Baked eggplant mini pizzas

Name: Baked eggplant mini pizzas
Ingredients: 1 medium eggplant (300 g); 1 medium tomato (120 g); 100 g semi-hard cheese; 2 garlic cloves (6 g); 2 green onions (30 g); 3 small fresh basil leaves; 4 chili pepper slices; 2 tablespoons olive oil; 1/2 teaspoon salt

Appetizers - Baked eggplant mini pizzas by Ioanina I. - Recipia

Baked eggplant mini pizzas are roasted first as thin slices, then for another 10 minutes with tomato and cheese, until the cheese just starts to melt. Garlic, green onion, basil and chili pepper give the topping a fresh flavor, and the mini pizzas are still good once they’ve cooled. I liked them more than I expected, maybe because the batch is small and I cut the slices about 5 mm thick. Preparation: 15 minutes. Cooking: 25 minutes. Total time: 40 minutes. Serves: 2. About 350 kcal and 15 g of protein per serving.

Ingredients

1 medium eggplant (300 g)
1 medium tomato (120 g)
100 g semi-hard cheese
2 garlic cloves (6 g)
2 green onions (30 g)
3 small fresh basil leaves
4 chili pepper slices
2 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt

Preparation

1. Heat the oven to 220°C. Cut the eggplant into slices about 5 mm thick and arrange them in a single layer on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper. 2. Bake the slices for 15 minutes, until the edges are lightly browned. 3. Cut the tomato and cheese into small cubes. Finely chop the garlic, green onion and basil. 4. Sprinkle 1/2 teaspoon of salt over the slices, then divide the tomato, cheese, garlic, green onion, basil and 4 chili pepper slices over them. Drizzle with 2 tablespoons of olive oil and bake for another 10 minutes, until the cheese starts to melt. Serve warm or cold.

Notes

The cheese contains dairy, and the dish is meat-free; if you’d like a different flavor, replace the basil with dried oregano. I serve them with a green salad and toasted bread, which is good for mopping up the juices left on the plate. Choose a firm eggplant with smooth, shiny skin; soft ones often have spongy flesh and lots of seeds. If the eggplant is unusually large, thicker slices may need a few extra minutes for the first bake. Leave the slices spaced out on the baking sheet, without overlapping, so the edges brown instead of steaming. Chili peppers vary a lot in heat, so you can start with two slices and save the rest for another use. The slices can be baked ahead and kept covered in the fridge, then topped just before the second bake. Store any finished leftovers in a sealed container in the fridge for up to 3 days; the slices are softer when cold.