The heat is on here in North Florida and only the strongest produce can survive. I am continuously trying to find and create new recipes that use the local standards which are available this time of year. Peppers, eggplant, and tomatoes are abundant right now so we decided to try to come up with a new homemade pizza--shocking! In our assortment of veggies, from a friend's yard and our garden, we had fresh eggplant, onions, slicer tomatoes, and garlic to work with.

I instantly thought about how much I love eggplant parmesan and how long it had been since I made it. Since we had already made the dough for a pizza, I figured I might as well make an eggplant parmesan pizza! So I went about sauteing the onions in olive oil and garlic, lightly pan frying the eggplant, and seasoning the tomato slices with an Italian seasoning mix. Meanwhile, I threw together a homemade pizza sauce and let that simmer while I finished the preparations. Finally, we piled everything on top of the delicious dough and popped it in the oven. The house quickly filled with the scent of the veggies, oil, and spices melding together. And what came out of the oven was one of the most beautiful pizzas we have made to date! This eggplant parmesan pizza proved to be a favorite for both of us and allowed us to use available local veggies in a new way.