Weekend (Raw) Pizza Party

Raw, Vegan, Grain & Gluten Free

Since we are back on the 21 Days Raw Foods Challenge I’ve been experimenting with making wraps, crusts and breads that are grain-free.  As much as I crave my gluten-free bread, I suspect that grains are not helping my digestion, even when they are gluten-free.  I’m still not sure that flaxseed is best for me, but I decided to try this particular recipe with ground flax.  A nice touch was the basil oil I added on top.

Earlier in the week I made some flatbread using the whole flaxseed, lemon, pumpkin seeds (that had been soaked for 6 hours) lemon juice, scallions, a little tamari and plum vinegar as you can see in the photo below.  This was served with some avocado mashed with mellow (white) miso, which is my go-to dip and spread.  Topped with a bunch of veggies, including jalapenos and sundried tomatoes, I drizzled olive oil and blood orange over the top.  The crust recipe below can be used as wraps or flatbread, depending on the shape you give it before dehydrating.

Pizza Crust

Ingredients:
1 1/2 cup flaxseed, ground (will become approximately 2 cups)
1 cup dry pumpkin seeds
1 cup dry sunflower seeds
1/4 cup hempseed
1 tsp. sea salt (add more, if desired)
2 cups water
1 medium zucchini, peeled
8 scallions (green part only)

Directions:  Note that I chose to use the seeds dry in this recipe.  Ideally the pumpkin and sunflower seeds would be activated through soaking 6 hours)  Grind the flaxseed and place in a large bowl.  I ground mine in a Bullet as they don’t get finely ground enough in the food processor.  Grind the pumpkin seeds and sunflower seeds in either bullet or food processor – remove to bowl with flaxeed.  Put chunks of zucchini in the processor bowl with a half cup of water and blend until smooth.  Add this to the large bowl and mix well, adding the rest of the water.  Fold in the hempseed and salt.  Let sit for a few minutes so that the flax absorbs the water, adding more if dough is too dry.  Using a kitchen shears, snip the green onion in to small pieces and fold in evenly in the door.  Dough should be wet enough to pour and shape into circles (or any shape you prefer) onto teflex sheets (you can try making these in an oven on Silpat sheets.)   Dehydrate at 115 degrees until dry to touch on top (approximately 3 hours) Flop over onto screens and continue drying another 2 hours.

Cashew-Pine Nut Cheeze

Ingredients:
3/4 cup raw cashews
1/4 cup pine nuts
3 TB. nutritional yeast
1/2 lemon
Salt, to taste
Directions:  Soak the cashews and pine nuts together, at least 1 hour.  With soaking water blend until smooth, adding lemon juice and salt.  Stir in nutritional yeast and adjust flavorings to taste.  Build pizza with favorite veggies and top with dabs of basil oil.

Basil Oil
Take a handful of basil and blend with 1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil, 1/2 tsp. salt and 1 garlic clove.  Blend until smooth and keep in a squeeze bottle to garnish pizza and other dishes.