Raw Vegan Pizza Recipe

My daughter is a vegan and transitioning towards the raw vegan diet. I was delighted to see instructables and contributors sponsoring the Raw Vegan Diet Contest because I want to make a raw food cookbook for my daughter. There have been some very good recipes published here.

It has been difficult for my daughter to pass up pizza causing her to blow her diet. I wanted to come up with a recipe she could make for herself and her husband who is not a vegetarian. This is the recipe I came up with for them that I believe her husband will enjoy after he adds his meat and whatever else.

I made this recipe but did not tell my husband what I was trying to accomplish. He does not rave about any of my recipes very often because he loves junk food and I don't make junk foods very often. It did not take him long to compliment me three times in a short period of time. I made this recipe several times tweaking it along the way. I know that my daughters husband will love this recipe. He like my husband will use ready made pizza crust, olives, and microwave it to their liking. This would taste great on a raw cracker and in time I will experiment using a sun dried method making a cracker of some sort. I was amazed at how close to pizza the texture and flavor was.

Follow through and lets make some healthy delicious pizza!

Recipe:

I did not measure the herbs for this recipe but it did not take much. I tasted it along the way adding more as needed.

2 large portabella mushrooms or 6 baby portabella mushrooms ( The large are easier to make)

1/2 Cup sun dried tomatoes diced

1/2 Cup clean raw cashews

A few pieces of sun dried fruit diced diced I used dates but raisins would work

2-3 Small crushed garlic cloves

Sliced red onion

Sliced tomato

Sliced yellow or red bell pepper

Fresh basil

Fresh oregano diced

Fresh thyme diced ( I did not have any so I did not add this.)

Unrefined sea salt

Add a raw sweetener such as dates for a raw diet or Honey or agave nectar for vegetarians.

Vegetatians may add nutritional yeast for an extra nutty flavor.

Organic wheatgrass for garnish

Organic lemon wedge for garnish

Fresh spinach for garnish

Tools: blender, covered bowls, spoon, mandolin, and cutting board.

Prep work for the cashews and sun dried tomatoes:

Wash and the soak the cashews in water for at least 6 hours.

Dice the dried fruit, basil, thyme, oregano, minced garlic, dice the sun dried tomatoes and add salt, raw honey and a little water.

Allow them to soak at room temperature for a couple of hours or marinate in the sun.

The dried tomatoes had a bitter flavor so I added 1 T of raw vinegar to the tomatoes and it seemed to help.

I was going to add a tiny bit of olive oil but was not sure it was considered raw. So I used the vinegar instead.

Make the cheese:

Pour off the water from the cashews and rinse again.

Pour the cashews into the food processor. I used a blender but a food processor works much better.

Add the nutritional yeast a little at a time until you are happy with the flavor. I used about 2 T.

Add a pinch or two raw unrefined sea salt if needed.

Add 1-2 tablespoons of water.

Blend.

I added more water 1-2 tablespoons at a time until it was the consistency that I wanted.

Remove the cheese from the blender and put it in a covered small dish and chill for a couple of hours.

Make the pizza sauce:

Blend the tomato mixture to a paste

Place the paste in a covered bowl

Set in the sun for a couple of hours to marinate

Prep the mushroom:

Wash the mushrooms

Remove the stems keeping the cap in tact

Remove the gills

Cover and allow to set out at room temperature before adding the vegetables.

Prepare the vegetables:

Wash the produce

and ( thinly) slice the onion, bell pepper, and tomatoes, and cut a lemon wedge.

Cover them while they set out at room temperature before layering onto the mushroom and serving.

A mandolin works great for making thin slices.

Layer the pizza:

Layer the sauce, basil, thyme, tomato, bell pepper, onion, cheese, and top with wheatgrass and oregano.

Serve at room temperature or if you have a sunny location safe from bugs or containments, place in a sunny location until warmish.

I am tempted to try the raw diet but I am not quite there. I was surprised this recipe tasted so close to regular pizza. I enjoyed it very much and will be making it again. The only thing I did not like about it was the bitter taste of the sundried tomatoes however it was not a big issue. I am wondering if drying tomatoes at home will remedy the bitter flavor. I happened to add some olive oil to mine while I was eating it and it helped a lot. I used to make cashew pimento cheese when I was a vegetarian and my family loved it.

I sincerely thank instructables, contributors, authors, and readers for making this an awesome place to share.

Have a safe and happy day!

sunshiine