Mini Aubergine (Eggplant) Pizza

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Some days, like today, bread for lunch just won’t do. My body’s been working overtime and was craving some comfort food. Comfort like pizza, but no time to make it, and no wish to order and go into food coma when I still had mountains of work ahead. Instead of loading up on carbs, I took an aubergine and turned it into mini pizzas. Yum. :)

Mini Aubergine Pizza

Ingredients (serves 1 as substitute for a regular pizza, or 2 as a snack or starter:
1 aubergine (eggplant)
1/2 cup tomato sauce
1 clove garlic, minced
6-7 leaves basil, plus some small leaves to top.
1 cup shredded cheese (mozzarella or another mild cheese)
3 mushrooms, sliced

Instructions:
1. Take the aubergine and slice it into 6-8 slices, about 1.5 cm thick. Sprinkle both sides with salt and place on a plate covered with paper towels to allow the water to leak out of the aubergine. Leave for about 15 minutes, then refresh the paper towel and turn the slices over.

Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

2. In a small saucepan, heat the oil and add the garlic. Fry for about 1 minute, then add the tomato sauce and basil. Cook for 5-7 minutes until the tomato sauce thickens slightly and absorbs the flavours of the garlic and basil. 

3. Now, at this stage you can do one of two things. Either, you can use this moment to pre-cook the aubergine slices. If you do this, set them in the oven for about 15 minutes to until they take on a golden colour, then proceed with steps 4, 5, etc. Or, if you want your aubergine to retain some freshness, you can leave out this step altogether and head straight to step 4 (which is what I did in this recipe). 

4. Take the aubergine and cover each slice with tomato sauce. Pile the cheese on top, then cover with mushroom slices. 

5. Set in the oven for about 7-10 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and golden. 

6. Garnish with basil leaves and serve. 

Mini Aubergine Pizza

Mini Aubergine Pizza

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