Eggplant Pizza or Eggplant Parmesan

First new dish I tasted after coming to US was Olive Garden's Eggplant Parmesan. And it was delicious. I am sharing with you all a healthier and simpler version of Eggplant (Brinjal) Parmesan or Eggplant Pizza. Name as you like, eat as much as you wish.. :)

Prep Time:  50 minutes
Cooking Time: 20 minutes

Ingredients 
1 Big Eggplant (Brinjal)
salt to taste
1 tsp Black pepper
1 tsp Olive Oil
1 tsp  Dried Herbs
1/2 cup Bread crumbs
1 cup Pasta Sauce or Marinara Sauce
Fresh Mozzarella Cheese
Parmesan Cheese

For Pasta Sauce
1 cup Tomato Paste
1/4th cup Tomato Sauce
1 cup diced tomatoes
1 medium onion chopped
2 garlic cloves minced
few springs of fresh Basil
1 tsp Butter
1 tsp Black Pepper powder
Salt to taste

Cut the Eggplant into 1/2 inch thick slices. Place the slices in a plate. In a small bowl mix oil, salt, crushed Black Pepper and Dried herbs like Parsley and basil. Lightly brush this mixture on both the sides of the eggplant slices. Allow the slices to marinate for 30 minutes.

Meanwhile you can prepare your pasta sauce. You can use the store bought pasta sauce also.

For Home made Pasta Sauce Saute Onion in butter until its tender. Add garlic and saute for another minute. Add Tomato Paste, sauce, tomatoes, pepper powder, salt and Basil. Allow it to cook uncovered, stirring occasionally for around 20 minutes or until desired consistency.

Crush the bread crumbs finely and set aside in a plate.

Now coat the eggplant slices from both sides with the bread crumbs and put them for grilling.

Option :  You can also bake them in oven, but i like the grill lines on the eggplant so i prefer to grill them.

After grilling place them on a greased baking tray. Spread sauce over the slices and top them with the cheeses. Bake at 350~ F for 4-5 minutes or until the cheese is melted.  

Tip : 

1. You can deep fry the eggplant slices by dipping them in a thick batter of All purpose flour (maida), salt, pepper powder, dried herbs, teaspoon of oil and water. Skip the marination and grilling part.

2. You can bake the eggplant slices by dipping them in the thick batter (recipe as in tip 1) and coat them with bread crumbs. Bake them at 350~F for 25 minutes or until golden brown, turning them once. Skip marination and grilling part.

Spicy Vegetarian Pizza

Home made Pizza

From a kid to an adult, every one loves Pizza. A dish of Italian origin, which has now made its place in almost every country of the world. Me and my husband are also pizza lovers. But the high calories and fat content used to make us feel guilty after eating. So then i was inspired to make this less calories pizza at home. This recipe is very less time consuming too. So hope you guys enjoy this world famous mouth watering dish. :)

For making Pizza you need to prepare three (3) things; Pizza dough, Pizza sauce and the most interesting - your choice of toppings. You get Pizza dough or ready made base very easily in the market. But making them at home is not only healthy but at the same time you can add your favorite herbs in the bread.

For Pizza Dough

1 1/2 cup all purpose flour or maida

1/2 cup of whole wheat flour

1 teaspoon sugar

1 teaspoon olive oil or any other oil

1 teaspoon sugar

1/2 cup of luke warm water

1 teaspoon of active dry yeast

salt to taste

Add sugar and yeast into luke warm water and let it sit for 5 mins or until the yeast is dissolved. Meanwhile in another bigger bowl mix both flours, olive oil and salt. You may add finely chopped fresh herbs of your choice. Add the dissolved yeast mixture. Knead the dough well adding some extra water, if needed. Knead into a soft dough. It would be little bit sticky, reason being the whole wheat flour. you can sprinkle some all purpose flour to remove the stickiness. Now take the dough in another bowl and drizzle some olive oil on it and turn the dough around so that its lightly coated with oil. now cover the bowl and place it in a warm place. I normally put the bowl in my oven and switch on the oven light. The light is sufficient to give warmness to the dough. Allow it to stay for almost an hour or until it has doubled. Once it is doubled, take the dough out, punch it down and place that back again in the bowl covered and let it rest. Let the dough rest until it gets doubled again. It will almost take another 45 mins to 1 hour.  Meanwhile, you can prepare your Pizza Sauce and toppings.

For Pizza Sauce

There are variety of Pizza sauces available in the market. You may use them or even a basic tomato sauce gives a great flavour. I like my sauce to be little bit chunky.

Ingredients

1 cup tomato puree strained
1 chopped tomato
1 chopped onion
1 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 cup multi coloured bell peppers
chopped green chillis to taste
fresh chopped basil
1/2 teaspoon oregano
Salt to taste

Heat oil in a pan. Add minced garlic and chillis. Saute for a minute. Add onions, bell peppers. Mix them well. Add chopped tomatoes and tomato puree. Add salt and basil. Allow the sauce to cook. Donot overcook the sauce. Its going to be cooked again in the oven. Just cook to get desired consistency of the sauce. Add oregano. Turn off the heat and allow the sauce to cool.

I have added chillis to add some spice. Indians love spices and being an indian how can i ignore that :)

For Pizza Toppings

Use the toppings of your choice. I have used tomatoes, onions, bell peppers and fresh corn kernels. You can add mushrooms, baby corns & olives also. Mozzarella cheese is must.

The three processes have been completed. Now comes the final task. Once the dough has risen for the second time. Take the dough out. Punch and form a soft ball. Preheat your oven at 400 F.

On a clean surface roll the soft ball with enough dusting. Form a thin disk from the same. The thickness of the base should be less if you like a crunchy base. Coat some oil spray on the Pizza baking dish and dust some flour on it. Now shift base on on the baking dish. I like my edges to be little bit more crunchier. You can press the edges as i have done. This will make the edge crisp. Now brush olive oil on the base.  This will stop the sauce from soaking your bread base. Now spread the Pizza Sauce on it. Now arrange your toppings and generously spread grated mozzarella cheese on top.

Now put the baking tray in the pre-heated oven and cook for around 25 minutes. Do keep a check on your Pizza as baking time may differ based on the oven used.

Enjoy you Fresh Home Made Pizza :)