Edible San Diego

Spring Pesto Pizza 

ad-1

Breakfasts

ad-1
ad-1
ad-1
ad-1
image_1

Photography by Becka Vance

image_2

Photography by Becka Vance

Prep Time
COOK TIME
SERVE
10 minutes
15 minutes

Pile your veggies on this plant-based pizza

Farm-fresh veggies and extra herbs from the garden inspired this simple recipe made vegan-friendly with almond ricotta.

Originally published in issue 77.

Cover image by Jen Lo for Edible San Diego.

Ingredients


  • SERVES 2–4

Almond Ricotta

  • 2 cups slivered, blanched almonds
  • 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
  • 2 tablespoons lemon juice
  • 2 tablespoons plain yogurt
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • ¾ cup water

Spring Pesto

  • ⅓ cup sunflower seeds
  • 3 cloves garlic
  • 1 cup basil
  • 1 cup spinach
  • ½ lemon, juiced
  • 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
  • ⅓ cup extra-virgin olive oil, plus more if needed
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Black pepper to taste

Pizza

  • 1 unbaked pizza crust (gluten-free if preferred)
  • 1 tablespoon extra-virgin olive oil
  • 1 leek, sliced
  • 1½ cups almond ricotta
  • 2 spears asparagus, chopped into
  • 1-inch pieces
  • 1 zucchini, sliced into rounds
  • ¼ cup pistachios, roughly chopped
  • Spring pesto
  • Watercress

Instructions

  • Blend all almond ricotta ingredients in a high-powered blender until smooth, adding a little more water if needed. Adjust seasonings to taste and refrigerate.
  • Add pesto ingredients to a food processor and blend until combined. Add more olive oil if the pesto is too thick to drizzle.
  • Make the pizza: Preheat oven to 350° and roll out pizza dough. Prebake the dough if necessary before topping. In a small skillet, heat olive oil over medium heat and sauté leek until caramelized. Spread a thick layer of almond ricotta on the pizza crust and top with asparagus, zucchini, caramelized leek, and pistachios. Bake pizza until the crust is baked through, 10 to 15 minutes. Remove from oven and top with pesto, watercress, and spring flower petals.
contributor6971

Liz Murphy

Liz Murphy is a local plant-based chef and sustainability warrior. Find her cookbook, Kitchen Contentment at santoshanutrition.com or look for it at local San Diego shops. Santosha Nutrition offers a plant-based cooking class with Chef Liz, a unique and fun gift for cooks of any level. Certificates include an interactive virtual or in-person cooking experience, with three recipes in a digital recipe packet with instructions. Her cookbook Kitchen Contentment: A Seasonal Guide to Cooking with Plants contains over 50 vegan and gluten-free recipes.

It wasn’t inevitable, but it sure is a good fit. Katie Stokes brings a love of family, nature, gardening, cooking, animals, reading and travel to her leadership of Edible San Diego.