Cashew Cream Cheese, Tomato & Yellow Pepper Pizza on Regina's Grain-Free Chia Buckwheat Pizza Crust

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Whitesnake ~ Give Me All Your Love 
Martina McBride ~ Life #9
Rogue Traders ~ Voodoo Child
Dido ~ Here With Me
Beth Hart ~ Show Me The Way
Live ~ We Walk In The Dream
Adele ~ Turning Tables 
Bowie ~ Heroes 
Meredith Brooks ~ Shatter
Gina Sicilia ~ Gimme A Simple Song
Weezer ~ Buddy Holly
Suzi Quatro ~ The Wild One
Kings of Leon ~ Use Somebody
Robert Palmer ~ Addicted To Love

I am greatly enjoying my experimentation with gluten free pizza bases. Not only do I need them to be gluten free but yeast free too. This week's recipe was found during a visit to Regina's Nyoutritious.com. I was intrigued by her chia seed/buckwheat crust...

Sadly chia seeds are still very expensive here so using a full 1/4 cup measure of the precious seeds on a test recipe was a little concerning. Especially as my attempt didn't get anywhere near a dough texture. lol. Making the base is very simple and doesn't require any soaking of the ingredients which is great. After mixing my base ingredients together I let it sit whilst I prepped the pizza tray and chopped the tomatoes and yellow pepper for my topping. My dough was really more of a very thick paste. And I poured it onto my pizza tray which thankfully has a lipped edge but it wasn't necessary as the paste only spread so far. I was left with an 8" base which for me is perfect. I popped it onto the oven and in 30 minutes it was firm and nicely baked. I spread the base with cashew cream cheese, topped it with my sliced tomatoes and yellow peppers. I then generously grated black pepper over the top to bring out the flavour of the fresh tomatoes. Being honest I was hoping for a margarita flavour to my pizza....and I wasn't disappointed. 10 minutes after placing it back into the oven I was slicing up the pizza...

The pizza base wasn't as bland as I thought it would be...it was thin (my preferred pizza base thickness) and the flavour was nice. The hit of pine nuts, pumpkin seeds and oregano was a good touch. It also held the toppings very well although next time I would maybe bake the pizza for 15 minutes because I think the base can take the extra cooking time and my toppings certainly could. I really had the beautiful flavour of a Margarita pizza without any of the wheat and diary ingredients. I can't wait to try out other toppings on this pizza base but due to the price of chia seeds here, it will be an every now and then recipe..lol. 

Cashew Cream Cheese, Tomato & Yellow Pepper Pizza

Cashew Cream Cheese, Tomato & Yellow Pepper Pizza on Regina's Grain-Free
Chia Buckwheat Crust     Makes 1 8" pizza 

Cashew cream cheese 
2 med tomatoes, thinly sliced 
1/2 yellow bell pepper, small dice
freshly cracked black pepper

Regina's pizza base recipe:

1/4 cup chia seeds, whole
3/4 cup water
2 tbsp unrefined whole grain buckwheat flour 
1 tsp oregano, dried
1 tbsp pine nuts, chopped
1 tbsp pumpkin seeds, chopped
1 tsp sea salt 

Combine chia seeds, water, flour, oregano and salt and mix well until the mixture starts to thicken up. 

Add the pine nuts and pumpkin seeds.

Spread out the crust over a piece of parchment paper and form the dough into a round shape. Flatten to about 1 cm for a thin crust. 

Bake at 180'C/350'F/GM 4 for 30-40 minutes until firm. 

Baked at 30 minutes ~ Reginas Grain Free Chia Buckwheat Pizza Crust

Schmear the cashew cream cheese over the entire crust and top with the sliced tomato and yellow pepper. Grate generous amounts of freshly cracked black pepper over the veggies and put back into the oven to bake for 10 minutes. Serve...

Enjoy! 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Tuesday has been a good one...

~Red~ 

NB: The recipe for the pizza crust is not mine and therefore I take no credit for it whatsoever. It is the hard work and creation of Regina at Nyoutritious.com  I simply threw toppings on top. ~R~

Basil & Almond Pesto, Red Onion, Courgette and Plum Tomato Topped Pizza on Ella's Quinoa Crust (vegan & GF)

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Beth Hart ~ I'll Take Care Of You
Bodyrockers ~ You Got Me Singing 
Gary Moore ~ With Love (Remember)
Jones & Holland ~ Slow Down
Bryan Adams ~ Please Forgive Me
Joss Stone ~ Some Kind Of Wonderful 
Joan Jett ~ Bad Reputation
Beth Hart ~ Keep On Going
The Beach Boys ~ Kokomo 
Beth Hart ~ Them There Eyes
Portishead ~ Strangers
Gregory Porter ~ Work Song
Nelly Furtado ~ Glow
Soundgarden ~ Tighter & Tighter 

I have been jonesing for a pizza since the weekend. Do you ever get cravings that bad? It got so bad that I just decided to make a pizza and be damned. lol. My gluten free pizza base of choice was once again Deliciously Ellas quinoa base. After testing it out last week I was wanting to try it with a pesto based sauce and used my simple pesto recipe of basil, ground almonds and garlic oil. I wanted to keep my toppings simple so turned to three of my favourite pizza veggies..red onion, courgette and fresh plum tomatoes.

Making the base was fun as I had the help of the littlest niece who ended up covered in the batter and had great fun pressing the processor buttons. lol. However she didn't approve of the pesto so lost interest at that point and came back only to arrange the onion rings for me before scooting off to catch up on her Dora addiction. The pizza smelt so good as it baked and my tender tum was actually looking forward to food for the first time this week. Shame I wasn't eating it until that evening after another hospital visit...ah well..I had something to look forward to...

I wasn't disappointed because the first taste of the warmed up pizza sent my taste buds dancing. The base held the flavour of the pesto perfectly and the veggies were a great addition. I admit it..I ate the whole thing and my tum loved me for it. lol. Once again thanks to Ella over at Deliciously Ella blog for creating a good pizza base...

Basil & Almond Pesto, Red Onion, Courgette and Plum Tomato Topped Pizza

Basil & Almond Pesto, Red Onion, Courgette & Plum Tomato Topped Pizza    Makes 1 8" Pizza

1 Deliciously Ella Quinoa Pizza Base

4 tbsp pesto of your choice
(to make mine...3 handfuls of basil, 3 tbsp ground almonds, 5 tbsp garlic oil..BLEND)
1 small red onion, thinly sliced
12 slices of courgette
2 slices of plum tomato
few leaves of fresh basil to garnish
abundance of freshly cracked black pepper

Take your pre-cooked pizza base and smear the pesto evenly across it and be sure to take it to the very edge of the crust. Place your onion slices on top, followed by the courgette and finishing with the tomato slices. Liberally grate the pepper over the veggies. Place the pizza in a hot oven and bake for 10 minutes. Scatter with torn basil leaves...and serve

Enjoy!

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Thursday is a great one....

~Red~

NB: The idea and creation of the quinoa pizza base is not mine and therefore I take no credit for it. It is the hard work and creation of DeliciouslyElla. Thank you to her for such a great recipe ~R~

Rocket & Olive Pizza with Ella's Quinoa Pizza Base (vegan, gluten & yeast free)

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Missy Higgins ~ Nightminds 
NIN ~ I Do Not Want This
Richie Kotzen ~ Feed My Head
Roy Orbison ~ Too Soon To Know
Elgar: Variations on an original theme "Enigma"
NIN ~ Heresy
The Union ~ Holy Roller
Bach: Cello Suite #5 in C Minor Gavotte
Keith Urban ~ Kiss A Girl 
The Cranberries ~ Electric Blue
Lady Antebellum ~ Need You Now
Heart ~ Black on Black 
The Animals ~ How You've Changed
Brandi Carlile ~ Until I Die 

Since going completely gluten free I have missed certain foods..badly. One of them being my monthly treat of tomato and olive pizza. I was never a deep pan pizza person and if that was the only pizza on offer I would always refuse. I liked the thinner stone baked bases and finding a good vegan, gluten free, yeast free pizza base has been a challenge and so far I have been unsuccessful. It was during a desperate search online that I found DeliciouslyElla's blog. What a revelation! Her blog is light and cheery but also filled with great recipes. I was lost in there for a good hour and came away with a pizza base, superfood bread and seeded bread roll recipe. The woman is a genius..the kind that makes you question your own work and feel like..."What's the point in trying?.." Then I got a grip...lol 

Yesterday I set about making the pizza. It was different and intriguing because it didn't contain any flour either wheat or gluten free...or yeast. It was a simple crust made from soaked quinoa, apple cider vinegar, dried herbs and chilli flakes. And for Ella's recipe simply click here.  So the night before ML put the required amount of quinoa into soak and then in morning I set about making the crust. It really is a very simple recipe IF you have a blender with some guts which I don't and so after half an hour of blending I was beginning to lose the will to live and my blender was screaming an SOS. I assume that Ella is fortunate to have a Vitamix or the like. Lucky lady. However, much later I finally had a consistency that wasn't just whole quinoa seeds and looked a little like the batter Ella had hoped I would have. I carefully smoothed it over an 8" pizza pan and then left it to cook in the oven. 

I don't miss cheese at all and I must admit the thought of a thick layer of fatty, globby cheese on a pizza makes me feel sick these days. Took a while for my 'cheese tooth' to die away but I am very happy it has. And that goes as far as using the vegan cheezes...be them homemade or store bought. For a long time now I've enjoyed a specific pizza topping so I knew that would be the tester topping for this pizza base. A rich garlicky tomato sauce, fresh tomato slices, intensely salty black olives and almost bitter rocket leaves. Oooh and oregano...and I'm not precious about it being fresh..just a healthy dose of the dried stuff in my tomato sauce. Once my base was cooked and it cooked very quickly and looked delicious. (Photo below) I set about making my toppings and then sat patiently whilst it baked in the oven. The smell almost made me tearful...hey! I said almost...lol It's been a while..

The results...were simply delicious. There is no convincing anyone that this is a 'regular' pizza base because it is clearly not. The quinoa base is dense in texture but carries the toppings well. I enjoyed every mouthful and felt very satisfied afterwards and didn't feel 'cheated' of my old wheat based crusts. Maybe it's because I recognise how ill they made me and have no desire or inclination of going back to them...or maybe I just enjoyed the intense flavours of my favourite toppings and really enjoyed the quinoa crust too. I will be making this when those pizza cravings hit. Thank you Ella..now I can't wait to try your bread recipe and the rolls. 

Rocket & Olive Pizza with Ella's Quinoa Pizza Base

Rocket & Olive Pizza with Ella's Quinoa Pizza Base  Makes 1 8" pizza

1 8" Quinoa Pizza Base 

Deliciously Ella's Quinoa Pizza Base

3 tbsp tomato paste 
1 tbsp garlic infused olive oil
1/2 tsp dried oregano
1 vine ripened tomato, thinly sliced
6 black olives, halved 
1 handful of rocket leaves

In a small bowl whisk the tomato paste, oil and oregano until it is well combined and quite fluffy and then spread evenly over the pizza base. Then place the tomato slices on the sauce followed by the olives and then scatter with the rocket leaves. Place back into the hot oven and bake for 10 minutes. Or you could leave off the rocket leaves and place them on after the baking time. Choice is yours...serve 

Enjoy! 

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Thursday is a splendid one....

~Red~ 

NB: The quinoa pizza base idea and recipe is not mine and therefore I take no credit for it whatsoever. It is the hard work and creation of Ella @ Deliciously Ella and hers alone. I thank her being an inspiration...~R~
 

Happy Red Vegan Pizza on a Spelt Base

Rocket & Roses HQ Play List:

Queens of the Stone Age ~ Smooth Sailing
VAST ~ I Thought By Now
Thunder ~ See My Baby Walking
Janiva Magness ~ My Bad Luck Soul
Mischa Maisky ~ Schbert: Ave Maria (cello)
Eurythmics ~ You Placed A Chill On My Heart
The Blow ~ Humble Pie
Thunder ~ Survivor
Donna Summer ~ Hot Stuff
Chris Cornell ~ Time
Mary Chapin Carpenter ~ Tender When I Want To Be
Yehudi Menuhin ~ Vivaldi: Four Seasons: Summer
The Gossip ~ Dark Lines
Thunder ~ Like A Satellite

Many moons ago I spent some time in New York...and shortly after arriving there my friend (native New Yorker and fellow vegetarian) took me for New York pizza. Up until that point in my life I really wasn't that bothered about pizza. Although I ate dairy cheese then I had always had a loathing of fatty and gloopy cooked cheese and often found that the pizza places in England just piled on extra cheese on the veggie variety of pizzas. However, I am not gonna say I resisted a slice or two after a night out. lol.

So when my friend Marce told me where we were going for the famous slice of pizza...I was underwhelmed. We took the ride to the pizza shop and stood in a queue that seemed to go on forever and I took in all the smells coming from behind the counter and marvelled at the people 'stood' at their tables with their slice...I mentally rolled my eyes that you didn't even get to sit down and eat your pizza. Finally we got to the counter and Marce ordered two slices of the 'regular' and two 7Ups and within seconds I was juggling my drink and slice as we manoeuvred our way to a clear space. I remember the noise of people talking and slurping soda being overwhelming at first. Then I adjusted and Marce stood there waiting for me to take my first bite. To me the pizza looked so thin and uninteresting...but when I took my first bite...I was so Wow'd that I was almost tearful. This thin slice of non-descript pizza was a freaking taste sensation. And I was converted...I even went back for a second slice just to make sure..lol. Divine pizza...it was in that moment that I realised my problem with pizza back home was 1. I detested deep dish pizza crust...I'd rather have more topping less crust. 2. A little cheese was ok and not a congealed wedge of cheese. 3. Freshly made...over frozen pizza...every time. Good..freshly made pizza! lol. This New York pizza moment..this slice of pizza that was no more than 1/2 inch thick..wafer thin base...rich herby tomato sauce and the thinnest layer of cheese made an impression on me that would last forever. I still crave it to this day although I would never eat the dairy cheese version now. But I felt this was how pizza should be and not the mass produced production line frozen nonsense. And since then (when well enough!) I've always made my own.

Happy Red Vegan Pizza on a Spelt base...

It's been a while since I've been in the kitchen and blimey have I missed it. So you can imagine how happy I was this morning to find myself making pizza..(hence the name)..OK it wasn't a great effort on my part as all i really had to do was choose and chop the toppings but i enjoyed every single slice of the knife. lol. I love knife work...it soothes me. As my energy is limited I did have to make one massive little cheat when making these pizzas...during our recent visit to our local health food shop Grain we picked up some organic Spelt pizza bases. For some reason I seem be able to tolerate Spelt more than other wheats..weird...the bases were also thin and the ingredients list wasn't packed out with bad stuff.

A little cheat now and then isn't a bad thing...lol

As much as I loved my New York pizza slice days...once I became vegan I experimented with different toppings more instead of relying on the good old Margarita pizza. One thing I learnt was that I didn't like onion or mushroom on a pizza...as I don't enjoy onion if it is remotely crunchy and well...I just haven't found my mushroom love. lol. So when I am choosing toppings anything can happen..lol. 

As a base for the pizza I made a simple chili infused tomato paste and schmeared it liberally and then got chopping...

Nowhere near as huge as the NY Slice...but just as tasty..lol

Happy Vegan Pizza on a Spelt Base 

2 10" Spelt pizza bases

Tomato and chili paste
Courgette, thinly sliced
Sugar snap peas, halved 
Broccoli, cut into small florets
Red pepper, thinly sliced 
Baby sweetcorn, halved 

Vegan parmesan to taste, finally grated

Preheat the oven to 200'C/400'F/Gas Mark 6 and make ready two pizza trays or a pizza stone. 

Schmear the pizza bases with the paste and then arrange the veggies in any fashion you so choose. Sprinkle with the vegan parmesan..(I find it very strong in flavour so therefore use the smallest amount)..

If you are having to use two shelves in your oven for two pizzas..cook them for 5 minutes and then swap oven to ensure even cooking for a further 5 more minutes. Enjoy! 

(Oh! Yes...spelt flour bakes up quite dark so don't panic and think your pizza is burning after the first few minutes of cooking...like I did! lol Like I said its been a while..lol.)

Thanks for stopping by and I hope your Friday is a fantastic one...

~Red~