I don’t know about you, but I enjoy warm weather. I love long, bright summer days and thrive in an environment that fully supports my flip flop habit (when it’s not boot season you can find me in flip flops all the other days of the year). With the days starting to feel slightly cooler and the sun going down earlier, fall is most definitely in the air. I am officially clinging to summer as I long as I possibly can, and because I work a job where summertime is my busiest season, I’m often too tired to create dinner recipes completely from scratch after a long work day.
I recently created this summertime inspired vegan pizza using seasonal veggies from my local Farmers Market. I must confess though; I cheated. I didn’t make the dough myself; I used a frozen Amy’s Kitchen Dairy Free & Gluten Free Spinach Pizza as my base and added my own toppings from there. It’s super easy recipe and it cuts down on prep time if you don’t have a lot of time to spare so…check it out!
Start with the pizza toppings…
I recommend purchasing fresh seasonal and organic veggie toppings from your local farmers market if possible. Here’s what I used (feel free to get creative with other yummy veggies):
Pizza Topping Ingredients:
-4-6 Heirloom tomatoes (a variety of colors makes the pizza look especially pretty)
-2-4 (depending on size) French Shallots
-1 bunch of basil
Other Ingredients:
-olive oil
-salt
-pepper
Directions:
1. Thinly slice basil (quarter cup, more if desired) into strands
2. Slice heirloom tomatoes into 1/2 inch thick rounds (medium thickness)
3. Cut shallots into quarters, peel off outer layer
4. Place all of the above (place basil strands under tomatoes to prevent from the basil from burning) in a glass pan and drizzle generously with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste.
5. Place in oven at 385 and bake for 30 minutes or until tomato skins look wrinkly from roasting. Shallots should be browning and soft. Remove from oven before tomatoes start to blacken.
Chimichurri Sauce
Ingredients:
-parsley (half cup)
-kale (I used baby kale — half cup)
-lemon juice (2 Tbsp)
-olive oil (quarter cup)
-salt and pepper to taste
-water, added in tablespoons, until sauce will blend
-red pepper flakes to taste (if you want spicy)
Directions:
Place all ingredients into blender and blend until smooth. If ingredients won’t blend, add water a little at a time, pulsing in between, adding until the ingredients will blend. A thick salad dressing consistency is desired. Place sauce into a plastic zip-type bag and cut one corner. After pizza is thoroughly cooked and roasted veggies are on top, squeeze (drizzle) chimichurri sauce from bag on top of the pizza.
Slice, serve warm and enjoy!
Wow, that looks delicious — I may just have to make it!
Wow, thanks for your quick response Carol! It was super easy to make and beyond delicious. I hope you do try it!