From the Garden with Love

Hey guys! Today I’m going to share with you how to make my amazing tasty and healthy vegetarian pizza. For most people I know that pizza and meat go hand in hand, kind of like ying and yang, ebony and ivory… So I'm sure some of you might be skeptical of trying a pizza without meat, but give it a chance and I’m sure you’ll enjoy it :) And you’ll feel good after eating it, especially if you don’t go overboard with the cheese! If you absolutely want meat with the pizza I can recommend garlic and herb marinated chicken strips or something down that alley.  

Ingredients:

For the pizza sauce

-          1 onion
-          2 garlic gloves
-          400 g (14 oz.) finely chopped tomatoes (I use canned tomatoes from Heinz )
-          180 g (6 oz.) tomato pure
-           Fresh basil and oregano (dried spices will do if you can’t get them fresh)
-          Balsamic vinegar (optional)

For the pizza crust

-          2,5 dl (1 ½ cups) spelt flour
-          1 dl (1/2 cup) whole spelt flour
-          ½ dl (1/4 cup) almond flour
-          ½ dl (¼ cup) buckwheat flour
-          ½ dl (1/4 cup) coconut flour
-          2 tbsp. hemp powder
-          2 dl (3.3 fl. oz.) water
-          1 egg
-          Olive oil
-          Salt (I use Himalaya salt or unrefined seasalt)

For the topping

-           ½ red and ½ green paprika
-          Pineapple
-          Champignon or other mushrooms of your choosing
-          Black kalamatra olives whole or chopped
-          ¼ Zucchini (thinly sliced)
-          ¼ cup soy protein
-          1 Tomato
-          1 Spring onion
-          Cheese (mozarella and parmesan blend tastes great)

Now don’t get scared off by the long list of ingredients. You don’t necessarily have to use all of them. If you want to leave something out that’s not to you liking, go right ahead. Do be sure though that it all adds up to the same amount if you are leaving out some ingredients to make the dough. Say if you want to leave out buckwheat and hemp powder just add the same amount in spelt flour instead.

Okay, so you want to start with the sauce since that should simmer for at least 45 minutes to an hour. Dice you onion and sauté it in oil on medium heat for 3-4 minutes. Add the garlic and stir for another minute or so. Then you add the can of chopped tomatoes and let it simmer for 20 minutes. Now that you have cooked out some of the excess liquid in the sauce you add the tomato pure and the freshly chopped basil and oregano. Let simmer for at least 20 minutes and add a tbsp. balsamic vinegar if you wish. I think it gives the sauce more taste!

While your sauce is working it’s own you have lots of time to prep you vegetables and make your dough ready. Just slice or chop the veggies however you feel like. I like them sliced, but whatever works for you is good :) If you are using soy protein be sure to leave them soaking in water for at least 2 hours, depending on the size, before use.

Before making the dough preheat you oven to 200 C or 390 F. When you make the dough you want to mix all the dry ingredients in a bowl. Mix the water, the egg and oil before blending with the dry ingredients and just work it till it’s the right consistency. It shouldn’t be sticky but don’t make it to dry and flakey either. There should be enough dough for 2 small or one large pizza.

When you have got you’re dough rolled out I recommend popping it in the oven for a few minutes just to bake it a bit before putting the sauce and topping on. It makes it more crispy!

That done, spread the sauce on your crust. Put your choice of topping on. If you’re using zucchini I recommend putting it on the bottom so it soaks up the flavor from the sauce. Finish it off with the cheese, sliced tomato and spring onions on top and let the pizza bake in the oven till the cheese is nice and golden J    

Congrats, you have just made a yummy AND nutritious, healthy pizza! Well done :)

Enjoy!

 

I serve my pizza with a beautiful, green fresh spinach salad…