Homemade Vegetable Pizza with Eggplant and Zucchini with homemade tomato paste

👨‍🍳 Method

For the homemade tomato paste ✓ Homemade · or skip – back to store-bought

1. 1
   Wash the tomatoes, remove the cores and quarter each tomato.

   KnifeCutting board
2. 2
   Put the tomatoes, the salt and half of the olive oil in a wide pot, cover and cook over medium heat about 20 minutes, until the tomatoes soften and release their liquid.

   StoveWide, shallow pot
3. 3
   Pass the tomatoes and their liquid through a food mill or sieve and return the purée to the pot: the skins and seeds stay behind.

   Food millorFine sieve
4. 4
   Cook uncovered about an hour at a lively simmer, stirring now and then, until the purée reduces by half.

   StoveWooden spoon

   💡The paste burns easily as it dries: stir and scrape the bottom and edges, and once it is thick, don't walk away.
5. 5
   Preheat the oven to 110°C (230°F).

   Oven

   💡Put things in the oven only once it's reached temperature, after the heating light has gone off: an oven that hasn't reached temperature changes baking times, and the bake burns outside or stays underbaked.
6. 6
   Grease a wide baking dish with the rest of the olive oil and pour in the purée in a thin layer. Dry in the oven about 3 hours, stirring and scraping the edges every 30 minutes, until the paste is thick, sticky and brick red.

   OvenBaking sheetSilicone spatula
7. 7
   Let the paste cool.

   Jar

For the Dough base

1. 8
   Mix the flour, yeast, sugar and salt in a large bowl.

   Bowl
2. 9
   Add the lukewarm water and olive oil and Knead about 10 minutes, until the dough is smooth, pliable and doesn't stick to your hands.

   BowlStand mixer

   💡For yeast dough, use the windowpane test: a small piece stretches into a thin, translucent sheet without tearing, and that's the sign the kneading is done. Add flour only by the tablespoon, and only if the dough is still sticky after a few minutes: too much flour makes a tough dough.
3. 10
   Cover and Let rise about an hour in a warm place, until the dough doubles in size.

   Plastic wraporKitchen towel

   💡Let rise in a warm, draft-free spot. The dough is ready when it has doubled, and a gentle finger press leaves a dent that fills back slowly; if it springs right back, wait longer.

For the Tomato sauce

1. 11
   In a bowl, mix the tomato paste, garlic and basil. Don't cook it: the sauce cooks on the pizza in the oven.

   Bowl

To assemble

1. 12
   Preheat the oven to 220°C (430°F), with a baking stone inside.

   Oven

   💡A home oven doesn't reach the heat of a professional pizza oven, but you can get close: preheat the oven to its maximum temperature (250°C+) with a pizza stone or an upside-down baking sheet inside for at least 45 minutes before baking.
2. 13
   Fry the eggplant in a little olive oil 2–3 minutes per side, until softened.

   StoveFrying pan
3. 14
   Roll out the dough (or stretch it by hand) into a thin round on a floured surface and transfer to parchment paper.

   Rolling pinParchment paper

   💡Pizza dough that doesn't shrink: when the dough shrinks back as you roll it, let it rest covered for 5 minutes. The gluten needs to 'relax'. After that it will roll out easily.

   💡For crisp homemade pizza dough: after rising, don't roll it out with a rolling pin but stretch it gently by hand. Stretching by hand keeps the air bubbles formed during rising and creates an authentic bubbly crust.

   💡Let the pizza dough rise for 24 hours in the fridge (a long cold rise) — the dough develops a deeper flavor and an airy texture with big bubbles.

   💡3 cups of flour (about 400 g) make 2–3 thin pizzas: divide the dough into balls before rolling, rather than stretching it all into one thick pizza.

   💡Roll from the center outward and give the dough a quarter turn between rolls: this keeps it even in thickness and stops it sticking to the counter. If it springs back, cover for 10–15 minutes and try again.
4. 15
   Spread a thin layer of sauce, leaving a 1 cm border.

   💡Preheat the oven to its maximum with a baking stone or an upside-down baking sheet. Pizza dough should be at room temperature. Spread a thin layer of sauce - too much sauce will make the dough soggy.
5. 16
   Scatter the mozzarella, tomato slices, eggplant and zucchini over the top.
6. 17
   Slide the pizza on its paper onto the hot stone and bake 18–20 minutes, until the edges are golden and the cheese bubbles.

   OvenBaking stone (pizza stone)Parchment paper