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.
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.
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Why should you try it?
- Quicker than ordering a pizza
- A new way to enjoy aubergine
- Easy to adapt
- Great for feeding a crowd.
What you will need
- Pizza dough - We make our own pizza dough, as it really isn't has hard as you might think. You can use a good quality store bought one instead though if you prefer.
- Pizza sauce - We have included the recipe for our easy homemade tomato sauce, however you can use a store bought one. Try to use the best quality you can buy, as you really will be able to taste the difference.
- Aubergine (eggplant) - The star of this dish! Look for aubergines with smooth, shiny skin that are all the same colour and heavy for their size. To test for ripeness, lightly press a finger against the skin. If it leaves an imprint, the aubergine is ripe. Choose smaller aubergines, as they tend to be sweeter, less bitter, have thinner skin and less seeds.
- Mozzarella - A must on a pizza and it goes deliciously melty. We recommend full fat, rather than a reduced fat one.
- Goat's cheese - We love a little goats cheese on top of a pizza, as it is really creamy and adds loads of flavour.
- Pesto - If you want to add an extra burst of flavour to a pizza, then top it with a really good quality pesto.
Step by Step
One: Put your pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7.
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 in to 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.
FAQs
You can store slices of pizza in the fridge for 2-3 days. Stack slices on top of each other and put baking paper in between each one. Then you can wrap the stack in plastic wrap and and put in the fridge. However, we never have any leftover pizza. It's just TOO good.
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Recipe
Aubergine Pizza
Ingredients
- 200 g plain flour plus extra to roll out
- 4 g fast action dried yeast
- 1 pinch sea salt
- 0.5 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 110 ml water
- 6 tablespoon pizza sauce
- 2 mini aubergines
- 100 g mozarella
- 30 g soft goats cheese
- 3 tablespoon pesto
- Rocket and balsamic glaze to serve
Instructions
- Put your pizza stone in the oven and preheat to 220°C/425°F/Gas 7.
- Heat some oil in a griddle and add the aubergines and cook for 60-90 seconds each side on low.
- 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.
- Spread the pasta sauce on the pizza dough and then top with the aubergine, mozzarella, goats cheese and pesto.
- Carefully slide the pizza off the peel and on to the heated pizza stone. Quickly put back in to the oven (so it doesn’t lose too much heat) and cook for 25 minutes.
- Top with rocket and balsamic glaze and serve.
Jenn
This is a great recipe! I love how it's topped with such tender eggplant, and the dough was so easy to make! My new favorite!
Sisley White - Sew White
This is my idea of heaven. Aubergine on a pizza is just incredible.
Sharon
I love the simple ingredients that come together to make this delicious pizza.
Angela
I love the idea of putting eggplant on pizza! And grilling it ahead makes it extra flavorful. YUM!
Beth
This pizza is a new family favorite! So delicious and packed with so much flavor! I will be making this again for our family game night later this week! Excited!
Allyssa
I am so in loved with this pizza recipe! Very delicious! Thanks a lot for sharing!
Katherine
Oooh this looks like a restaurant-quality pizza! I adore aubergine and all the other toppings! Great video too.
Charla
Love this! What a great way to incorporate aubergines into pizza, genius!
Andrea
I think I just found my new "go to" Pizza. Eggplant, mozzarella and goat cheese, just delicious!
Farah Maizar
I love aubergine and I love pizza- I'm sold! This seems so simple to make too, cant wait to try it!
Jac
My family's new favourite pizza topping! Thanks so much for the creative idea!
Bintu | Budget Delicious
This pizza sounds packed full of flavour and so delicious! Aubergine on pizza is definitely something I need to try!
Adrianne
I love pizza and this healthy aubergine pizza sounds packed with flavour. Yes, so much better than ordering in!
Anjali
This pizza was super easy to make and turned out to be so delicious! My whole family loved it!