Eggplant parmesan pizza is eggplant parmesan in the shape of a pizza. If you love the Italian classic melanzane alla parmigiana and you love pizza, this will become your favourite pizza flavour. Fried eggplant slices top a simple pizza rossa along with mozzarella and a generous addition of grated parmesan completes the work as soon as the pizza comes out of the oven.
I love eggplant parmesan. It’s definitely one of my favourite casseroles and it features one of my favourite veggies – eggplant – in its most glorious combination. Nothing pairs with eggplant as well as tomato and parmesan. If it works fantastic as a layered dish, why shouldn’t it work on pizza, too? Fried eggplant pizza it is, then!
Fried eggplants on pizza may sound intense, but you don’t have to eat it all in one go. Share your pizza with someone or save leftovers for the following day. Any way you choose I promise this eggplant pizza is fantastic. If you love it, you should also try my baked eggplant pizza bites!
The ingredients
For detailed quantities please refer to the recipe card at the bottom of this post.
If you want to make everything from scratch, you can use this pizza sauce recipe. For the dough you can use this pizza dough recipe for one or for a larger batch try poolish pizza dough which requires a long fermentation for maximum flavour.
How to make eggplant parm pizza
The first thing you want to be taking care of is the fried eggplant. If you are only making one pizza you may want to buy the smallest eggplant or just prepare half. However, fried eggplants can be used to top another vegetarian pizza, in pasta sauces or in a sandwich. So if you feel like frying the whole thing up, you will have some leftover slices you may want to use in other dishes.
Slice the eggplant into 1-2 mm thin slices. Heat the oil in a skillet and fry until soft, flipping the slices 2-3 times throughout the process. Gently press fried eggplant slices between two sheets of kitchen paper to remove excess oil. Salting the eggplants is recommended – see next paragraph!
Tip: set 4 slices aside and use them on pizza ortolana!
Stretch pizza dough to desired thickness. If you’re using a pizza pan make sure to spread some olive oil on it before you place the dough in it. If using a pizza stone (like I did) add some semolina on the pizza peel so your pizza will slide more easily.
Spread the pizza sauce evenly on top. Place eggplant slices over the tomato sauce and top with diced mozzarella. I like to use a mozzarella ball, which I dice myself. You can also use pre-shredded mozzarella. Add a sprinkle of dried oregano and black pepper.
Bake in the pre-heated oven at 250°C (480°F) for 8-10 minutes or until the sides and cheese have nicely browned. Take the pizza out of the oven and immediately top with grated parmesan.
My helpful assistant and I staged this photo thinking it would look cool, but having pre-grated cheese at hand definitely makes for an easier job. You want to top the pizza with the cheese when it’s still piping hot from the oven, so that it will basically melt on contact.
Do I need to salt the eggplant?
Salting the eggplant is a preparation technique meant to draw moisture. This can be a helpful trick when preparing eggplants, very useful especially when frying them. Water sprays when frying so eliminating some of it makes the frying process easier.
In this recipe I recommend to salt the eggplants beforehand. If you’ve never done that, lay the eggplant slices over a kitchen towel and sprinkle table salt on both sides. Let sit until droplets of water appear on the surface of the slices, then rinse and pat dry. This procedure takes overall an extra half hour.
I have read in many recipes that salting helps to neutralize the bitter flavour that some eggplants may have. I never really found this to be particularly true for me, but this may depend on geography and eggplant types. Eggplants tend to get more bitter as they age, so to avoid the problem just buy them fresh and try not to have them sit in your fridge for weeks before you get to eat them.
More eggplant goodness!
Another recipe that features fried eggplants is Georgian eggplant rolls. If you decide to slice up and fry more eggplant than you will need for this recipe (while you’re at it, you may as well just make a larger batch) you should definitely try this Georgian appetizer. Or, if you have leftover slices from the single eggplant you used for this pizza, you could make yourself a smaller batch of the walnut roll-ups.
That one is my absolute favourite, but here are some more:
If you liked this recipe please leave a comment below. If you’re planning to try eggplant parmesan pizza another time, pin it to Pinterest. Please consider subscribing to my newsletter and following me on Instagram and on Pinterest. Enjoy your pizza night!
Eggplant Parmesan Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 ball pizza dough homemade or store-bought
- 100 ml pizza sauce
- 125 g mozzarella diced
- 1 eggplant small
- 160 ml oil for frying
- 12 g parmesan grated
- sprinkle of dried oregano and black pepper
Instructions
- Slice the eggplant into thin 1-2 mm slices. Lay slices over a kitchen towel and sprinkle table salt on both sides. Let sit until droplets of water appear on the surface of the slices, then rinse and pat dry. Heat the oil in a skillet and fry the eggplants until soft, flipping them 2-3 times throughout the process. Gently press fried eggplant slices between two sheets of kitchen paper to remove excess oil.
- Stretch pizza dough to desired thickness. Spread pizza sauce evenly on top. Place eggplant slices over the tomato sauce and top with diced mozzarella. Add a sprinkle of dried oregano and black pepper.
- Bake in the pre-heated oven at 250°C (480°F) for 8-10 minutes or until the sides and cheese have nicely browned. Take the pizza out of the oven and immediately top with grated parmesan.
