Roasted Veggie Pizza with Goat Cheese

My mom bought me a Williams Sonoma pizza stone for Christmas this past year, and I was thrilled! In the summer, I am a nut for grilled pizza, but Matt and I miss the thin, crispy crust so much in the winter time!

To accompany my pizza stone, my mom also got me a pizza cookbook, where I found a recipe that I used for inspiration, although I made plenty of my own modifications/additions/etc.

INGREDIENTS:
4 cloves garlic
2 red onions, cut into wedges
1 orange bell pepper, cut into strips
1 yellow bell pepper, cut into strips
1 zucchini, quartered and cut into strips
1 eggplant, quartered and cut into strips
Extra virgin olive oil, for drizzling
Balsamic vinegar, for drizzling
Handful of fresh basil leaves, chopped
Pizza dough (I use Trader Joe's Whole Wheat)
Flour, for dusting
Tomato sauce (didn't have time to make my own, used Trader Joe's Fat Free Pizza Sauce)
6 oz. goat cheese, crumbled
Salt & pepper

DIRECTIONS:
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Brush a cookie sheet with oil, or prepare pizza stone.

Spread the garlic, onions, bell peppers, zucchini, and eggplant in a roasting pan. Season to taste with salt & pepper. Drizzle the olive oil over the veggies and toss to coat. Follow with the balsamic vinegar, drizzling over to coat (about a few tablespoons worth?). Toss in half of the basil leaves, and combine everything together. Roast veggies in the oven for 15-20 minutes, turning once or twice during cooking. Let cool.

Increase heat to 425 degrees F. Roll out the dough on a lightly floured surface and place on cookie sheet or stone. Let stand in a warm place for about 10 minutes. (I placed mine on top of the burners, and some of the heat from the oven warmed the stone/dough slightly). Add the tomato sauce, spreading it almost to the edges. Arrange the veggies on top of the tomato sauce, then sprinkle with the goat cheese. Drizzle some of the roasting juices over the pizza.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, or until golden. Garnish with remaining fresh basil.

What I would have done differently, though, was put the goat cheese on after cooking, or during the last few minutes of baking. Putting it on before hand left me with a mealy-texture as opposed to the creamy texture I love so much! Otherwise, the pizza was AWESOME! (And pretty healthful, too!)