Who needs pizza crust? In this delicious eggplant pizza, roasted eggplant, tomato sauce, basil and melted cheese unite to create a tasty, keto and low carb pizza experience.
These eggplant pizza bites are so good. Granted, they are only good if you like eggplant. But if you do, then eggplant pizza is the perfect keto and low carb pizza.
I have several low carb pizzas on this blog, including a few with a vegetable base such as cauliflower pizza crust and zucchini pizza. But eggplant pizza is by far my favorite, simply because I love eggplant and find its flavor and texture especially pleasing.
Did I say that I love eggplants? 🙂 I do. I usually simply slice them into rounds, brush with olive oil and balsamic vinegar and roast in a hot oven. Sometimes I make balsamic grilled eggplants. But this eggplant pizza is even better. It has no doughy crust, but it does have plenty of flavor!
MY LATEST VIDEOSThe roasted eggplant, tomato sauce, basil and cheese are wonderful together, so satisfying in fact that I sometimes serve this as an entree, accompanied by tossed salad, although usually I serve eggplant pizza as an appetizer or a snack.
Since I roast the eggplant at high heat, I find that there’s no need to salt it first – the high heat roasting takes care of any extra fluids.
For a similar but a bit more involved recipe, try this easy baked eggplant Parmesan.
Eggplant Pizza Bites
Ingredients
- Olive oil spray
- 1 large eggplant, unpeeled (1 1/4 lbs.)
- 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
- 1/4 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
- 1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1/2 cup marinara sauce (I use Rao's)
- 10 large fresh basil leaves
- 1/2 cup part skim shredded Mozzarella
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Line a large baking sheet with foil and spray it with olive oil cooking spray.
- Slice the eggplant crosswise into 1/2-inch-thick rounds, yielding about 12 rounds. Place the eggplant rounds on the prepared baking sheet. Spray with olive oil spray. Sprinkle with kosher salt, black pepper and garlic powder.
- Bake the eggplant rounds for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, turn to other side, spray with olive oil and bake 10 more minutes.
- Remove the pan from the oven. Switch the oven to broil, setting it on high. With a spoon, spread marinara sauce on each eggplant round. Top with a basil leaf and sprinkle with cheese, dividing the sauce, basil and cheese evenly among the slices.
- Return the pan to the oven. Broil 2-3 minutes, keeping a close eye on the oven, just until cheese is melted and golden-brown. Allow to rest 5 minutes before serving - the eggplant pizza will be too hot to enjoy straight out of the oven.
