Eggplant & Sweet Corn Pita Pizza

Thank you so much for everyone’s best wishes for my blogiversary!  It was so nice to read all your warm wishes and kind comments. I really mean it when I say the best part of writing the blog is having the support of all of my readers.

I hope you were able to enjoy my trip down memory lane and revisit some older posts in absence of fresh material this last week.  I’ve been so busy with so many different projects, I’ve barely had time to breathe.  

But I guess this means it’s a perfect opportunity for me to post this recipe that I’ve been saving: Pita Pizza.

I love making pizzas, but when you’re in a pinch, you might not have time to make the dough yourself. In fact I almost never have the patience to do it, and I usually resort to making a yeast-free baking soda dough.  I’m usually willing to sacrifice some flavour and texture in order to get dinner in my mouth earlier. One day last week I got really impatient and decided to skip making the dough altogether - I decided to try making pizza using pita bread.  (Ahem, store bought pita bread.)

This might not be news to everyone, but I was astonished at just how delicious the pita pizza turned out to be.  And I credit part of its crispy, crunchy deliciousness to my pizza stone.

Actually, I technically do not own a pizza stone.  My pizza stone has long since cracked.  It was replaced by a lovely terra cotta saucer, which was purchased at a hardware store for under $10.  After a quick wipe down, it’s flipped over and placed on the bottom of the oven.  And it works perfectly. Thank you to my soulmate, Alton Brown, for this amazing tip.

As for toppings, the sky is the limit, but I thoroughly enjoyed using these two time-savers.  One is a make-ahead roasted garlic puree.  This is made with whole roasted fresh garlic, squeezed out of its peel and mashed up with some olive oil. It’s a perfect pizza spread and it lasts in the fridge for days!  The other time-saver is oven-dried tomatoes.  With minimal work you can have a delicious topping suited for pizza, salads, pastas, or paninis.  Make the garlic puree and the dried tomatoes at the same time, and you maximize your oven’s energy efficiency.

So, do you want SQ’s recipe for the pizza in the picture? Of course you do - it was amazing! I mean, really, really tasty.

Here is the break-down:

Eggplant & Sweet Corn Pita Pizza

Sauce: Roasted garlic puree and extra virgin olive oil

Toppings: Thinly sliced eggplant, fresh sweet corn, oven-dried tomatoes, and a small handful of bitter salad greens, tossed in a light vinaigrette. (This goes without saying, but make sure to add the salad after the pizza has finished baking!)

Cheese: Baby parmesan and chevre

Spices/herbs: I added a little thyme, parsley and also some paprika, but you could experiment here.

Bake on the pizza stone at about 400 degrees, until nice and crispy-crunchy, and a slightly golden colour.  To cut, use a knife or pizza cutter and serve.

Do you make substitutions in the kitchen? What is your favourite food that does double duty?