Spicy Eggplant Pizza

Serves 4

1/4 cup plus 2 tbsp olive oil

1 pound unpeeled eggplant, trimmed and cut into 1-inch cubes

1 whole dried hot pepper, broken in half

1 recipes pizza dough ready to use

1/2 pound mozzarella, thinly sliced

1 cup Pastorelli pizza sauce

2 garlic cloves, minced

Heat 1/4 cup of the olive oil in a medium sized frying pan. Add the eggplant cubes and hot pepper and sauté over medium heat for about 10 minutes or until the eggplant is just tender but not mushy. Discard the hot red pepper and set the eggplant aside until needed. Preheat the oven to 500 degrees for 30 minutes. Lightly coat a large pizza pan with vegetable oil and sprinkle it lightly with coarsely ground yellow cornmeal or bread crumbs. Lay the cheese over the pizza dough. Spoon Pastorelli Pizza Sauce over the cheese and then distribute the garlic and reserved eggplant over the pie. Sprinkle the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil over the pie. Bake for 10 to 15 minutes, or until crust is golden.