Roasted Eggplant Pizza with Almond Ricotta and Chili Oil

1. Preheat the oven to 425 ºF. Place the sliced eggplant in a single layer on a baking sheet and drizzle both sides with the chili oil and rub it in to coat. Bake the eggplant for 20-25 minutes until juicy and tender, flipping halfway through.Optional: While the oven is preheating salt the slices of eggplant and let them drain over a cooling rack for 30 minutes. Rinse, then pat dry before drizzling with chili oil and baking. This helps remove some of the bitterness from the eggplant. 2. Remove the extra papery skin on the outside of the head of garlic. Slice off the tips of the cloves, then place in a piece of aluminum foil and drizzle the olive oil overtop the cut side of the cloves. Wrap the foil to meet at the top and twist to seal. Bake alongside the eggplant until the garlic is soft and golden, about 40-60 minutes. Check after 40 minutes, then continue cooking until desired amount. 3. In a blender combine a couple spoonfuls of the tomatoes and their juices with everything else (olive oil, oregano, red pepper flakes, salt) and blend until smooth. 4. Add the rest of the tomatoes and pulse a couple of times. Do not overprocess or the sauce will be watery! Set aside until ready to use. 5. Turn the oven to 550 ºF, or as hot as it will go. Place a rack one third of the way down from the top of the oven, and place a baking steel or baking stone on that rack. You want the oven to saturate with heat for about 1 hour before baking pizza for best results. 6. At this time also remove the pizza dough from the fridge so it can come to room temperature and the gluten can relax. 7. When the oven is nice and hot, prepare your pizzas one at a time. Stretch (don't roll!) your dough to around 10-12" diameter and place on a lightly floured pizza peel. Spread the pizza sauce over the dough then top with a light sprinkling of vegan mozzarella. Then top with the roasted garlic and roasted eggplant and dollop with the almond cheese or vegan ricotta. 8. Transfer the pizza onto the baking steel or pizza stone and bake for about 8 minutes. If needed, turn the heat to broil for another 1-2 minutes to brown the top. Alternatively, bake on a baking sheet: assemble the pizza straight on the pan and place directly in the oven to bake. 9. Repeat the pizza assembly and baking with the remaining dough. 10. Let the pizza cool for a couple minutes before cutting and serve drizzled with extra chili oil and garnish with fresh basil (optional). Enjoy while hot!