I get giddy when I can find new foods to make pizza out of. I watched this Italian grandma make cute little eggplant pizzas that looked so adorable. I couldn’t imagine how they wouldn’t get a bit soggy, but by taking the proper roasting steps to dry out the eggplant slices they make a WONDERFUL appetizer. I topped mine with some store-bought marinara sauce, grated mozzarella, cut mini pepperoni slices, and a few leaves of fresh basil. These bake up so great and they can be done a day ahead. I would love to do a build-your-own-pizza night with these bad boys. Bonus because it’s gluten-free and veggie-focused.

The most important part of a successful eggplant pizza is drying out the slices. Cook the slices in a hot oven to dry out each piece. This helps dry out the slices and also gets a good caramelization on the outside, so the eggplant tastes good! Be careful with the salt here. With the marinara sauce, cheese, and pepperoni, you don’t need much salt on the eggplant at all.

When your eggplant slices are ready to build, it’s time to make pizza. First a dollop of marinara. Don’t go too hard on the marinara, this will make your pizza soggy. Serve your slices with warm marinara for a lovely dipping sauce. Finish with cheese then it’s time for toppings.

Now this only cooks for less than 10 minutes, so if you’d like to use sausage or vegetables make sure you cook them ahead of time. I took a mini ring mold and cut the pepperoni slices to make tiny pepperoni and crisped up the scraps in the oven to serve as crispy bites.

I LOVE pizza and this cute little appetizer will not only get your family to try eggplant, but it will also get them excited to see what else they can make pizzas out of, like me!