Let’s take a stroll in Italy, with this vegetarian vegan recipe (always gluten free), that has the aroma of the Mediterranean Sea and of the strolls in the narrow roman streets! You will love it!
Ingredients for one pizza
For the (gluten free) dough
2 cups buckwheat flour
1 sachet gluten free dry yeast
¼ tsp salt
¼ tsp sugar
1 cup hot water
A little olive oil
Ingredients for the pizza (vegetarian)
Mushrooms (I chose white ones but you can use 2 types of them – oyster and white ones)
A little turmeric
For the pesto sauce
½ cup pistachios (and a few pine nuts for sprinkling in the end)
1 teacup finely chopped mint, basil, parsley
1 clove of garlic
½ teacup extra virgin olive oil cold pressed(or as much as necessary)
Salt, pepper
Juice from 1 lemon
Method
For the dough:
In a big bowl, mix the yeast, salt and sugar into lukewarm water and leave for a few minutes to rise. Then add the flour and oil little by little, while mixing with your hand until you have a dough. You can add more oil or flour if necessary, until the dough is smooth and doesn’t stick to your hands. Leave the dough to rest for a while after covering it with a dish towel. At this point you may also pop the dough in the freezer and use it whenever you want.
For the pesto:
Put all the flavorings, pistachios and garlic in a food processor and blitz. Once in a while, stop to add olive oil and then pulse again until a fine paste forms. Continue by adding a little oil and the lemon juice so that the mixture gets a liquid consistency. Add salt and pepper. Place in a closed-top jar and leave it for about 30 minutes so that the flavorings can mix and release their aromas.
For the mushrooms:
Finely chop the mushrooms and sauté them in a non-stick pan coated with a little olive oil, by pouring into fresh turmeric, until colored. Leave them aside.
Roll out the pizza dough with a rolling pin, place it on a non-stick little baking tray (special for pizzas) and spread the pesto on it. Add the mushrooms and bake the pizza at 180 ⁰C/356ºF for 15-20 minutes. Perfect pesto for vegetarian diet enthusiasts!
Pesto sauce has great antioxidant properties. Basil and parsley are rich in antioxidant vitamins A and C, which are not “lost”, since the sauce does not need boiling. The allicin of the garlic, the polyphenols of the olive oil as well as the vitamin E of olive oil and pistachios enhance the antioxidant value.
