Eggplant rollatini has quickly become one of my absolute favorite foods. I especially love Italian restaurants that have it is an appetizer- I can have a taste without a huge heaping plate of fried food topped with cheese. Not that a whole plate of fried food topped with cheese is a bad thing... I've been known to enjoy such a thing more than once... ::wink wink::
I have mentioned my amazing local Italian deli. When I was there the other day they had the most beautifully thin sliced breaded eggplant. It looked crisp and firm, not soggy and flimsy as eggplant can get. I quickly bought a few pieces knowing exactly what I wanted to do- make an eggplant rollatini inspired pizza. I was hesitant to serve this to John- he does like eggplant but it's not a favorite, nor is ricotta. However he was a huge fan! It was pretty hard to not like this pizza, it was delicious. It's also extremely heavy and filling. John and I ate significantly less of this pizza than we typically do. Best of all this can be made quickly by using premade eggplant cutlets!
Source: Stephanie Cooks Original
Ingredients:
1 batch pizza dough
Tomato sauce
1 1/4 cups mozzarella cheese, divided
4-5 thin, small, breaded eggplant cutlets, at room temperature or slightly warm
Ricotta cheese
Italian seasoning
Directions:
1-Preheat the oven to 450 with your pizza stone in the oven.
2- Prepare your crust. Top with a light coating of tomato sauce and about 1/2 cup of mozzarella cheese.
3- On a separate plate top each eggplant cutlet with some ricotta cheese and a tbsp or two of sauce. Use a spoon to spread the sauce over the cheese. Repeat until all eggplant is topped.
4- Place the eggplant evenly over the pizza. Use the remaining mozzarella cheese to top the whole pizza. Sprinkle with Italian seasonings.
5- Bake 12-15 minutes, until the cheese is melted and the crust is golden.
this looks great, I have ricotta and eggplant in my fridge.....and fresh basil!
ReplyDeleteI haven't had many dishes with eggplant despite knowing how many people love it. Great idea using it on a pizza!
ReplyDeleteLOVE the sound of this pizza!!!
ReplyDeleteSo delicious! There was a local pizza place when I lived with my mom that made something similar to this, and it was my family's favorite. I made this tonight.. no eggplant in the store, so I bought frozen grilled eggplant slices (the only thing I could find there), thawed them out, breaded & baked them.. then assembled the pizza as directed using Pillsbury refrigerated pizza crust. I did grate some garlic over the crust and pre-baked it a few minutes before assembling to support the heavy toppings. This will definitely be made again!
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