Roasted Eggplant + Chickpea Pizza With Tahini & Za'atar

Roasted Eggplant + Chickpea Pizza With Tahini & Za'atar

Every Tuesday afternoon Taylor and I take a mini road trip into Portland to drop off our CSA shares. It's 1.5 hours from the farm to our delivery spot and we either spend the time on the road listening to country music, npr, podcasts or I'll simply read aloud from some of my favorite food magazines or cookbooks. It may not sound exciting but this mini vacation from Tumbleweed is pure bliss for us. The simple act of sitting upright and getting blasted by air conditioning is heaven. This past week on the road I have been flipping through one of my favorite cookbooks Plenty by Yotam Ottolenghi and have been re-inspired to whip out my giant can of za'atar (a middle eastern spice blend) It's an easy spice blend to find around the Portland area and most well stocked grocery stores or specialty spice shops will cary it. However, if you live in the boonies (like Taylor and I do) then your local store my not carry it. In this case I would highly recommend ordering a jar online. I love Savory Spice and have been really happy with all of my online purchases so if you are hesitant give them a whirl! Za'atar is a great spice to have on hand and jazzes up everything from scrambled eggs to roasted potatoes. I typically don't like sharing recipes that call for hard to find ingredients (especially if it's only for one specific recipe) but since we love this stuff so much and use it on a variety of dishes I'm suggesting you get your hands on some soon! The flavor shines in this simple pizza and I hope you all love this meal as much as we do. It was so stinking good that it was the recipe of the week for our CSA members (they received a lot of eggplant in their box) Also, if you've ever been curious as to what goes into a typical weeks worth of CSA boxes take a look at our Tumbleweed website and look back at the past 15 weeks of harvest. It will give you an idea of what being a part of a CSA is like. Anyhow, we hope your next pizza night includes this tasty pie and a few colds ones too. Cheers from Tumbleweed!

Roasted Eggplant + Chickpea Pizza with Tahini & Za'atar

Prep Time: 15 minutes
Cook Time: 20 minutes
Serves: 4

Ingredients

Tahini Spread
  • 3 1/2 Tablespoons tahini
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons fresh lemon juice
  • 1 clove of garlic, minced
  • 1/4 teaspoon ground cumin
  • pinch of salt + pepper
  • 1/2 teaspoon honey
Pizza
  • 1 medium-sized eggplant, cut into 1/2 inch cubes
  • 1 cup cooked chickpeas (if from the can rinsed, drained and patted dry)
  • 3 Tablespoons olive oil (divided)
  • pinch of dried oregano
  • salt + pepper
  • 1 bunch of scallions, finely chopped (white and light green parts only)
  • 1 ball of your favorite pizza dough (homemade or store bought)
  • 1/2 cup shredded mozzarella
  • 1/2 cup crumbled feta
  • 1 1/2 Tablespoons za'atar
  • 1/4 cup minced parsley

Preparation

  1. Preheat the oven to 450F.
  2. Toss the cubed eggplant and chickpeas with 1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil, pinch of dried oregano, salt and pepper. Place in a single layer on a prepared baking sheet and roast until golden brown, about 15-20 minutes. Remove from the oven and set aside.
  3. While veggies cook prepare the tahini sauce by combining all the ingredients together and mixing until thick and creamy. This works best with an immersion blender or small food processor. Taste test and adjust seasonings as need be.
  4. Heat a small skillet over medium heat with the remaining 1 1/2 Tablespoons olive oil. Stir in the chopped scallions and cook until soft and lightly browned, about 5-7 minutes. Remover from the heat and set aside.
  5. Roll out your pizza dough onto a lightly floured surface. Spread the dough with the tahini sauce and layer on the roasted veggies, scallions, cheese and za'atar. Drizzle the whole pizza with a tiny bit more olive oil and place in the oven for 12-15 minutes or until the crust is golden brown.
  6. Sprinkle minced parsley over the cooked pizza, slice and serve.

Notes

*Use this recipe as a guide *Adjust measurements and ingredients as necessary *Taste test as you go *Have fun in the kitchen

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