Roasted Eggplant and Hummus Pizza

Recipe three for Recipe week. This is a recipe I'm particularly proud of because I feel like its actually mine. The crust is from Crazy Plates, and I've been using it as my basic pizza crust for years. It's one of the few recipes that I know off the top of my head. I make it by hand sometimes, but I happened to throw the ingredients in the bread maker on the dough setting this time, and it was all set to go when it beeped. I've also included the pictures of the pizza that Louis enjoyed that night - Italian sausage and red pepper. 

Roasted Eggplant and Hummus Pizza

1/4 - 1/2 C of your favorite hummus

2 mini eggplants

1/4 C fresh oregano finely chopped

1 Tbsp balsamic vinegar

1/2 pint of baby bella mushrooms

1 small onion, sliced

1/2 recipe of whole grain pizza crust ( which follows)

1/2 C shredded mozarella

1/3 C Crumbled feta cheese

fresh parsley

salt

pepper

extra virgin olive oil

1. Preheat the oven to 500F

2. Slice the eggplants lengthwise into quarters, then slice into 1/2 inch slices

3. Slice the mushrooms

4. Put eggplant, mushrooms, and sliced onions in baking dish and drizzle with oil  and balsamic vinegar and toss with oregano until evenly coated

5. Roast for 15-20 minutes. Remove from oven and turn oven down to 450F

6. Roll out the pizza crust and put it on a pizza sheet ( you could also use a pizza stone here). 

7. Spread the hummus over the surface and cover with the roasted vegetables

8. Sprinkle the mozarella and feta evenly on top

9. Bake for 14-15 minutes. Remove from oven and garnish with fresh parsley and drizzle with olive oil. 

10. Enjoy with a fresh green salad. 

Whole grain pizza crust ( makes 2 pizzas) taken from  Crazy Plates "No Business like Dough Business" 1999 Janet and Greta Podleski

2 1/4 tsp yeast

1 Tbsp honey

1 Cup warm water (105 to 115F)

1.5 Tbsp olive oil

1 tsp salt

2.5 C flour ( I use 1 cup whole wheat and 1.5 C whole white)

Directions by hand:

1. Put yeast in a large bowl

2. Mix honey with warm-hot tap water and pour over yeast. Let sit until foamy in a warm area ( about 10 minutes)

3. Stir in olive oil and salt. 

4. Gradually add in flours ( which are already mixed together) and incorporate with hands. The dough should start to come away from the sides of the bowl, but still be pliable. There may be some left over flour which you can use for flouring the work surface. 

5. Knead dough on lightly floured surface for 10 minutes until dough is a nice smooth ball. 

6. Lightly coat the ball with a small amount of oil and put in a bowl. Cover the bowl with a clean tea towel and place in a warm place to rise for about 1 hour. I heat the oven to 150F while I'm kneading the dough, then turn it off and put the dough in the oven. 

7. Remove the dough from the oven and roll out on a floured surface. I've also taken up throwing the dough which is very fun ( and sometimes messy). Lightly coat the pizza pan with oil before placing dough on the pan. 

8. Cover with desired ingredients and bake for about 14 minutes at 450F.