Recipe: Provence on a Plate - Roasted Eggplant, Tomato and Tapenade Pizza with Goat Cheese

French women don't get fat.  That's, like...a law of nature, right?

So when Patricia Wells, who is basically the queen of Provencal cooking, was next up on Gourmet's 50 Women Game-Changers in Food (which I am cooking through with a bunch of fabulous bloggers).  I had expectations.


(By which I mean, I wanted her to tell me that eating bread and cheese all day every day for the rest of my life was absolutely the way to go.

Sometimes.  I only hear what I want to hear.)



Instead, much to my disappointment and chagrin, I discovered that the real secret is that French women arrange slices of eggplant, tomatoes, tapenade, and goat cheese into neat little stacks.

Like so.

And call it dinner.

(I may or may not have cried myself to sleep at this point.  Just saying.)



No one wants stacked food on a Friday, though.

Or on a Wednesday.  After running hill repeats for an hour.

Or on a Thursday.  After standing for 9 hours in lab.

(Maybe on Saturday when you're thinking about being on a hot date with the guy you've been messaging back on forth with on "insert dating website of choice" but who has yet to make.a.move and ask you on said hot date.  Weirdo.)



Thankfully, I remembered reading on some fabulous wonderful insightful wise-beyond-their-years blog last week that any salad can be turned into a damn good pizza (I can't remember who the blogger was, so if it's you then let me know!).  And that, my friends, is my new mantra.

That is also why I can't be accepted into the French-women-never-get-fat society.

(Except maybe on Saturdays.)

You know. I think I'll survive.

--

This pizza was the perfect mix of roasted veggie heaven, briny olive-y tapenade, and salty delicious goat cheese.  All made fresh by the basil strewn on top.  Feel free to swap out eggplant for zucchini (cough Alisa and Chris cough) if it suits you or throw feta on top if you aren't a goat cheese fan!

And check out the Patricia Wells recipes some of my BFF's made!

Val - More Than Burnt Toast
Joanne - Eats Well With Others
Taryn - Have Kitchen Will Feed
Susan - The Spice Garden
Claudia - A Seasonal Cook in Turkey
Heather - girlichef
Miranda - Mangoes and Chutney
Jeanette - Healthy Living
April - Abby Sweets
Katie - Making Michael Pollan Proud
Mary - One Perfect Bite
Kathleen -Bake Away with Me
Viola - The Life is Good Kitchen
Sue - The View from Great Island
Barbara - Movable Feasts
Kathleen - Gonna Want Seconds
Amy - Beloved Green 

Roasted Eggplant, Tomato and Tapenade Pizza with Goat Cheese
Serves 4, inspired by Patricia Wells's Salad As A Meal

Ingredients

• 1 batch of my favorite pizza dough
• 1 eggplant, sliced into 1/2-inch rounds and roasted for 15 minutes at 450
• 2 tomatoes, preferably heirlooms, sliced
• about 20 basil leaves
• 4 oz tapenade
• 4 oz goat cheese (I used Mediterranean herb-infused goat cheese)

Instructions

1. Preheat oven to 500, or as high as your oven goes.  Grease your pizza pan with a little bit of olive oil.  Roll out your pizza dough until it is large enough to cover the pan and then place it on top of the pan.  Let it rest for a minute.
2. Layer the roasted eggplant over the top of the pizza, letting slices overlap if necessary.  Layer the tomatoes on top of these.  Distribute the basil evenly around the pizza.
3. Grab some tapenade (literally...just scoop some out with your hands) and sprinkle it over the pizza, making sure it's distributed evenly.  Take your goat cheese log and do the same, crumbling it as you go.
4. Put pizza in the oven and bake for 10 minutes or until the bottom of the pizza starts to become light brown.  Remove pizza from the oven and let rest for at least 5 minutes before cutting.

I am submitting this to Meeta's Monthly Mingle, which is being hosted this month by Kulsum of Journey Kitchen!  It has also been yeastspotted.