Butternut Base Pizza

Pizza is an enjoyable, delicious food that many people enjoy and love. Unfortunately, Some people have allergies or have an intolerance and can't enjoy pizza the same way. I would like to share my pizza recipe ,since it is gluten free, dairy free, and suitable for vegetarians and vegans. Although it is different to most pizzas, it tastes as good as it looks!

For the pizza base, you will need:

375g diced butternut squash

3 teaspoons of ground sunflower seeds

110g of ground almonds

Preheat the oven to gas mark 7 220°/425F

Put the diced butternut squash in a pan with boiling water and cook on a medium heat for 15 minutes or until the butternut squash cubes are soft enough to mash down. Once it is cooked, use a potato crusher to mash down the butternut cubes. After that, Add the ground almonds and the ground sunflower seeds. Add salt and pepper to taste. Line a pizza tray with baking parchment and press down the pizza base into the pizza tray.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until it is crispy around the edges.

To make the pesto you will need:

130g baby spinach leaves

65g basil leaves

fresh lemon juice from 1 lemon

10g coriander leaves

6 tablespoons of olive oil

35g slightly salted cashews

a pinch of onion salt

Put the spinach, basil, coriander and cashews in a food processor blend them until they are smooth. Add the lemon juice and the oil then blend all of the ingredients together.

When it is smooth, spread evenly over the pizza base Leaving space around the edge to make a crust.

For my pizza toppings I used:

Half a dozen of cherry tomatoes, halved

Half of a small yellow pepper, diced

Half a dozen of black olives, halved

half a small onion cut into thin rings

A small handful of fresh coriander

Place all of the toppings on the pizza except the coriander leaves and bake in the oven for 15 minutes. Leave the pizza to cool for 10 minutes before garnishing with fresh coriander leaves and serving.