Eggplant pizza with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella

**This is not a gluten-free recipe and was posted before I eliminated gluten from my diet. Use your favorite gluten-free crust instead.**

While Mom was visiting me this weekend, she mentioned that she wanted us to make pizza. After stumbling upon my favorite pizza last week, I was up for the challenge of making another delicious version. We didn't make this decision until after we had returned home from the store, so it was time to get creative with what we already had in the kitchen. For some odd reason I suggested an eggplant pizza, and we went with it (luckily Mom is always up for anything).

Eggplant pizza with tomatoes and fresh mozzarella

1 ball (6 oz.) 100% whole wheat pizza dough (see recipe, originally from 101 Cookbooks)

2 Tbsp olive oil, divided

1 large yellow onion, sliced thinly

2 garlic cloves, minced

1/2 medium eggplant, cubed

salt and freshly ground pepper to taste

3 Tbsp cornmeal

1 large tomato, sliced thinly

4 oz. fresh mozzarella, sliced thinly

If using frozen dough, let it thaw overnight in the refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator and let sit at room temp for at least 2 hours (I've found that 3 or 4 is better). Heat 1/2 Tbsp olive oil in large skillet over medium heat. Add onions and cook until tender (about 5 min). Add garlic, eggplant, and remaining oil, stirring well to make sure that all of the eggplant pieces are coated in oil. Cook until eggplant is tender (about 10 min), and add salt and pepper to taste.

Sprinkle baking sheet with cornmeal. Spread dough out into 12" circle, place on baking sheet, and bake for 3 min at 450. Remove dough from oven and top with eggplant, tomatoes, and mozzarella. Continue to bake until dough is cooked and lightly brown (8-10 more min). Serves 2.

This definitely rivals the pizza that I made last week. Mom and I couldn't stop talking about how good it was. It was very filling but not heavy, and was a perfect lunch. I'm glad I somehow thought of this combination, and it was fun to get more creative with eggplant. Speaking of eggplant, I never bother to peel or salt mine. I know that some people find eggplant bitter, but I never have this problem (which is weird, because I'm extremely sensitive to other bitter foods). So, peel or salt it if you want, but I save time and get right to the cooking.

I'm going to submit this to Weekend Herb Blogging because I was so happy with my new eggplant creation. This weekly food blogging event was started by Kalyn from Kalyn's Kitchen and is now run by Haalo from Cook (almost) Anything At Least Once. This week Prof. Kitty from the Cabinet of Prof. Kitty is hosting, and once again I'm excited to have something to contribute!