vegan green goddess avocado pesto pizza

This vegan green goddess avocado pesto pizza is full of green vegetables. It has a creamy avocado pesto sauce on top. You don’t miss the cheese at all!

I’m not a vegan, but I aim to eat as much plant based food as possible. I eat a little bit of dairy, such as yogurt, kefir and eggs. Meat and chicken only once in a long while. But the main focus of my diet is plants. And so I end up eating vegan quite often. Not intentional ,but it just happens. And today was no exception because I made a delicious pizza that just so happens to be vegan.

This vegan green goddess avocado pesto pizza is super healthy and full of veggies. This recipe makes 2 pizza’s and uses the following vegetables:

• 1 large zucchini
• 1 can of artichokes
• 2 tbsps of olives
• 150 grams green peas
• 1 avocado

This pizza was a way for me to use up an avocado that I just had to use before it was getting old. I also had some store bought pizza layers in the fridge and decided to use the avocado in a creative way. Why not turn it into a creamy pesto for on top of the pizza? Avocado is a super creamy vegetable, so surely, you wouldn’t even need to add cheese on top, I thought to myself. This pizza could even be totally plant based and vegan!

And yes, it did work. I baked the pizza crusts bare without any toppings, took it hot out of the oven, topped it with the avocado pesto sauce and crammed the pizza with as much green veggies as I could. And so, this green goddess avocado pesto pizza was born!

The avocado pesto sauce is super creamy and cheesy. I added some nutritional yeast to it, to mimic the umaminess of grated parmezan. I’ve also added some additional white tahini, to enhance the creaminess. It totally worked to make this pizza without the need for any cheese.

This pizza is easy and quick to make, just use store bought whole wheat pizza crusts to make it. I’ve used healthy ready made pizza crusts from a brand called magioni , which sells whole wheat pizza crusts with up to 45% cauliflower or zucchini in the dough.

Tip:

• You can easily make your own quick and healthy pizza dough. Just mix white whole wheat or oat flour with greek yogurt, a bit of baking powder and salt to create a quick pizza dough.
• Serve this pizza with a nice salad on the side, to amp up the veggie content of your meal even more!

Makes: 2 pizza’s

Ingredients to make this vegan green goddess avocado pesto pizza:

• 2 whole wheat, prepackaged pizza crusts ( I’ve used magioni pizza dough with 45% veggies)
• 1 zucchini 
• 150 grams green peas
• 1 can artichoke hearts in water, drained well and in chunks ( drained weight 240 grams , 400 ml can)
• 2 tbsp olives, halved
• pumpkin seeds or pine nuts
• lemon zest
• olive oil

For the avocado pesto sauce:

• 1 avocado
• juice 1/2 lemon,
• 2 tbsp nutritional yeast flakes 
• 1 tsp honey
• 1 tsp coarse sea salt
• 1,5 tsp white tahini
• 20 grams basil
• 20 grams parsley
• 1 clove garlic
• freshly grinded pepper

How to make this vegan green goddess avocado pesto pizza:

1. Preheat the oven and set it on a grill setting ( 250 C ). 
2. Make the avocado pesto. Add all pesto ingredients to a bowl and mix with a stick mixer until a smooth pesto consistency. Season to taste with extra salt and pepper if desired. It should taste a little saltier than usual. Set aside.
3. Cook water in a small pot and blanch the peas for about 1 minute. Drain and set aside. 
4. Slice the zucchini in thin strips, layer on a baking sheet with parchment paper. 
5. Drizzle with olive oil and season with sea salt and pepper. Grill for about 3 minutes until cooked and slighly charred. Set aside 
6. Lower the temperature of the oven to the temperature according to the instructions of your bought pizza dough.
7. Slide the pizza dough on a baking tray lined with parchment, brush with a little olive oil and bake according to instructions ( mine took about 7 minutes). Repeat with the next. 
8. Take out of the oven and devide the avocado pesto sauce over the top of the two pizza layers. 
9. Layer the pizza’s with the sliced zucchini, the peas, artichoke chunks and olives. 
10. Top the pizza’s with pumpin seeds/ roasted pine nuts, lemon zest and fresh grinded pepper.