A very easy vegan pesto pizza, for a bit of a twist on your everyday pizza! Topped with homemade dairy free pesto, it makes good use of the summer abundance of herbs and is a delicious healthy-ish dinner option.
I’ve added tomato confit, jarred artichokes, greens, and lots of zucchini, but you can use any toppings you like. The confit adds a real punch of flavour that helps make this simple pizza a little more special and pairs so well with pesto.
If you don’t eat dairy and really miss pizza, give this a try. It’s not the same – I used to get double cheese stuffed crust pizza, after all – but it’s excellent in its own right. Graham says it’s not pizza but it is at the very least a truly good Flammkuchen.
Ingredients
- Sourdough Pizza Dough: or yeast dough, whatever you prefer.
- Pesto: since this is the main flavour, try to use homemade if you can. The fresher the basil, the better.
- Toppings: those listed are highly recommended with the pesto but of course you can use what you like.
Method
Mixing and shaping the dough is outlined in that post, so we’re skipping it here, since you may choose to use a different pizza crust.
Shape the dough and add the pesto, followed by the other toppings. Bake for 15-18 minutes at 240C (460F), until a deep golden colour.
Notes and Substitutions
Use a yeast-based pizza dough if preferred, or even a store-bought frozen one. A really good pesto is the key thing here.
Try eggplant, sweet peppers, very thinly sliced potato, mushrooms, or whatever vegetables you like. Of course cheese, vegan or not, is always good on pizza, too.
The hotter the oven the better. Don’t be tempted to reduce the heat thinking the pizza will burn – it just doesn’t need very long to cook. I always turn my pan halfway through baking to ensure even browning, but my oven bakes unevenly (too hot at the front).
Of course you can also use a pizza stone or pizza oven, but I have neither and can’t offer advice on their use for this recipe.
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Vegan Pesto Pizza
Ingredients
- ½ batch spelt sourdough pizza crust
- 50 grams dairy free pesto
- 1 large handful hardy greens spinach, rucola, chard, etc.
- 1 small zucchini thinly sliced
- 4 jarred artichoke hearts quartered
- 100 grams packed tomato confit
- Fresh basil to serve (optional)
Instructions
- Prepare the pizza dough according to instructions the night before beginning (or thaw your frozen dough in the refrigerator). Make sure it’s been shaped and risen before beginning.1/2 batch spelt sourdough pizza crust
- Make the pesto, if needed, and set aside.50 grams dairy free pesto
- Preheat the oven to 240°C (460°F).
- Spread the pizza dough with the pesto, reserving a couple tablespoons for drizzling over the pizza before serving. Leave 2-3 cm (1 inch) from the edge for the crust.
- Top with, in the following order, the greens, zucchini, artichoke hearts, and tomato confit.1 large handful hardy greens, 1 small zucchini, 4 jarred artichoke hearts, 100 grams packed tomato confit
- Once the oven is hot, place the baking sheet with the pizza onto the centre rack. Bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the edges are a dark golden brown.
- Cool for five minutes before slicing and serving with extra pesto and basil leaves. Leftovers are good cold and will keep for a couple of days in the refrigerator.Fresh basil
Nutrition
This post was first published in April 2018. It has been updated with improvements to the recipe as of August 2021.
Alexandra Daum says
I hope you can try it soon, Alex! I'm sure it would be delicious but I usually avoid soy – it can cause similar reactions as dairy for me. It's a great tip, thank you!
Alex says
This looks so good! I have to bookmark this for when I finally start my own sourdough starter 😉
Have you tried adding miso to your vegan pesto? It adds a nice salty/savory note.