The earliest versions of pizza were actually from ancient Greece, where flat bread was topped with vegetables, potatoes, spices and olive oil. Later in the 18^th century Italy, flat bread was sold to the poor in Naples and called pizza. The chef of Queen Margherita took this peasant bread, which she enjoyed, and added fresh basil, mozzarella, and tomatoes leading to Pizza Margherita. It is reported that over 90% of Americans eat pizza once a month. My sister, Preeti recently sent me some almond flour pizza crust dough, so I figured we would give it a try.

Ingredients:

• 1 12-inch round of almond flour crust pizza dough (see below)
• 3 tablespoons pizza sauce
• 1 1/2 tablespoon of red pepper, eggplant, garlic spread (Trader Joes)
•  Extra-virgin olive oil
• 1 long purple eggplant, cut into thin slices
• 1 red onion, cut into strips
• 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar
• Salt to taste

1. Place a pizza stone on the middle rack of your oven and turn heat to 450F. Let it heat 10 minutes. After rolling out the dough on top of parchment paper, use the circular top of a pot to make the circular shape.
2. Preheat the stretched dough in the oven at 450F for 10 minutes.
3. Meanwhile, sauté the eggplant slices with olive oil and salt till browned.
4. Then sauté the red onion slices with 1 tablespoon of balsamic vinegar till browned or caramelized.
5. Remove the stretched dough from the oven and spread the red pepper spread followed by the pizza sauce evenly across the surface.
6. Lay the eggplant slices followed by the caramelized onions.
7. Drizzle with olive oil over the top.
8. Add mozzarella or goat cheese if desired.
9. Bake at 450F for 10-12 minutes for a crisp crust.