10.12.2003

Of Eggplant, Pizzas and Humility

I think I shed a tear when this pizza came out of the oven.

I've been accused of being overly humble when it comes to my pizzas and breads. Kind of like the kid in class who complains of getting an A but wanted an A+. I vehemently deny this. I know what's good and what needs improving.

This is a pizza topped with a scant bit of tomato sauce, roasted eggplant, caramelized red onion and a bit of chevre. It was decadent. It's one of our favorites (and actually pretty low fat). It was inspired by a trip to Wrigleyville in the early 90s. Trish, her Bro Mike, Nadie and I went out one night for good food and blues and we had this heavenly pizza. The way I make it is different than we originally had, but every bit as good. Anything I bake can always be better - but this is pretty darn good and I am pretty darn content with it. For now.

Roasted Eggplant, Caramelized Onion, Goat Cheese Pizza - one 14" pie
General methods were reported here. Specifics are given below.

The Dough:
water, 200 mL (200 oz, ca. 7 oz)
flour, 300 grams (Gold Medal All purpose, 2 1/4 cups)
honey, 20 g (1 T)
olive oil, 25 g (2 T)
salt, 5 grams (1 t)
yeast, 3 grams (1 t), Fleischmann's Active dry for bread machines

Toppings Prep:
Eggplant. In the two schools of eggplant, I am a NON-salter, so there. The eggplant was sliced in ca. 1/4" slices lengthwise and lightly coated with a scant bit of olive oil, salt and pepper and roasted on parchment covered baking sheets in a 425-deg-F oven till golden brown (15 minutes per side).

Onion. Sliced red onion is caramelized by initially sauteeing on high and immediately crank it down to real low heat and barely touch it for 20 minutes.

Tomato Sauce. Anything will do. I used just enough to color the shell red.

Chevre. I used a pretty dry brand and would rather have used a brand called Chavrie. But crumbled on about 3 oz.