Moroccan Eggplant Pizza

This is truly one of those "no recipe" recipes. It was inspired by a lone eggplant hanging out in the refrigerator and my desire for pizza. And it was delicious enough that it made it to this space!

While the suggestion below is for squeezing lemon juice over the finished pizza - trust me on that, you need to at least do that - if you have preserved lemon, mince it super fine and sprinkle it over the pizza before baking. That will probably be even more fantastic!

Although fresh mozzarella is not usually my choice, it works better here than regular mozzarella because the tomato sauce needs to be more of a dominant flavor than it tends to be when covered up with melted mozzarella. Think of this as more of a flat bread than a pizza and you will have a better understanding of the concept I was attempting to create.

Moroccan Eggplant Pizza
(serves 2-3)

Pizza Dough for 12-14 inch pizza
10-12 oz Fresh mozzarella balls, cut into 1/2 inch slices
small eggplant cut in 1 inch cubes
olive oil
1 tablespoon harissa
4 oz feta
cilantro to taste
lemon
1/2 cup plain tomato sauce

Preheat oven to the highest temperature it will go to. Heat a large skillet over high heat for 2-3 minutes. Add olive oil to coat the bottom of the pan and add in eggplant, toss with the olive oil. Cook over medium high heat until eggplant is soft and begins to turn golden. Remove from heat and toss well with the harissa and set aside.

Roll/stretch out pizza dough on baking sheet. Spread tomato sauce around to within 1/2 inch of the edges. Arrange mozzarella even around the pizza (it won't cover it, just spread it out). Sprinkle eggplant over pizza, not on the cheese but in between. Sprinkle on feta and cilantro and bake until crust begins to brown on the bottom and cheese is bubblingly melted. Remove from oven and squeeze lemon juice over all and serve.

Hugs!