Vegan Pizza with Tomato Cashew Cream and Avocado Herb Sauce
Holy moly, this vegan pizza impressed. My normally dedicated-carnivore recipe testers LOVED this pizza and it’s completely vegan.
Ingredients
Tomato cashew cream
- ½ cup sun-dried tomatoes chopped
- ¾ cup cashew nuts softened*, see notes below on how to soften cashew nuts
- 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- 3 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil
- ½ cup vegetable stock gluten-free if required
- ½ teaspoon salt
- ½ lemon juiced
Avocado sauce
- avocado 1 just-ripe
- flat-leaf parsley or coriander ¼ cup chopped
- mint leaves ¼ cup chopped
- lemon juice of 1
- extra-virgin olive oil or avocado oil 2-3 tablespoons
Pizza
- 4 large Lebanese flat breads gluten-free if required
- 150 g button mushrooms sliced
- 2 medium courgettes peeled into thin ribbons with a vegetable peeler (reserve a handful for garnish)
- 2 large roasted red capsicum from a jar or the deli, sliced
- ½ punnet cherry tomatoes cut in half
- 1/3 cup sliced marinated artichokes from a jar, can or the deli
- 16 kalamata olives
- basil leaves to garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 220degC.
- To make the tomato cashew cream, place all ingredients in a food processor and blitz until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. It will take at least a couple of minutes for the cashew nuts to break down completely. Transfer to a bowl and set aside.
- To make the avocado sauce, place all ingredients in the food processor and blitz until smooth and creamy, scraping down the sides of the bowl as necessary. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Set aside.
- Place Lebanese flat breads on 2 large baking or flat oven trays. Spread each base with about 2-3 tablespoons of tomato cashew cream. Then top with mushrooms, courgette ribbons, roast capsicum, cherry tomatoes, artichokes and olives. Dollop over remaining tomato cashew cream. Drizzle with a little extra-virgin olive oil and bake for 8-10 minutes until edges are crispy.
- To finish, top each pizza with remaining fresh courgette ribbons, dollop over avocado sauce and garnish with basil leaves.
- *To soften cashew nuts, either soak them in cold water overnight, or you can boil them in water for 10 minutes. Drain well before using.
Notes
I did a week eating only vegan food a while ago and found it quite a lot of fun! It helped me expand my repertoire and come up with new recipes like this vegan pizza. A creamy, salty tomato cashew cream replaces cheese, and it’s dolloped with a delicious avocado sauce. I’m confident that you and your family will wolf down this pizza with gusto, whether you’re vegan or not.
For gluten-free, use gluten-free vegetable stock and Lebanese flat breads (or regular gluten-free pizza bases).