Pizza With Eggplant Sofrito

School's out! I have so much to look forward to this summer, and I can't wait to get started doing the things I want to do and not letting homework dictate my life. I'll be busy with some volunteer work and online classes, but I am most excited about having some time to myself to do projects around the house, to read books, and to try new and interesting vegan recipes.

As I drove away from school after my last exam, I had pizza on my mind. What better way is there to celebrate the beginning of what's sure to be a great summer?! Luckily, I happened to have on handy a super easy vegan pizza dough mix, thanks to Vegan Cuts. (I was fortunate enough to get to review their Snack Box, which you can read about in my post here.)

Jack got a summer job this year as a pizza designer and chef at a local community center, so he is pretty darn good at coming up with untraditional pizza toppings. Using eggplant sofrito as a pizza topping was totally his idea, even though it was so tasty that I'd love to take credit for it. When coupled with olives (also courtesy of the Vegan Cuts Snack Box), fresh herbs from my garden and lots of nutritional yeast, it made the perfect pizza for our summer celebration - no cheese needed!

Just add oil and spices, and you'll have a great pizza topping to filling veggie dish!

From steps 3 and 4: frying the onions and adding the spices

Jack tops the pizza with an extra pinch of nutritional yeast.

This recipe comes in two distinct parts: the eggplant sofrito and the rest of the pizza.
 

Eggplant Sofrito
Ingredients: 

• 3 medium-large eggplants, cubed
• 2 teaspoons of salt
• lots of oil (Start with 3 tablespoons, and add more if needed.)
• 4 teaspoons of paprika
• 1 teaspoon of dried pepper flakes
• 2 teaspoons of cumin
• 2 teaspoons of thyme
• 1/2 of a large onion, chopped
• 2 tablespoons of chopped bell pepper
• 2-3 cloves of crushed garlic (optional)

Directions: 

1. Peel and chop up the eggplants into small cubes. Put the pieces in a bowl or colander, and pour over the chopped eggplant. Stir to coat all of the pieces evenly with salt.
2. Let the eggplant and salt mixture sit for 1-2 hours.
3. Add the oil to a pan. After the oil heats, fry the onion, pepper and garlic with all of the spices.
4. After letting the onion, pepper and garlic cook for 3 minutes, stir in the eggplant pieces.
5. Cover this mixture and let it cook for another 5 minutes, while stirring occasionally.
6. Remove the mixture from the pan. You can either enjoy it as is, or use it as a topping in this great pizza recipe we've shared below!

Pizza Assembly
Ingredients:

• 1 medium sized pizza crust (I used a super easy one from A Tavola Together that I received in my Vegan Cuts Snack Box.)
• the eggplant topping from above
• 1/2 cup of pasta sauce
• 8-10 chopped olives
• a few handfuls of fresh herbs
• 1-2 tablespoons of nutritional yeast

Directions:

1. Bake the pizza crust for about 10 minutes less than its recommended cooking time.
2. After removing the pizza crust from the oven, spread on the pasta sauce.
3. Add the toppings; this includes the eggplant topping, the olives, the herbs and the nutritional yeast.
4. Bake in the oven (at the temperature recommended for the crust, or try425˚F) for 5-10 minutes.
5. Once the crust if fully cooked, remove the pizza from the oven and enjoy!