1 loaf of pizza dough (see recipes)
extra virgin olive oil, as needed
4 medium sized aubergine + 1 for the skin
2 cherry tomatoes
½ onion
a pinch of brown sugar
olive oil for frying, as needed
salt, to taste
pepper, to taste
50 g fior di latte cheese, in pieces
a few fresh basil leaves, to garnish
Make an aubergine cream (this will make enough for 4 pizzas):
wash 4 medium aubergine and cut them into thin slices. Fry them in olive oil then blend with the provolone cheese, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper until a smooth cream. Set aside.
Make the confit cherry tomatoes:
wash 2 cherry tomatoes, quarter and place on a baking tray with a few very thin slices of onion, a pinch of brown sugar, extra virgin olive oil, seasoned with salt and pepper. Leave to dry in a low oven –say, 125C—for about an hour, or until they have a creamy consistency.
When the cherry tomatoes confit are almost ready, peel the skin of the fifth aubergine in thin strips fry in a little olive oil until they curl up crispy.
Stretch out the pizza dough on the work surface. Add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, spread the aubergine cream, scatter the fior di latte and cook in a wood-fired oven at a temperature of about 450° for 60-90 seconds or in a domestic oven at 225°C on the top rack for 10-15 minutes. When the pizza is ready, add the cherry tomato confit and the fried aubergine skin.
This variety is very rare today and is known as “Melanzana Primitiva”. Originally, the aubergine was round and very dark purple and was mistaken for an apple. Given its dark colour, it was considered unhealthy and so bad, giving rise to this name – mela (apple in Italian) and insane (unhealthy in Italian).