So it’s been a while since I’ve posted one of my new recipes I’m trying out for the year. This spring has been full of weddings and engagement sessions and I am not complaining one bit! In March, I discovered these delicious quinoa cakes and they have become a staple in our house and in April we went to the beach so I didn’t try a new recipe :( But Scott made these blow toads for the first time and I tried them so that counts right? :) P.S. Look weird, taste amazing.

If you follow me on snapchat (carrilyn) you may have seen a sneak peek of the behind the scenes of this recipe! But today I’m sharing the full story.

As a lot of  you know, Scott and I met while working at the Olive Garden – and unlike most restaurants you work at I still love the food! Particularly the Eggplant Parmesan. I’ve been craving it lately but we are trying to be healthy and not eat out for the whole month. And I’ve never actually cooked with eggplant at home so I decided it was time to give it a try! First step, I headed over to my cooking guru and searched for recipes she might have and found this amazing Grilled Eggplant and Olive Pizza. Immediately I decided this was the recipe to try – and faster and easier than a heavy pasta dish. The only change I really made was swapping the green olives for black since I hate green olives but could eat black ones all day long. Also, I bought an already cooked crust from Target but it broke a little and since it was premade and didn’t need to cook, it got crispier than I wanted and a little burnt. Next time I will make the crust from scratch for sure (I’ve used this recipe with whole wheat flour and it turned out well!)

What you’ll need: Pizza crust, one eggplant, a small bunch of parsley, 10ish olives of your choice, provolone cheese, olive oil, and garlic.

For grilled pizza you want to make sure all your ingredients are prepped first. So I sliced the eggplant and brushed them with a mixture of olive oil and garlic one one side.

Then chop the olives and parsley, and slice the cheese into ribbons.

Lay the eggplant on the grill and then brush the other side with your olive oil/garlic mixture.

Look at those grill marks :)

Once your eggplant is cooked, remove from grill and chop into small pieces.

So I didn’t get a picture of me loading up all the ingredients because you have to do it fast but here’s the process:

• Brush one side of crust liberally with your olive oil and garlic mixture and lay that side down on the grill until warmed (or for raw dough which would work so much better, 3-5 min until bubbly and the underside is a nice golden brown).
• Flip and brush again with oil
• Layer on toppings and cheese and shut grill quickly to heat everything through and melt the cheese.

Since I had a premade crust it was getting a little too dark for my liking so I pulled it off and finished it in the broiler. Again – another reason I will make my own next time!

Sprinkle with fresh parsley, slice, and serve. Try not to eat it all and save some for your husband. Went well with both a glass of deep red I had open and a crisp white the next night for leftovers :)

Bonus recipe! Since I had leftover grilled eggplant I mixed it up for a tapenade/dip the next day! Here’s how:

Chop roasted red peppers, sun-dried tomatoes, black any type of olives, grilled eggplant, and parsley. Mix together and drizzle with olive oil and balsamic vinegar. Add a clove of garlic finely chopped. Season with a touch of salt and pepper. Enjoy!

Is great on a hearty cracker like a Triscuit with some cheese and white wine! Perfect for an appetizer but may or may not have been my dinner :)

Original Source: Smitten Kitchen.

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