Aubergine Pizza:One for the kids

I got this idea from a link with Julia Child who brought French (and Mediterranean) cooking to Americans. She was born in 1912 and after WW2 studied and worked in France and became the USA’s Elizabeth David or Mrs Beeton.

I have several of Elizabeth David’s books and she really made Britain aware of olive oil which could be used in cooking and not just when you had earache.

I also have a couple of original Mrs Beeton’s cookery books, one in particular was printed in 1902 and contains this gem:

Turbot (Italian fashion)
a turbot of medium size
1 trout
2 carp’s roes
Button mushrooms
a few truffles and prawns, 2oz of butter, wine, sauce
This served 8 for 12/- (60p for younger readers)    
Anyway, back to the pizza. I have adapted this from Julia’s Tranches d'aubergine á l'italienne.
Slice the aubergine into ½ inch rounds then use whatever method you wish to draw out the moisture, I usually don’t bother. By the way my aubergines weren’t particularly big but sometimes that’s a bonus as I find the larger ones can be a little bitter.

Brush the slices with a little oil and place on a greased baking sheet then pop into a hot oven (190°C | 375°F) for 20 minutes or so.

Meanwhile, sauté finely chopped onion, garlic and diced fresh tomatoes in a pan with olive oil and a good sprinkle of dried oregano. Add a splodge of home-made sun dried tomatoes for the lycopene if you like.

When you’re happy with your ‘pizza’ bases layer with thinly sliced mozzarella adding a spoonful or two of the sautéed tomato and garlic. Grate over fresh parmesan, a grind or two of black pepper then place under a hot grill for a few minutes or until it looks good enough to devour before you can get it to the table.

Garnish with ripped fresh basil leaves and a little drizzle of olive oil if you think it needs it. 

This is great for veggies and a good way to get kids to eat vegetable pizza. 

Eat meat NOT veg


2 comments:

  1. I think Julia child and three other British women, one being my mother, translated Larouse Gastromique into English many years ago. My mother translated the meat section and brought me up on Mediterranean cooking. Another of the translators was a rather eccentric artist/neighbour called Patience Gray who brought out a wonderful cookery book ´Honey as a Weed´ about fasting and feasting in some of the Mediterranean countries. My mother was of the generation when Elizabeth David introduced Med. cooking to Britain and I have a copy of Patience´s ´Plat du Jour´ first published in 1957. I inherited these books when my mother died, the former one being quite modern and a for me a sort of cooking Bible as it is academic and full of interesting facts, one being all about the caper bush. Both Patience and my mother were journalists on Fleet Street, before I came along and enjoyed a long friendship. I remember being really scared of her as a child and used to secretly steal into her garden to eat her parsley! Matty.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks Matty, that's really interesting. I have one of Mrs Beaton's recipe books from 1912. And please don't tell me that Patience Gray is a relative of Rose Gray of River Cafe fame?

    ReplyDelete