Pesto Pizza with Cashew Mozzarella

Pesto Pizza with Cashew Mozzarella

I have found a new fondness for Cashew Cheeze and Nutritional Yeast. It's a guilt free way to get cheesy goodness into my belly! I paired it with my glorious version of Pesto (ehem, it has spinach...I know, Right?!?!) Ok so here we go, recipe time!

First off the Pesto!

Ingredients
1 Bunch Spinach
1 Bunch Parsley
1 Cup Unsalted Walnuts
3/4 Cup Olive Oil, but whatever healthy oil you like can be used, i.e. avocado, walnut.
1 Tbsp Nutritional Yeast
4 Cloves Garlic
Salt and Pepper to taste

Method

Wash and destem the Spinach and Parsley. I cut the stems off of the Spinach while still bundled together and then tossed them into a collandar and washed them. Let them drain in collandar
Peel the garlic and roughly chop. Toss into a blender or food processor with half the oil, pulse until the garlic is minced. Add the walnuts and a bit of salt and pepper. Pulse again until walnuts are pea size. Add in as much spinach as your bowl will hold, add in half of the oil that's left and grind it down until smooth, scraping the bowl if necessary. Add the last of the oil, taste, adjust seasoning if need be  and pulse it until everything is combined. It needs to have a paste like consistency. Store in an airtight container.


Now onto the dough!

This dough is fully gluten, but if you have a gluten free dough you like go for it!

3 Cups AP Flour
3 Tbsp Flax Meal
1 Cup Warm Water
2 1/4 tsp Active Dry Yeast
1 Tsp Sugar
1 Tbsp Salt
2 Tbsp Olive Oil

Combine the warm water, (it needs to be warm to the touch, but not hot, about the temp of hot tap water) yeast and sugar into a large bowl and let sit for about 10 minutes. It'll get creamy looking and somewhat foamy looking.
Add in the rest of the ingredients and mix with a spoon, when it has a shaggy look to it, it's time to get in there with your hands, first add a bit flour on top and then knead away in the bowl. Fold it over on itself and keep going until it's soft and smooth, if it feels sticky after it all comes together, knead another handful of flour into it.  Form into a ball and pour a bit of oil into the bowl and roll it around. Cover with plastic wrap, put in a warm place and let rise until double in size.

Side note if it's particularly cold that day, turn your oven on to 200 degrees F, once it reaches temp, turn it off and place the bowl in the oven and close the door. Keep an eye on it since it might double quicker than if it was just sat in a warm place. Otherwise I put it in the micro and let it do it's thing.

If you plan on eating this right away you'll need to preheat your oven to the hottest setting it has or 500 degrees F. and place the pan (preferably one with no sides, that way you can just slide the parchment with the pizza directly onto the pan)  in the oven as well. Other wise it can be stored in a Ziploc bag or airtight container in the fridge or freezer.

Once it's risen, punch it down and put it on a piece of parchment paper that's been floured, press flat, then sprinkle a bit more flour on the top. I used a square cookie sheet so I just pressed and stretched it out to fit the pan to within an inch of the edges.

Time for topping it with the Pesto and Cashew Mozzarella!

The Cashew Mozzarella is linked here:  http://sareneefood.blogspot.com/2017/01/cashew-mozzarella-cheeze-it-actually.html

Spread a generous portion of the Pesto onto the dough then add the glorious Cashew Mozzarella, just smear it all over, don't worry, it'll mix in and get lost in the Pesto, but that's ok.
I put sliced zucchini and mushrooms, along with diced chicken. Whatever toppings you use, make sure to press them into the Pesto mixture, just to be sure they don't fall off. Take your hot pan out of the oven and slide your pizza onto it. Bake for 15-20 munutes and then spin it around and let bake for another 10-15 min. All sides of the dough should be nice and brown.

I was going to let it rest for a little bit, but I was impatient and cut right in. It did not disappoint. Since there's no cheese and no juicy sauce it cut perfectly with no muss and no fuss. I hope you all enjoy .Have fun cooking my friends and remember to keep it homemade.