My mother visited us, announcing she was on a vegetarian diet. She also wanted to see our Big Green Eggs that she’d heard so much about. So we made a delicious vegetarian pizza topped with her favourite herbaceous plants … smoked tomato, aubergine and mushrooms.

Make pizza dough as per this recipe (or defrost some dough) then follow the instructions below to cook using a Big Green Egg (BGE). This can also be baked in an oven using the same method as the Ham and Mushroom pizza, simply change the toppings and pop in the oven.

The vegetables are in advance smoked with a ProQ Cold Smoke Generator. See my guide to cold smoking for information about how to do this.

Toppings

• 1 aubergine/eggplant
• 6-7 heritage/heirloom tomatoes
• 10 chestnut mushrooms
• Shredded mozzarella
• Crumbly goat’s cheese, e.g. Rosary
• 3 garlic cloves, crushed
• Passatta

Method

Preparation

This can be done the evening beforehand or during the afternoon.

1. Slice the aubergine and tomatoes. Cold smoke them during the day for four hours using applewood chips/chunks/dust.
2. Prepare dough as described in this recipe. Or defrost some in advance.

Cooking the Pizza

1. Prepare the BGE to cook pizza.
2. Whilst the BGE is getting to temperature, slice and pan fry the mushrooms and smoked aubergine slices in butter for two minutes. Stir the crushed garlic into the passatta.
3. When the dough is ready, shape the pizza base. I prefer thin crust for this pizza.
4. Add the toppings … passatta, then aubergine, goats cheese, mushroom, tomato slices. Some more goats cheese and mozzarella can be spread over the tomato slices as well.
5. When the BGE is ready to cook pizza, carefully burp and open it.
6. Transfer the pizza to the pizza stone, close the dome.
   • For thin crust/350°C, cook for 6 minutes.
   • For thick crust/300°C, cook for 8 minutes
7. Burp and open the BGE, check if the pizza is ready. If not, close dome and cook for another minute. Repeat until done.
8. Slice with a pizza cutter or sharp scissors and serve.

Hints, Tips and Pictures

A rolling mat (pictured below) can be used to get the base the right size, as cooking at 350°C means baking parchment can’t be used. The pizza stone is 14 inches across, so I shape to 13 inches. The mat is non-stick.