Sicilian eggplant pizza: light meal from a gorgeous farm market vegetable

A slice of Sicilan eggplant bakes into a soft, tasty base for individual pizzas. We topped with marinara and Asiago cheese.Sicilian eggplant at Scotch Plains Farmers Market. Prepared in old-fashioned ways, eggplant dishes can be full of sodium from the salting and weighting that squeezes out excess moisture. 

They can be full of fat because eggplant's spongy texture soaks up a lot of oil when fried.

We recently found globes of spectacularly gorgeous purple and white Sicilian eggplant at Scotch Plains Farmers Market and decided to try using half-inch slices in place of a bread crust for home-baked individual pizzas.

We had previously baked slices of the regular type of eggplant with good results. So, we placed the eggplant slices on a pan brushed with olive oil. No foil or parchment lining is needed. The exposed eggplant tops also were brushed with oil.

After 20 minutes of roasting at 425 degrees, the eggplant was tender. We flipped the slices, spooned marinara over the tops, sprinkled on shredded Asiago cheese and returned to the oven 5 minutes to melt the cheese.

The flavor and soft texture reminded me of eggplant rollatini -- with less cheese and without the breading or fried oiliness.

The flavor of the Sicilian eggplant was slightly sweet, and it seemed lighter. It was a quick and easy way to enjoy fresh eggplant.

Here's the recipe we'll start with for real-deal rollatini.