Pizza Night with Eggplant Bharta Pizzettes

5 Steps to Making Naan Pizza

Whenever it's my turn to make dinner, I choose to cook with my favorite vegetables: carrots, eggplant, and beetroot. Tonight I treated my family to eggplant bharta pizzettes. The spicy, sweet and tangy flavors of the eggplant bharta pairs well with the cheesy goodness of Cabot Pepperjack cheese. I also love using Stonefire Tandoor baked mini naans from Costco. They are small and easy to handle so each pizzetta is personalized just the way my family likes them. 

Procedure

First you chop all the vegetable for making eggplant bharta and make it. Next, grate the cheese and spray each of the mini naans with margarine or pam. Spread the eggplant bharta on to each of the naans and top it with the cheese. Last, bake it in the oven at 400 degrees Fahrenheit for about 15-20 minutes or until the bottoms are crispy. 

Bon Appetit! They are ready to eat. 

What do you make for pizza night? How do you personalize your pizzas? We would love to hear from you.

For more fun and easy dishes, check out our recipes page. 

Costco Naan To the Rescue!

My workouts are a lot more fun now that I have a gym buddy; my friend Kathy. We kicked ass in tonight's Zumba class. I was so energized after the class that I couldn't let the good vibe go to waste. When I got home, I made dinner for my family.

Tonight's Special - A Different Kind of Naan Pizza

Browsing through the fridge, I found a container with leftover Eggplant Bharta and a light bulb switched on. Why not use it! Vegetable curries are great to use as toppings on pizzas. I topped the naan with eggplant bharta, pasta sauce, shredded Monterrey Jack Cheese, and fresh basil. Monterrey Jack cheese is excellent when you want to add a bit of spicy flavor to the pizzas. I also combined pasta sauce with the bharta to make it easier to spread on the naans and for flavor enhancement. After topping my naans, I popped them in the oven for about 10 minutes at 350 degrees (or until the cheese is all melty) and Voila! 

I got two thumbs up from my grandma and that made my night. My mom was happy too; she caught up with her favorite TV shows while enjoying the pizza. 

Ended Summer With A BANG-AN!

I can’t believe summer has come to end. One of my favorite memories this past summer was going fruit picking at a local farm with my family.  Even my grandmother had fun; she especially enjoyed the hayride around the orchard.  We were so famished from picking “all day” that we stayed at the farm for some grub.

The staff served up free samples of dishes cooked with the fresh produce. It was such a delight! My favorite was the Charred eggplant, zucchini and red bell peppers. It closely resembled a dish we prepare called Baigan Bharta; baigan means eggplant in Hindi. We don't grill that often so it was nice trying the dishes at the farm.

Over  Labor Day weekend, we finally set up the grill and had ourselves a mini barbecue with corn on the cob and Baigan bharta sandwiches. I brushed the corn on the cob with a little bit of lemon juice, chili powder and salt and it delicious. The sandwiches came out so well, I thought I would share the wealth.

Below is the recipe for the filling and it is good enough for 6-7 sandwiches.

Ingredients:

Main Ingredients

- 1 medium sized Eggplant, peeled and chopped into small cubes

- ½ cup of Crushed Tomato (use equivalent amount blending fresh tomatoes)

- 1 medium sized Onion (red or regular), chopped finely

- ½ cup of Coriander, chopped

- 1 tsp of Chili powder
- ½ tsp of Turmeric
- ½ tsp of Mustard Seeds
- ½ tsp of Whole Cumin seeds

- 1 tsp of Salt (Adjust to taste)

- 2 tbsp of Vegetable oil

- 2 to 3 tbsp of BBQ sauce (preferably Smoky flavored)*  

Procedure:           

1)  In a skillet heat oil and season with mustard and cumin seeds, when they start to splatter, add a pinch of hing (optional), turmeric and chili powder. Then mix well.

2) Add onions and stir until transparent, add tomato and cook well. Add chopped eggplant and salt, cook well under covered lid mixing intermittently.

3) When the eggplant is cooked well and blended into tomato, remove the lid and add chopped coriander and mix. Lastly, add 2 to 3 tablespoons of the Smoky flavored bbq sauce.

Baigan bharta can be served as a side dish for any meal. It can be also be served with roti, naan or rice. For our sandwiches, we toasted whole wheat bread and topped the bharta with Monterrey Jack (love the spicy kick). It was like eating sandwiches hot off the grill; especially with the addition of the smoky barbecue sauce in the recipe and the hot gooey cheese.

***Quick Tip: We used the smoky flavored BBQ sauce to add the charred flavor to the dish; similar to making it with roasted or grilled eggplant.

Check out the review of this dish on Wanderlust Wednesday. Have some feedback about our dishes, please feel free to post your comments and/or send us an email.