greek-ish pizza

I've been hankering for some more eggplant since the batch I did on the grill a couple weeks ago. I found a description in a cooking magazine for a "quickest dinner ever" idea that amounted to eggplant slices, olives and goat cheese on a pre-cooked pizza crust. I'm not a fan of pre-cooked crusts...they always come out rubbery and cardboard-tasting, but the idea of the pizza sounded awesome so I figured I'd try it.

I used a really gorgeous eggplant I got at the farmer's market on Sunday. It was perfect...deep purple, and so shiny I could see my reflection in it when I picked it up. The blurb that I originally read didn't mention anything about salting the eggplant and letting it drain, but I've learned that lesson the hard way, so I did it anyway. I only let it sit about 20 minutes, but it was enough. I pressed out my pizza crust onto two oiled pans and brushed them with olive oil. I rinsed and dried the eggplant, cut the slices up and distributed them onto the crusts along with some kalamata olives and quartered cherry tomatoes. I cut up a small log of goat cheese into chunks and spread them over the top of the pizzas, then topped them both with some judicious sprinkles of dried oregano. They went into a 450 degree oven for about 18 minutes, and this was the result:



It was SO. GOOD. Seriously. I'd happily eat this 3 times a week. Next time I'll cut the eggplant a little thinner, but otherwise I wouldn't change a thing. My husband, however, commented that while it tasted nice it "lacked a certain je ne sais...MEAT!" I wonder if a little seasoned ground lamb cooked up and sprinkled on top would go well with the Greek vibe and fill the meat void for him. Hmmm.