Pizza?

I'm going to have to agree with Brendan Brazier who wrote: "I hesitate to even call these pizzas". They are, indeed, nothing like regular pizza. The crust isn't crust-like and you have to eat them with a knife in fork unless you'd prefer a mess on your plate. But after skimming "The Thrive Diet" numerous times, I was determined to make one of these pizzas. Using ingredient ideas from his collection of pizza recipes, I created my own concoction.


"Pizza"
Crust ingredients
- 1 cup cooked quinoa
- 1 cup chickpeas
- 1/4 cup sunflower seeds
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 1 tsp rosemary
- 1/2 tsp oregano
- S&P

Toppings
- 1 serving cashew ricotta (recipe to follow)
- 1 handful baby spinach
- Yellow squash, thinly sliced
- Zucchini, thinly sliced
- Pinch red peppa flake
- 1/4 tsp olive oil

Instructions
- Preheat oven to 300.
- Combine crust ingredients in a food processor and process until smooth.
- Spread "dough" on a greased baking sheet. Make any shape/thickness/etc you like. Water your fingers if it gets too sticky.
- Spread with cashew ricotta and top with whatever you want.
- Bake for 45 minutes or until your crust reaches the crispness you want. I ended up baking mine for just shy of an hour. Enjoy!

Cashew ricotta
Ingredients
- 1/2 cup cashews, soaked overnight
- 1 tsp lemon juice
- 1 tsp nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp sea salt

Instructions
- Put everything in the food processor and process until you reach your desired consistency.




Note the monstrous salad. I love having a huge one with lunch or dinner; it fills me up and is so refreshing with this heat. Plus, I've been experimenting with dressings, which is always fun.

The flavor of this was insanely good. The dough was nutty and crisp and almost reminiscent of a creamier, thicker Mary's Gone Crackers. However, the pizza is super delicate and it took a lot of patience and skill for it not to completely fall apart. I tried putting the leftovers on a plate and it did unfortunately fall apart, so eating them will be interesting. You definitely can't pick this up and nosh like a slice from Pizza Hut, but if you're looking for a pizza packed with healthy ingredients and awesome flavor, give one of Brendan's recipes a try (or create your own!).