Superfood Pesto Pizza

Not only is this pizza full of foods that punch above their weight healthwise, there’s no kneading and no waiting when it comes to the base, either. Homemade pizzas made easy!

You will need

For the topping:

• 1 zucchini, sliced
• 1 red bell pepper, cut into strips
• 3 oz mushrooms, sliced
• 3 shallots, cut into quarters
• 6 sun-dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
• ½ bulb garlic (paperwork done, but cloves left intact, unless they are very large, in which case halve them)
• 1 oz pitted black olives, halved
• 1 handful arugula
• 1 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
• 2 tsp black pepper, coarse ground
• ½ tsp MSG or 1 tsp low-sodium salt

For the base:

• ½ cup chickpea flour (also called besan or gram flour)
• 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
• ½ tsp baking powder
• ⅛ tsp MSG or ¼ tsp low-sodium salt

For the pesto sauce:

• 1 large bunch basil, chopped
• ½ avocado, pitted and peeled
• 1 oz pine nuts
• ¼ bulb garlic, crushed
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 1 tsp black pepper
• Juice of ½ lemon

Method

(we suggest you read everything at least once before doing anything)

1) Preheat the oven to 400℉ / 200℃.

2) Toss the zucchini, bell pepper, mushrooms, shallots, and garlic cloves in 1 tbsp olive oil, ensuring an even coating. Season with the black pepper and MSG/salt, and put on a baking tray lined with baking paper, to roast for about 20 minutes, until they are slightly charred.

3) When the vegetables are in the oven, make the pizza base by combining the dry ingredients in a bowl, making a pit in the middle of it, adding the olive oil and whisking it in, and then slowly (i.e., a little bit at a time) whisking in 1 cup cold water. This should take under 5 minutes.

4) Don’t panic when this doesn’t become a dough; it is supposed to be a thick batter, so that’s fine. Pour it into a 9″ pizza pan, and bake for about 15 minutes, until firm. Rotate it if necessary partway through; whether it needs this or not will depend on your oven.

5) While the pizza base is in the oven, make the pesto sauce by blending all the pesto sauce ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth.

6) When the base and vegetables are ready (these should be finished around the same time), spread the pesto sauce on the base, scatter the arugula over it followed by the vegetables and then the olives and sun-dried tomatoes.

7) Serve, adding any garnish or other final touches that take your fancy.

Enjoy!

Want to learn more?

For those interested in some of the science of what we have going on today:

• Which Bell Peppers To Pick? A Spectrum Of Specialties
• Ergothioneine In Mushrooms: “The Longevity Vitamin” (That’s Not A Vitamin)
• Black Olives vs Green Olives – Which is Healthier
• Lycopene’s Benefits For The Gut, Heart, Brain, & More
• Coconut vs Avocado – Which is Healthier?
• Herbs for Evidence-Based Health & Healing
• Spermidine For Longevity

Take care!