These eggplant pizzas are so amazing for when you have a surplus of eggplants from the garden. Super easy and delicious to make. Low-carb, gluten-free, grain-free, ketogenic, vegetarian.
You know it’s a great day when you can make a meal almost exclusively from vegetables in your garden. Homegrown eggplant, beefsteak tomatoes and Genovese basil all came together to make these super delicious (and healthier!) eggplant pizzas. They have none of the guilt, but all of the tastiness and flavor of a regular pizza.
You really can’t go wrong with these! I imagine they would also be incredibly tasty topped with whatever you normally top a pizza with. I am now realizing that I should have topped mine with pineapple and red onion. What was I thinking?
These are pretty simple and straightforward to make. You start by slicing and then sweating the eggplant. If you don’t know what sweating an eggplant is, here is your quick overview. Start by laying the eggplant slices down on your baking sheet (I use the one I plan to cook them on, to avoid dirtying too many dishes).
Sprinkle the teaspoon of salt over the top of the eggplants and allow them to sit for 30 minutes. This will remove the excess moisture and help make the eggplants less bitter and more tender. Wipe the excess moisture and salt off of the eggplants with a paper towel.
This is an important step, so be sure not to cut corners. There is a noticeable difference in taste and texture between the sweated and non-sweated eggplants!
While the eggplants are sitting, slice or dice up your tomatoes. If you are ok with full tomato slices, then go ahead and use them directly! If you want a more traditional tomato sauce, you will want to dice up the tomatoes and cook them down a bit in a pan with some olive oil and maybe some garlic. It is totally your preference.
Once the eggplants have finished sweating, brush them with olive oil and place them in the oven for 25-30 minutes, or until they are nice and tender but not mushy. You do not want your pizzas to fall apart when you try to pick them up, but they should be tender enough to eat.
Once they are nice and tender, remove from the oven and top with your tomatoes, then with your seasoning and cheese. Add any other toppings you want and return to the oven. Broil for 5-10 minutes, or until the cheese is nice and bubbly and begins to brown.
Now it’s time to enjoy these little personal pizzas! You may find that eating them with your hands is quite messy. I would suggest using a fork, but if you are into messy then by all means go for it. No judgement here.
Doesn’t that look so incredibly delicious?? For how tasty it was, it was so much easier to make than I would have thought, and much easier than making homemade pizza dough! I really hope you all enjoyed this recipe. It was so much fun to develop and experiment with.
Eggplant Pizzas (Gluten-Free, Grain-Free, Low-Carb)
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant (large) or 2 medium
- 2 tomatoes (large) or 1 can diced tomatoes
- 2 cups cheese I used a mix of mozzarella (1-3/4 cups) and Parmesan (1/4 cup)
- 1/2 tsp Italian seasoning
- 1/4 fresh basil (or 1/2 tsp dried)
- 1/4 tsp dried parsley
- 1/4 tsp garlic powder
- 1 tsp Salt (for sweating eggplant)
- 2-3 Tbsp olive oil
- Additional toppings (if desired)
- Salt and pepper to taste I love this Himalayan pink salt
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 375F.
- Slice eggplant into 1/2 inch thick slices. Place on a pan and sprinkle with 1 tsp of salt. Allow to sit for 30 minutes, then dab with paper towels. The dabbing will help remove the excess salt.
- Top with 2-3 Tbsp olive oil and place in oven for 25-30 minutes, or until it is cooked, but not mushy.
- Once cooked, remove eggplant from oven. Top with tomatoes, diced tomatoes or tomato sauce and seasoning (Italian seasoning, parsley, basil, garlic powder, salt and pepper to taste). Add any additional toppings, if desired.
- Top with mozzarella and Parmesan cheese and return to oven. Broil for 5-10 minutes, or until cheese on top begins to brown.
- Enjoy!
