Roman Pizza Series 4 of 5 – Eggplant & Parmesan Pizza

Like I’ve mentioned before, we visited Rome during the hottest time of the summer. After being out in the heat and sweating for 3 days straight, we decided that we needed to take a little break from sight-seeing and spend the day at the beach! Luckily before we left for Italy I researched a day trip to the beach that was a little more than an hour away from Rome to a little town called Sperlonga.

Sperlonga is a charming seaside town. The “Old Town” is built on a cliff overlooking the sea with the most amazing views of the Mediterranean. Below “Old Town” Sperlonga is the most perfect beach that stretches for almost 4 miles. I am so sad that I didn’t take a lot of pictures in Sperlonga (mainly because I was getting some much-needed relaxation in), but below are 2 of my favorites, enjoy!

The beautiful white-washed sea-town of Sperlonga.

Enjoying some R & R!

Now, I never actually had an eggplant parmesan pizza while in Rome (or any part of Italy for that matter), but I decided to make a pizza that was inspired by it. I had eggplant parmesan while dining one night in Italy and it blew my socks off. I think this pizza is a great pizza version of it. With all of the grilled eggplant on the pizza, I don’t miss not having meat with this dish.

The Eggplant Parmesan I had in Italy that inspired this pizza creation.

 

Roman Pizza Series 4 of 5 – Eggplant & Parmesan Pizza

Cook’s Notes: Once the dough has been placed in the oiled bowl, it can be transferred to the refrigerator and kept for up to 24 hours. Bring the dough to room temperature, 2 to 2 1/2 hours, before proceeding with step 4. When kneading the dough on high speed, the mixer tends to wobble and move on the counter.

Place a towel or shelf liner under the mixer and watch it at all times during mixing. Handle the dough with slightly oiled hands. Resist flouring your fingers or the dough might stick.

This recipe was developed using an 18- by 13-inch baking sheet. Smaller baking sheets can be used, but because the pizza will be thicker, baking times will be longer. If not using a pizza stone, increase the oven temperature to 500 degrees and set the rack to the lowest position; the cooking time might increase by 3 to 5 minutes and the exterior won’t be as crisp.

Ingredients:

Pizza Dough:

3 C unbleached all-purpose flour

1 2/3 C water (13 1/2 ounces), room temperature

1 1/4 t table salt

1 1/2 t instant yeast

1 1/4 t sugar

5 T extra virgin olive oil

kosher salt

Toppings:

1-14 oz can diced tomatoes

4 oz fresh mozzarella, sliced and torn into pieces

1 small eggplant (10-12 ounces)

1/2 – 3/4 C shredded parmesan cheese

2-3 large basil leaves, chopped

Directions:

1.  Place towel or shelf liner beneath stand mixer to prevent wobbling. Mix flour, water, and table salt in bowl of stand mixer fitted with dough hook on low speed until no patches of dry flour remain, 3 to 4 minutes, occasionally scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Turn off mixer and let dough rest 20 minutes.

2.  Sprinkle yeast and sugar over dough. Knead on low speed until fully combined, 1 to 2 minutes, occasionally scraping sides and bottom of bowl. Increase mixer speed to high and knead until dough is glossy, smooth, and pulls away from sides of bowl, 6 to 10 minutes. (Dough will only pull away from sides while mixer is on. When mixer is off, dough will fall back to sides.)

3.  Using fingers, coat large bowl with 1 tablespoon oil, rubbing excess oil from fingers onto blade of rubber spatula. Using oiled spatula, transfer dough to bowl and pour 1 tablespoon oil over top. Flip dough over once so it is well coated with oil; cover tightly with plastic wrap. Let dough rise at room temperature until nearly tripled in volume and large bubbles have formed, 2 to 2 1/2 hours.

4.  One hour before baking pizza, adjust oven rack to middle position, place pizza stone on rack, and heat oven to 450 degrees.

5.  Drain the can of tomatoes over a bowl for 20-30 minutes.

6. Preheat grill to medium-high.

7.  Cut eggplant into 1/2-inch thick rounds. Grill, turning once, until marked and softened, 4 to 6 minutes. Let cool slightly, then thinly slice into strips. Reduce heat to low.

8.  Coat rimmed baking sheet with 2 tablespoons oil. Using rubber spatula, turn dough out onto baking sheet along with any oil in bowl. Using fingertips, press dough out toward edges of pan, taking care not to tear it. (Dough will not fit snugly into corners. If dough resists stretching, let it relax for 5 to 10 minutes before trying to stretch again.) Let dough rest in pan until slightly bubbly, 5 to 10 minutes. Using dinner fork, poke surface of dough 30 to 40 times and sprinkle with kosher salt.

9.  Bake until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes, rotating baking sheet halfway through baking.  Take the crust out of the oven and sprinkle with drained tomatoes, mozzarella, eggplant, and parmesan. Return to the oven and cook an additional 5-10 minutes.

10.  Using metal spatula, transfer pizza to cutting board and top with the chopped basil leaves. Let cool slightly and then slice and serve.

Serves 4-6

Source: Dough recipe from America’s Test Kitchen, toppings my own

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