Hubby food #4: Home made pizza with eggplant and balsamic-glazed cherry tomatoes

(3 medium pizzas, serves 4-6)

What better way to spend a warm Spring night than with some home-made pizza? My husband is a bread guy; he loves making bread, pastry, pizza, anything oven-baked really. So i wanted to make something he would like (although he claims to like everything!). 
I've generally stayed away from this area of baking as i'm not really sure where to start and the relationship between the protein content, gluten, how much to knead and how hard/soft everything turns out seems pretty complicated... But the beautiful warm days earlier this week (33˚C in September, gotta love Sydney!) were very inspiring so i thought i'd give making fresh pizza bases a go. I was hoping that this would mean the yeast would rise and we'd have delicious crispy, soft fresh bread... and hurray! It worked! :)

Prep time: 1hr 15min
Cooking time: 15-20min

Ingredients
450g Tipo '00' flour
1/2 tsp salt
1x 7g sachet of dry yeast
1/2 T caster sugar
2 T olive oil
325 mL warm water

Toppings:
1/2 eggplant
1 zucchini (optional)
1 capsicum
1 punnet cherry tomatoes
200-300g Pizza plus cheese - mix of mozzarella, cheddar and parmesan
2x140g tubs of Leggo's tomato paste with garlic and herbs
400g prosciutto, optional
handful of basil leaves

Method
1. In a jug, mix the yeast, sugar, olive oil and warm water. Leave for a few minutes.
2. Place the flour and salt into a large mixing bowl and make a well in the middle. Gradually add in the yeast mixture, stirring with a fork to slowly incorporate the flour until well-combined.
3. Flour your hands, then knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until soft and springy, approx 3-5 minutes.

4. Place the dough ball in a large glass bowl and cover with a warm damp cloth and leave in a warm place for approximately an hour until it has doubled in size.
5. In the meantime, cut the eggplant into thin slices. Salt and leave it for a few minutes, then stomp with a paper towel to remove any moisture. Heat a fry pan with 1/2 T olive oil on medium heat and line with a single layer of eggplant. Fry until slightly browned on each side, approximately 5 minutes each side. You will need to repeat this 2-3 times to get through all the eggplant.
NB. Salting and stomping the water out makes the eggplant dry and crispy rather than that slightly squidgy feeling it can have. 
6. If using zucchini, you may also want to pan-fry the zucchini in advance. Slice the capsicum into thin slices and halve the cherry tomatoes. 
NB. I was trying to make balsamic-roasted semi-dried cherry tomatoes which I had tried at La Piadina, Bondi. This involved grilling on low-medium for 30 minutes with a sprinkle of salt and balsamic vinegar, but you can also just put them fresh on the pizza and they will roast nicely.
7. Preheat the oven to 240˚C.
8. When the pizza dough has risen, remove it from the bowl and knead it again to 'knock out' the dough. Divide the dough into 3 pieces. 
9. On a lightly floured surface, roll out the dough with a rolling pin until 0.5cm thick into either a circle or a rectangle, depending on what type of tray you are placing it on.
10. Place the base on a tray, if using a non-stick pizza tray (has holes on the bottom to help with crisping) then can just dust some flour on the tray, otherwise best to bake on baking paper.  Folding the edges in slightly to form the crust.
Top the pizza dough with a generous spread of tomato paste, cheese mix, and a thin layer of eggplant, zucchini, capsicum slices, cherry tomatoes and a sprinkle of basil.

The italians have taught me that, when it comes to pizza, less is more.

11. Place in the oven and cook for approximately 15-20 minutes until the base is crispy. Remove and serve immediately!

Can add some fresh prosciutto on top, or leave without for the vegetarian option. Both are yum!

3-in-1 Roasted tomato & leek pizza, with capsicum, eggplant or zucchini in each third.