Vegan Creamy Pesto Pizza
It takes just 5 minutes to whip up this creamy, rich, basil bursting, zesty, garlic, peppery sauce. Top with tomatoes and bake. Yum!
It takes just 5 minutes to whip up this creamy, rich, basil bursting, zesty, garlic, peppery sauce. Top with tomatoes and bake. Yum!
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3/4 cup water
- 3 tablespoons lemon juice
- 1/2 teaspoon pepper
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- 1 cup raw cashews
- 1 bunch fresh basil (about 40g) ((set aside some leaves f
- 2 cloves garlic ( roughly chopped)
- 1 pizza dough ((store-bought or homemade))
- 1 1/2 cups cherry or grape tomatoes ( halved)
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes ((optional))
- Carbohydrate 57.8041817043024 g
- Cholesterol 0 mg
- Fat 64.8050433974359 g
- Fiber 10.2241073734172 g
- Protein 31.8445514425536 g
- Saturated Fat 12.7169637820513 g
- Serving Size 1 1 pizza (376g)
- Sodium 43.4955320579396 mg
- Sugar 47.5800743308852 g
- Trans Fat 3.1967933974359 g
- Calories 876 calories
Step-by-step
- Preheat your oven to 425F and lightly grease a pizza pan.
- To make the pesto: if you don't have a high-speed blender start by adding the cashews to a small pot and covering them with water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 10 minutes until they are tender. Drain and rinse. If you have a high-speed blender, you can simply skip to the next step.
- Add the cashews and water to the blender and blend until smooth and creamy. Now add all of the remaining pesto ingredients and blend until smooth, stopping to scrape the sides as needed.
- To make the pizza: stretch the dough on a well-floured surface to fit your pan.
- Spread the pesto sauce over the dough, then top with cherry tomatoes.
- Bake for 18 to 24 minutes until the edges of the crust are golden brown.
- Finish by garnishing with extra fresh basil and red pepper flakes if using.
Operating without a high-speed blender requires boiling raw cashews for ten minutes to soften their cellular structure before pureeing. Doubling this recipe poses no challenge for standard food processors, though dividing the resulting dough into two equal portions prevents uneven crust thickness during baking. Stretching dough manually rather than using a rolling pin preserves internal gas pockets essential for a light, airy cornicione at 425 degrees Fahrenheit. Halving cherry tomatoes beforehand limits excess moisture release, preventing the crust from becoming soggy during the 18 to 24 minute oven duration. Nutritional yeast adds savory depth without dairy, replacing traditional parmesan functionally while maintaining a completely plant-based profile. Leftover blended cashew pesto stores safely in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to four days, though raw basil naturally oxidizes and darkens over time. Freezing assembled, unbaked pizzas is not recommended due to the high water content of fresh tomatoes and fresh basil leaves. Raw cashews can be substituted with blanched almonds at a one-to-one ratio, though the resulting sauce density will increase slightly due to lower natural fat content.
