Fast! Healthy! Delicious! These little pizza circles are veggie-rich and totally fun to make and eat. They are packed with fiber and offer dividends of Vitamin K, Vitamin B6, folate, and potassium, along with other riches. OK, and sometimes the kids don't notice that their pizza crust is missing. Talk about dividends.
We were curious to see if the CATS kids would like eggplant, and most did. A few of the younger chefs tasted it and then just ate the toppings. But these were still a hit.
They can be customized - we put chopped, cooked veggie sausage (quite yummy!) on ours, but you could use pepperoni, regular sausage, mushrooms, olives, roasted veggies or any other favorite pizza add-ons.
Ingredients
- 1 eggplant, washed, partly peeled (just peel 4 long vertical stripes around the body – the remaining skin helps the pizza rounds keep their shape)
- Olive oil spray
- salt & pepper
- 1/4 – 1/2 cup pasta sauce or pizza sauce
- 1/2 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
- 1/3 cup shredded or grated Parmesan cheese
- 2 tablespoons fresh basil, finely chopped
- Toppings as desired: fresh tomato slices, mushrooms, chopped black olives, pepperoni, sausage, veggie crumbles, etc.
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Slice the eggplant horizontally into discs about 1/2″ thick.
- On a foil or parchment-covered baking sheet, spritz the slices with olive oil spray and season with salt and pepper. Flip and spritz the other side.
- Bake until almost tender, about 8-10 minutes.
- Handling the hot pan carefully, spread about a tablespoon of sauce on each eggplant round. Top with shredded mozzarella, then your preferred toppings, then with Parmesan and chopped basil.
- Return to the oven and bake another 6 minutes or so, until the cheese is melted.
- These are best served hot, and can be reheated in the microwave.
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