Wednesday, November 3, 2010

First Ever Cheesless Pizza


 I love pizza and all its cheesy goodness, so I seriously doubted that this would ever work out.  I usually start with a yummy homemade crust, load mine up with tons of veggies and lots of ooey gooey cheese. Everyone gets to choose their own toppings; Smiley likes banana peppers, black olives and extra cheese, Knucklehead likes the same but with pepperoni  and Mr. Run likes everything but the kitchen sink on a thin crust. But everyone loves the cheese.

After digging through the veggie bin, I came up a little short for my portion- just a half a portabella mushroom, a red onion and big bunch of basil from the garden. Seemed like that would be a little dry on a pizza with nothing to stick it all together so I made a quick pesto.

Basil and Walnut Pesto     
                                                               
1 c. packed basil leaves
1/4 c. walnuts, shelled
2 garlic cloves                        
1/8 to 1/4 c. olive oil
sea salt to taste

Whir the basil, walnuts and garlic in the food processor until the nuts are finely chopped. Add the oil a little at a time until it is a good consistency. Stir in sea salt.


Yes, I know it looks kind of weird, but I promise it's not. It's yummy. I started with a layer of pizza sauce, then added the mushroom and onion, then spread the pesto on with a fork. I had to thin the pesto a bit with water to make it spread and hindsight tells me a spoon might have worked better for spreading and for photographic purposes, but dang, I was hungry.

Pesto doesn't melt and glue everything together the way cheese does, but it does pack a flavorful punch. I'll be experimenting more with pizza toppings as it is one our favorite meals and I'm pretty much over salad since the temperature dipped below 60º.

 I would love to hear your favorite pizza toppings (vegan or not) and any recommendations you may have for making vegan pizza.


Today's workout : 2.5 mile warm up
Lower body: squats, lunges,wall sit, step ups, plie squats, stiff leg deadlifts , leg lifts (two sets of 12)

4 comments:

AM! said...

kudos to you on your pizza making skills!

and yah...the cheese for me is just too dang good to give up1;-) fav' topping, a lil' cheese and veggies. the more the better

KovasP said...

That looks awesome! If you don't mind processed food, there are vegan cheeses.

Quinton J said...

Heather...you're pushing your luck here. I don't doubt it's tasty...I may even try it...but you're pushing your luck.

heather said...

AM- I think the key here was I was super hungry, cause I didn't miss it as much as I thought.

Kova - I do Boca burgers when I'm really in a hurry and need protein, but I'm trying really hard to stay with whole foods

Q - don't I know it