Thursday, October 21, 2010

raw pizza recipe

this fall marks one year since my introduction to raw foods. while searching for gluten-free dessert recipes, i stumbled upon carmella's blog, the sunny raw kitchen. carmi and i connected via email and before long made plans for her family to stay with us during their journey through the u.s.

(you can read installments of the delicious visit if you'd like: part I, II, and III, and at carmella's blog.)


one of the first raw recipes i made was pizza. it was love at first bite! i followed carmella's herb pizza crust recipe and have adapted it to fit one excalibur dehydrator tray. i've posted the recipe before, but since then have added tomato.

Raw Pizza Crusts
(fits one excalibur deydrator tray and yields 9 crusts)

ingredients:

1 1/4 C. raw buckwheat groats
2/3 C. raw sunflower seeds
5 T. ground flax
1 C. summer squash
1 medium tomato OR 1/4 C. water
1 T. olive oil (more for a softer crust, less for a crunchier crust)
1 tsp. herbs of choice (oregano, basil, thyme, parsley...)
1 tsp. fresh garlic
1 tsp. sea salt
love


preparation:

1. soak buckwheat groats and sunflower seeds in filtered water a few hours. (some sources say overnight is fine, others no longer than four hours. do what feels best to you.)

update: i'm told buckwheat groats should be soaked no longer than 30 minutes. thanks, rick!

2. rinse soaked groats and seeds thoroughly.

3. you can use prepared flax meal or make your own by processing a few tablespoons flax seeds in a dry grinder (a coffee grinder or magic bullet works nicely).

4. chop squash and tomato. you may prefer to remove the tomato seeds and skin. or you may prefer to nix the tomato and use water instead. i use tomato because of the lovely color it adds to the crust. soaked sun-dried tomatoes will also work.

note: raw pizza crusts are very forgiving. don't be afraid to play with the ingredients to suit your preferences.


procedure:

in a food processor, blend all ingredients until smooth.

spread onto teflex sheet and score into 9 crusts.


dehydrate at 145° for one hour, then turn down to 115°.

after a few hours the batter will peel nicely from the tray. at this point, flip batter onto mesh screen and dehydrate at 115° until dry.

crusts may be stored in the fridge a few weeks or frozen for months. they thaw quickly at room temperature.


the toppings:


there are many nut cheese recipes out there. some involve fermentation with powdered probiotics or rejuvelac. i'd like to try fermenting nut cheese, but for now find the simple recipe below to suit my taste buds just fine.

Quick and Easy Cashew Cheezy

2/3 C. raw cashews, soaked
1/4 C. water
1-2 garlic cloves
1 tsp. lemon juice
1/4 tsp. salt
1 Tbsp. nutritional yeast flakes

process all ingredients in a high speed blender until smooth and creamy.

dehydrating the cheese enhances the flavor and reminds me of melted mozzarella.


Marinated Veggies

chop veggies of choice and coat in a mixture of equal parts olive oil and shoyu and a squirt of agave and crushed garlic if you'd like.

Nacho Cheese Pizza


top with kristen suzanne's cheezy hemp nacho sauce or carmella's version, nacho cheeze and marinated veggies.

Pesto Pizza


choose your favorite pesto recipe and top with tomato sauce or cashew cheese and veggies.


Avocado and Veggies


simply mash up an avocado, season to taste, and top with veggies.

***

in the not-so-mainstream news:



john and i have been keeping a watchful eye on what is unfolding in many parts of the world. we don't recommend protesting nor rioting mainly because what you fight, you become. our solution is as simple as refusing to play the game. when you step back and take a fresh look at it, that's what it is - a game. and it's all our choice.

14 comments:

  1. The pizza looks lovely. You could have a different one each night of the week. Now there is a challenge you could sink your teeth into.

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  2. I'm drooling like crazy over here! Thanks for the eye candy!

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  3. Wow, this looks delicious and beautiful! Yum!

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  4. those look FANTASTIC! but i would suggest never soaking buckwheat groats for longer than about 30 minutes - they get waterlogged if soaked too long, and start to ferment and produce a nasty film on the water and the outsides of the groats.

    wow, avocado and veggie pizza...i should give you my wife's crust recipe too, it's out of this world (and green!) :)

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  5. thanks friends!=)

    jane - ha! that would be a yummy challenge.

    rick - i thought that nasty film was supposed to happen, and that it just needed to be rinsed off! thanks for the heads up! ps i'd love to see your wife's recipe.

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  6. Alright girl....now you have to come over here with the pizza in hand and clean up my keyboard....drooling over here...he he! Hugs!

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  7. Your pizza looks amazing! I think the 1st one would be my favorite.

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  8. Wish I had a dehydrator...

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  9. love these pizzas, beautiful and they all look yummy!! definitely going to make some too - thanks kelli, you rock, as always :-)

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  10. I love what you wrote in your last paragraph, your views are very similar to ours. Also, your pizzas are absolutely amazing...wow.

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  11. kelli, I love these pizzas!! OMG! I can't wait to try every single one!
    A quick question -
    I'm allergic to Flax Seeds. Do you have any suggestions for a substitute?
    Someone said Chia Seeds, but they are so tiny and get so slimy.
    But I guess the sliminess goes away during dehydration.
    What do you think? ( I use them in my green smoothies.)
    Awesome blog!! Love the kitty-cat post too!!
    Hugs,
    gabriele
    PS I'm having problems posting this comment, so if it shows up 3 times later - my apologies!

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  12. thank you!=)

    hi gabriele - i'm pretty sure you can just leave the flax out. if i'm not mistaken, i once forgot the flax meal and the crusts turned out fine! you could probably also use almond meal or perhaps ground chia seeds?

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  13. Kelli,
    Thanks for the tip, I'll give that a try!
    Hey! I was so excited about seeing all those variations of pizza,
    that I forgot to congratulate you on your year of rawness!
    CONGRATULATIONS!! WOOHOO!!!! :-D
    I've been raw for two years & two months. (With the occasional slips.)
    It's such a great, healthy lifestyle.
    Thanks again!
    Hugs,
    gabriele

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  14. thanks gabriele - more than some occasional slips over here, so i don't consider myself raw or vegan. i do my best! yay for you going 2 years strong!=)

    mr h. - glad to know i'm in good company.=)

    lela - i wished and wished and got one! well i borrowed one and eventually bought it off a kind friend.

    pam - HA!!!

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