(cheeseless!) eggplant pesto pizza

so will has been doing pretty darn good in the kitchen since i've been gone!  i've asked him to be a guest writer for the month, so hopefully for the next few weeks you'll be getting an archive from me and a recent creation from him :)  i'm so proud ;)

for now:

i was going to stop by the store after work to get cheese for pizza, but a seriously apocalyptic looking storm was coming in so we skipped it.  cheese free pizza: i’ve faced bigger challenges.

we got a few different kinds of eggplant in our farm share this week.  one that looked like what i’m used to, a couple that were long and slender in a lavender shade, and one sort of in the middle.  i chose that one, slicing it into circles about 1/3 inch thick.  (for anything other than pizza i make them a bit heftier but wanted these to be easily bitable.)  i put them on medium low in the large pan with a bit o’ butter.

now that i’m thinking about it i remember hearing that it’s good to have your pan already heated up when eggplant goes in, or else it will just soak up all of the oil.  (but maybe that’s ok!)

i got the idea to make pesto for the sauce, and braved the torrential rain for a few chard leaves (AND to check on the babies, whom i had closed up in their roost in preparation of the storm...mama was terrified, but i think they were more annoyed at being cooped up before twilight! :)  

while the chard was getting a few long minutes in boiling water i chopped up a good handful of basil, a big clove of garlic, and grated two small yellow zucchinis into the blender.  i thought it would thicken the sauce up (regardless of knowing that anything in the blender has to have a certain amount of liquid or it won’t work!  stubborn :)

i also began heating up (though hardly necessary, since it was going into the oven) the small amount of okra tomato bean leftovers.  i didn’t want the beans, but it was a package deal.

i added the chard, along with a bit of the water to the blender, and gave it a go, adding olive oil and liquid ‘til it would blend (also stirring it with a spoon between whirls).

between all this the eggplant received all sorts of tender flips, a splash of bragg’s, and about 1/3-1/2 cup of water to make sure it softened up properly (enough to have a small layer in the pan).

oven was preheated and onto the pizza went pesto, okra tomato bean stuff, and eggplant rounds, placed strategically to minimize needing to cut through them.  i cracked some salt over the top and sprinkled ground flaxseed, which really made it look beautiful!  very rustic ;)

(cheeseless!) eggplant pesto pizza

i confessed to will later that i kind of wish he had walked in on me earlier, as those beans i didn’t want on my pizza got eaten off one by one as soon as they were spread on it.  it was a silly moment :)

approximate price: $7