This is a variety of pizza, a vegetable pizza pie - a crusty pizza pastry filled with a thick layer of mixed veggies.
The recipe is adapted from Pizza by PHAIDON.
Ingredients:
For the dough:
1 x 7 g sachet dry yeast
500 g "00" flour
120 ml oil
1,5 tsp salt
For the filling:
350 g eggplants (aubergines), sliced 5 mm thick
2 cloves garlic, crushed
1 heaped tbsp chopped flat-leaf parsley
1 onion, finely chopped (or sliced, if you prefer)
200 ml vegetable stock
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
1/2 yellow bell pepper, chopped
1/2 green bell pepper, chopped
450 g zucchini (courgettes), diced
2 tbsp grated Parmesan cheese
60 g dry bread crumbs
1 egg
season to taste
Method:
To make the dough, dissolve the yeast in a bowl with a little of the lukewarm water and let stand for few minutes until frothy.
Sift the flour into a bowl, make the well in the centre and sprinkle the salt around the sides.
Add the yeast mixture and oil.
Bring together with your hands and knead, adding slowly about 1 cup lukewarm water to make a smooth, elastic dough.
Let rise in an oiled bowl covered with plastic wrap for 1,5 hours, or until it has doubled in volume.
To make the filling, heat a little oil in a deep frying pan, add the eggplants and half of the garlic, and cook gently until lightly browned and cooked through.
Season and transfer to a plate.
Heat a little oil in the same pan, add the onion and the remaining garlic, and cook gently on a low heat for another 2 minutes.
Add the stock, then cover and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the bell peppers and cook for 5 minutes.
Add the zucchini and eggplants, and cook for another 5 minutes, or until cooked through. Season to taste.
Remove from the heat and let cool before adding the cheese, bread crumbs, parsley and egg.
To make the pizza, separate 1/3 of the dough on a lightly floured surface.
Roll out two-thirds of the dough and use it to line a greased deep 25 cm baking tin.
Transfer the vegetables into the pastry case.
Roll the remaining 1/3 dough and cover to form a lid, pressing it slightly on the sides, brush top with oil and make a hole with a toothpick in the centre.
Bake in a preheated oven (190 C, fan 170 C) for 45 minutes - 1 hour.
Remove from the oven and invert onto a plate.
Serve hot and enjoy!
Bon Appetit!
