In case you store at a farmers market, or just love shopping for all the summer produce on the grocery, you’ve most likely discovered your self in an all-too-familiar state of affairs come July: there are eggplants in your fridge, and also you don’t know what to do with them. Nicely, get excited as a result of beginning now, this wholesome flatbread pizza recipe can be your reply.
I began making this recipe final summer season after I was confronted with an analogous eggplant glut. I had some good bread (we have been in Malibu, the place I’m by no means and not using a loaf of Gjusta sourdough), a container of entire milk ricotta, and a few recent tomatoes from the farm…and this recipe was born. It was ridiculously good, and I’ve made numerous iterations since. Since I’m all the time on the hunt for a simple wholesome pizza recipe, it was solely a matter of time till that good ingredient combo made their manner from toast to crust.
For me, the perfect summer food has to check a few boxes—quick assembly, very little cooking, and major reward on the flavor scale. This healthy flatbread pizza recipe is also piled high with veggies, plus a solid boost of protein in the form of ricotta, making it a summer dish that feels as good as it tastes. Read on for the recipe…
What’s the difference between flatbread and pizza?
This is actually a hot debate among people who actually care (lol), so I’ll break down the general pizza versus flatbread opinions here. Many foodies say that the main difference is that pizza is made with a yeasted dough that yields that puffy, chewy texture. Flatbread, alternatively, is often unleavened, with a skinny, super-crispy texture.
Nearly each tradition on the planet has some sort of flatbread, whereas pizza is a completely Italian invention. Assume roti, naan, and tortillas. Nevertheless, some flatbreads (like pita) use some yeast, and really do puff up with a extra pillowy texture. And technically, pizza is a sort of flatbread itself, so I’m utilizing the time period “flatbread pizza” as an umbrella, since you might use nearly any of the aforementioned flatbread bases to carry this to life. We simply occur to be utilizing pizza crust right here.
What type of crust to use for a healthy flatbread pizza recipe
The beautiful thing about this recipe is that you can use countless types of flatbread as your base. I’ve made this on naan (delicious), and it would be great on pita. Use your homemade pizza dough and roll it out thin, or do as I did here and buy par-baked individual pizza crusts that you can top and throw in the oven (or on the grill!) And don’t forget that this healthy flatbread pizza recipe was originally born as toast—so be at liberty to grill some sourdough and use these toppings for an ideal summer season dinner for one.
How to prepare eggplant for pizza
If you’ve ever googled “how to prepare eggplant,” you likely got all kinds of complicated instructions about salting the eggplant and letting it drain to remove the bitterness. Well, my hot take is that is all completely unnecessary. With a liberal toss in olive oil, salt, and pepper, your eggplant should lose all its bitterness in the cooking process—the key is that you just need to cook it really thoroughly so that it’s golden brown and crispy on the outside, and completely chewy and cooked through on the inside.
For this recipe, we really want that charred flavor, so you can either pop it under the broiler (as I do in the recipe below), or toss it on the grill and cook over indirect heat until cooked through. I love to make extra eggplant and use the rest in salads or sandwiches the next day—its meaty texture is perfect for a plant-based meal.
Scroll on for the recipe for this healthy flatbread pizza recipe with eggplant and ricotta, and don’t forget to leave a comment and rating if you give it a try!
