper and pizza into the oven over the sheet trays or pizza stone. Bake for about 8-10 minutes or until crust is a deep golden brown. Rotate mid-way through if necessary. Remove from oven and sprinkle with red pepper flakes and a squeeze of lime.