Mini Eggplant Pizzas

Mini Eggplant Pizzas are the fastest and easiest pizza recipe you can imagine…and they pack a punch of veggie goodness that your family will inhale. 

Easy meal + veggies my family will gobble up = my dream dinner. 

But isn’t that every home cook’s fantasy? An amazing easy meal that is delicious and healthy? I know it’s mine and most of my friends would chime in with a loud “hell yeah!”. So when I discovered the unicorn of healthy family-friendly meals, I just had to share it.

Last weekend, I was not in the mood to cook. At all. I wanted to snuggle on the couch with my family and soak in our 50 millionth viewing of Lady and The Tramp. But dinner time crept closer and bellies started to rumble, so I had to get cooking…literally. 

As I stared into the fridge, I saw the eggplant we had picked up at the market staring back at me. Why had I bought that? I hate eggplant and Alice won’t touch it with a 10 foot pole. Clearly it was going to go to waste or my husband was going to be force fed eggplant for a week straight. 

As I glared at the helpless and innocent eggplant in my crisper, I noticed a pizza delivery guy ringing my neighbor’s door with a hot pie in hand.

Damn, pizza sounded good. 

Suddenly lightning hit me…hard. And this recipe started to quickly take form in my head and kitchen.

The result was a stupid easy pizza recipe that I felt so incredible about feeding my crew and they wolfed down without batting a questioning eye. My skeptical 5 year old opted to leave the eggplant’s skin on her plate, but she gobbled up the rest of the veggie-based pizza without complaint or question. My husband, the only true eggplant lover in our lot, smiled as he watched me eat my share…snickering “oh you hate eggplant, huh?”

I guess it goes to show that even I need to practice what I preach and not let my past distaste for a food dictate my openness to trying it in the future. 

Now, if you have a few minutes…lets make some pizza!

Ingredients:

• 2 large eggplants or 3 medium, washed and sliced into 1 inch thick pieces
• 1 cup tomato sauce 
• 2 cups shredded cheese 
• 1 1/2 cups cooked grass-fed ground beef (or whatever topping you like)
• 1 cup fresh baby spinach, chopped
• sea salt and pepper to taste

Directions:

1. Line two large baking sheets with parchment paper or silicone baking sheets. Preheat oven to 375F. 
2. Arrange the eggplant slices on the two baking sheets in a single layer. Make sure there is plenty of room between the pieces, as being crowded will cause the eggplant to steam instead of roast.
3. Season each side of the eggplant slices with sea salt and pepper to taste.
4. Roast in your preheated oven for 15 minutes.
5. Remove the eggplant slices from the oven and switch the oven to broil.
6. Spread the tomato sauce on the roasted eggplant slices.
7. Spoon the cooked ground beef onto the eggplant slices and then sprinkle with the cheese.
8. Broil the pizzas for 1-2 minutes or until cheese is melted. This happens quickly, so stay close to your oven and keep an eye on the eggplant pizzas.
9. Top with spinach and enjoy warm.

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