Eggplant Bolognese Pizzas with kale caesar salad
You did most of the hardwork last night so tonight's dinner is super simple. Just spoon on the leftover bolognese to sliced eggplant, which is a great veggie "pizza crust." You'll have some extra time to make your own croutons and make this kale salad out of this world.
Ingredients
- Italian eggplant - 1 lb, sliced
- Olive oil - 3 Tbsp
- Leftover mushroom sundried tomato bolognese - 3 to 4 cups ((from Tuesday's dinner))
- Mozzarella cheese - 6 oz, grated
- Parmesan cheese - 2 oz, grated
- Bread - 2 cups, torn ((You can go rustic with a ciabatta or a baguette or use sandwich bread))
- Olive oil - 2 Tbsp + 2 Tbsp
- Kale - 1 bunch, leaves of
- Lemon juice - 2 Tbsp
- Dijon mustard - 1 tsp
- Plain yogurt - 2 Tbsp
- Parmesan cheese - for serving over salad, grated
Nutrition Facts
Prep
- Make croutons - Preheat oven to 375F (191C) degrees. Tear bread into small bite-sized pieces. Toss with first part of olive oil and bake in the oven for 12 to 15 minutes, until golden and crispy. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead, just store croutons in a well-sealed container)
- Kale - Remove leaves from stems and tear into bite-sized pieces. (Can be done up to 3 days ahead)
- Make vinaigrette - Whisk together lemon juice, Dijon, yogurt, and remainder of olive oil. Toss with kale leaves and refrigerate. (Can be done up to 1 day ahead)
- Eggplant - Slice into 1/2" (1.25 cm) thick slices.
Make
- Preheat oven to 425F (218C) degrees. Place a cooling rack into a sheet pan. Lay out eggplant slices on cooling rack (if any liquid comes out of the eggplant while cooking, it'll just drop below into pan and not make the eggplant soggy). Brush with olive oil and sprinkle with salt.
- Divide leftover bolognese from Tuesday's dinner onto eggplant slices and bake in the oven for 10 minutes.
- While eggplant is baking, toss dressed kale leaves with croutons and parmesan cheese if desired.
- Layer on mozzarella and then parmesan and bake for another 8 to 10 minutes, until golden and bubbly. Enjoy warm with salad on the side!
Reviews
This meal has 12 reviews
Really liked this. Used ground Italian sausage in the sauce because I had some. Also roasted the eggplant plain for 10 minutes, topped with sauce and cheese and popped it under the broiler. Perfect!
Eggplant did not work --- mushy even using the rack. Scraped the meat off, tossed the eggplant, and used in a pita pocket. UPDATED comment --- had frozen bolognese and made this again with portabella caps. Pricier but SO MUCH BETTER. Broiled caps only with olive oil and then baked with thawed meat on top. The frozen meat needed more doctoring with seasonings. My 1-star review stands, as that is the way the recipe was written, but I will make this as modified.
This recipe was a disaster for us. We followed the instructions exactly and the eggplant wasn't fully cooked. We've had it in for 40 minutes now, still not done. :( Had to feed toddler an improvised meal bc she won't wait :(
Made with portobello instead and they were so good!
The eggplant was kind of chewy along the outside , maybe didn't cook long enough!
Loved the eggplant and the salad dressing but didn't enjoy the kale. Overall really pleased with this dish.