Fake out Mini Pizzas (Eggplant)

Submitted by pamela t.

"Delicious and good for you, this eggplant recipe will taste and look like mini pizzas but without all the calories! Choose a longer thinner eggplant for best results—not a short, fat one."

 

• Ready In: 25mins
• Ingredients: 11
• Serves: 10

ingredients

• 1 eggplant, peeled and cut into rounds
• 1 cup diced tomato, drained
• 1 cup mushroom, diced, drained
• 2 cups pizza sauce
• 1 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1⁄4 cup parmesan cheese, grated
• 1 tablespoon fresh basil
• 1 tablespoon oregano
• 1 teaspoon granulated garlic
• 1⁄2 teaspoon salt
• 1⁄2 teaspoon pepper

directions

1. Peel eggplant and cut it into rounds the short way (width-wise) slices should be about ¼ “ thick.
2. Place slices on paper towels. Salt the eggplant and set aside. This allows the eggplant to “sweat.”.
3. Mix the two cheeses together. Set aside.
4. Meanwhile mix pizza sauce with basil, oregano, garlic, salt and pepper.
5. Heat oven to 350°F.
6. After 10 minutes, use a paper towel to dab at eggplant. The slices should not be wet.
7. Arrange eggplant rounds on a cookie sheet sprayed with cooking spray. Ladle a spoonful of pizza sauce on each slice. Spread out almost to the edges (like you would a pizza).
8. Top with a few pieces of mushroom and tomatoes; top with cheese mixture.
9. Bake at 350F about 12-15 minutes until cheese is melted. Keep an eye on this as ovens vary.
10. Cut basil into chiffonade (long, thin strips) and top each “pizza”.
11. If desired, build your “pizza” creation using whatever veggies you prefer. This recipe was designed for a contest, hence the ingredients of canned tomatoes and mushrooms.

Reviews

[SB61287]

We made this tasty treat for your Football Week 4 victory. Very enjoyable & easy. Wanted an easy snack for watching the games & this fit the bill. Again, Congrats Taz

 

[Rita1652]

Very tasty! We enjoyed these with some changes. My eggplant gave my 17 slices. I had 1/3 cup sauce leftover. Giving a generous amount to each slice. So much that I skipped the diced tomatoes. As for the sauce I used all the basil, oregano but cut back on the garlic to 1/2 teaspoon and the salt and pepper I cut back to 1/4 teaspoon each. The ingredients called for 1 tablespoon basil and directs to put in the sauce which I did and then saw it called for again as a garnish. If it wasn't` for the down pouring rain I would have gone back out for more. 1/2 cup of mushrooms was plenty. I did use all the cheese the recipe called for. As I was making these I thought should I roast the slices first? Thinking they would be tough and not cooked through. As it baked the sauce did fill the pan and and ended up stewing the eggplant. I did have to bake 20 minutes and they were still a touch tough. We found this salty. I suggest skipping it totally. The grated cheese has enough salt. I would have given this 4 stars but the amounts are so off. We found this not to be pizza (not being a crust at all) but more like eggplant parmesan. You do need a fork and knife. We enjoyed as our meal with nothing else. Thanks

 

[threeovens]

This was really terrific in its simplicity. I would certainly make this again. Aaaarrrrh!

 

[Sharon123]

I enjoyed this dish! I had to cook it a little longer to get it done to my taste, but loved the result. Thanks and good luck.

 

[Starrynews]

These are easy and delicious - and make for a very cute presentation! I wasn't sure how the eggplant would be as the crust, but it worked perfectly. Thanks for sharing! Good luck in the contest!