Aubergine Pizza

Aubergine Pizza is a simple and delicious homemade pizza that would be great for feeding a crowd. A crisp dough base topped with a rich tomato sauce, slices of grilled aubergine and dots of creamy mozzarella and goats cheese, all finished off with some pesto for a burst of Italian flavour.

Would you like to save this recipe?

We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

I agree to be sent email.

We can never have too many ideas for pizza toppings in our life, and hopefully you feel the same. Why stick with the same boring toppings, when you can have a delicious aubergine pizza.

A really easy pizza to make, and it can be adapted to use other ingredients you might have on hand too.

If you want more aubergine recipes, try our healthy Eggplant Parmesan or easy Aubergine Salad.

Why You Will Love It

A full ingredients list with measurements is in the recipe card below.

Step by Step

One: Put your pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 220°C/200°C(fan)/425°F/Gas 7.

Two: Heat some oil in a griddle and add the aubergines and cook for 60-90 seconds each side on low.

Three: Mix the flour, yeast, salt and sugar together in a large mixing bowl. Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and add the oil and water to bring together as a dough. Put it onto a floured surface and using your fingers, spread the dough out. Try not to use a rolling pin to roll the dough out. Pick the dough up hand stretch it to 30cm diameter. Put on a floured pizza peel.

Four: Spread the pasta sauce on the pizza dough and then top with the aubergine, mozzarella, goats cheese and pesto.

Five: Carefully slide the pizza off the peel and on to the heated pizza stone. Quickly put back into the oven (so it doesn't lose too much heat) and cook for 25 minutes.

Six: Top with rocket (arugula)and balsamic glaze and serve.

How to Choose the Perfect Aubergine (Eggplant)

To make a great aubergine pizza, you need to choose a good aubergine. The vegetable is in season throughout the year, but they are at their best around August/September.

You should look for aubergines with smooth, shiny skin. They should be uniform in colour and feel heavy for their size. To test the ripeness of an aubergine, gently press the skin with your finger - if it leaves an imprint, it is ripe. Smaller aubergines tend to be less bitter and have thinner skin and less seeds.

Avoid any aubergines that are bruised, wrinkled or have blemishes.

How to Cook the Aubergines

You want to get a nice char to these aubergines and it really does add to the flavour, which is why we cooked it on the griddle pan. Doing this is not only quick and easy, but it gives it those nice cook lines that add to the look of the pizza.

If you don't have a griddle pan, you could either just pop the slices under the grill (broiler), or you could fry them.

We used baby aubergines, so we could get full slices on them and still fit them on the pizza base. However, if you can't get hold of baby aubergines, then you could use regular ones and cut them into rounds and fry them.

Pizza Sauce

To make a pizza, you need a really good pizza sauce. We used our Easy Tomato Pasta Sauce, as it only takes a few minutes to make, but if you use really good quality ingredients then it has so much flavour.

Feel free to use your favourite homemade marinara recipe, or if you are short on time then you could use a good quality store bought pizza sauce.

What Cheese to Use

There are so many options when it comes to cheese on a pizza. We went with dots of mozzarella and goats cheese to add creaminess and flavour, as goats cheese has quite a strong flavour.

You could swap them for some cheddar and Parmesan. We like to use mature cheddar or another strong tasting cheese, as the stronger the flavour, the less you need to use on the pizza.

What Else Can You Add

This pizza has a lot going on already, so you don't want to overload it with different flavours, as they will all be competing against each other. The cheese aubergine and pesto really compliment each other in this recipe.

But, there is always room for some extra vegetables on a pizza. You could swap half the aubergines for courgette and cook them them the same way. A few chunks of mushroom would go well, and if you want to give the pizza a green boost, then some chopped spinach is the way to go.

What to Serve it With

You have so much choice of side dishes when it comes to pizza. Pizza and fries is the perfect match, but why not try our Baked Polenta Fries, The Best Air Fryer Fries or Greek Potatoes.

Some other side dishes that would go well with this pizza are Broccoli Slaw, Roasted Garlic and Herb Mushrooms and No Mayo Coleslaw.

Frequently Asked Questions

Recipe

Aubergine Pizza

By: Dannii Martin

Aubergine Pizza is a simple and delicious homemade pizza. A crisp base topped with a rich sauce, grilled aubergine and dots of mozzarella and goats cheese.

Vegetarian

5 from 10 votes

Pin Print Save recipe Saved!

Course: Dinner

Cuisine: Italian

Prep: 10 minutes mins

Cook: 27 minutes mins

Total: 37 minutes mins

Servings: 4 servings

Calories: 351kcal

Allergens:

Dairy

Gluten

Sulphites

Ingredients

• ▢ 1 tablespoon Olive oil - for the aubergine
• ▢ 200 g (1.66 cups) Plain flour - plus extra to roll out
• ▢ 4 g (0.75 teaspoon) Fast action yeast
• ▢ 1 pinch Sea salt
• ▢ 0.5 teaspoon Sugar
• ▢ 1 tablespoon Olive oil - for the dough
• ▢ 110 ml (0.5 cups) Water
• ▢ 6 tablespoon Pizza sauce
• ▢ 2 Baby aubergines (eggplant)
• ▢ 100 g (3.5 oz) Mozzarella
• ▢ 30 g (1 oz) Soft goats cheese
• ▢ 3 tablespoon Pesto
• ▢ Rocket (arugula) - optional
• ▢ Balsamic glaze - optional

For ingredient swaps, see our Ingredients and Substitutions section

Instructions

• Put your pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 220°C/200°C(fan)/425°F/Gas 7.
• Heat 1 tablespoon Olive oil in a griddle and add slices of 2 Baby aubergines (eggplant) and cook for 60-90 seconds each side on low.
• Mix 200 g Plain flour, 4 g Fast action yeast, 1 pinch Sea salt and 0.5 teaspoon Sugar together in a large mixing bowl.
• Make a well in the middle of the flour mixture and add 1 tablespoon Olive oil and 110 ml Water to bring together as a dough. Put it onto a floured surface and using your fingers, spread the dough out. Try not to use a rolling pin to roll the dough out. Pick the dough up hand stretch it to 30cm diameter. Put on a floured pizza peel.
• Spread 6 tablespoon Pizza sauce on the pizza dough and then top with the aubergine, 100 g Mozzarella, 30 g Soft goats cheese and 3 tablespoon Pesto.
• Carefully slide the pizza off the peel and onto the heated pizza stone. Quickly put back into the oven (so it doesn't lose too much heat) and cook for 25 minutes.
• Top with Rocket (arugula) and Balsamic glaze(both optional).

Nutritional Information

Serving: 0.25pizza | Calories: 351kcal | Carbohydrates: 43g | Protein: 14g | Fat: 16g | Saturated Fat: 6g | Cholesterol: 24mg | Sodium: 422mg | Potassium: 415mg | Fiber: 6g | Sugar: 6g | Vitamin A: 597IU | Vitamin C: 4mg | Calcium: 175mg | Iron: 3mg

Would you like to save this recipe?

We'll email this post to you, so you can come back to it later!

The nutritional information provided is approximate and is calculated using online tools. Information can vary depending on various factors, but we have endeavoured to be as accurate as possible.

As all appliances vary, cooking times are a guide. Please note that by changing the serving size, the cooking time may also need to be altered.