This pizza has a whole-wheat crust, and is overlaid with golden-brown asparagus spears and crispy-creamy slices of potato. A kale pesto brings all of the different flavors together.
This past weekend was pretty much a washout here in the Washington area. It rained in the morning, it rained in the afternoon, it rained in the evening and it rained all night. It rained on Saturday and it rained on Sunday. In fact, it even snowed for a couple of hours. Imagine.
Opie, who will not give up his walks for hail or high water, put his best face on the weather. On Sunday morning he went to his favorite trail, got soaked in the rain, sniffed around three other intrepid (and equally soaked dogs) who were also braving the weather, sat around on the slush-covered grass, and came home smelling like... wet dog. It took Desi the best part of an hour and multiple towels to dry him out.
With Opie's walk out of the way and not much else to do, it was time to get cooking. Something warm and comforting, like sunshine for the belly. And what's sunnier than a slice of vegan pizza?
I have been dreaming of an asparagus pizza for months now, and I'd been dreaming of a potato pizza for even longer. Why not combine the two, I thought. I love the idea of potatoes on pizza -- in fact, there isn't a better substitute for cheese, in my mind. Potatoes are just as satisfying as cheese, most people love them, and icing on the cake, they are far healthier with no cholesterol or fat to worry about. Yes, they do have carbs but you are not eating so much potato here that you have to worry about that. In fact, there are just about four super-thin potato slices in each slice of pizza.
Besides, you have all that great healthfulness from the kale pesto that also goes on this pizza, making it super delicious and super good for you. In fact, this kale pesto is perfect not just for this pizza but for pastas as well. Try it and you'll never stop making it.
Gotta run now, but here's the recipe. Enjoy, all!
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Asparagus Potato Pizza with Kale Pesto
Print Recipe Review RecipeIngredients
- For the pizza dough:
- 1 cup warm water
- 1 package active dry yeast (2 ¼ tsp)
- 1 tablespoon maple syrup or sugar
- 2 cups bread flour
- 1 cup whole wheat flour
- 1 teaspoon salt
- For the kale pesto:
- 1 packed cup baby kale
- ¼ cup walnuts, chopped
- 3 cloves garlic
- 1 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- 2 tablespoon nutritional yeast, optional
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- Juice of half a lemon
- Salt and ground black pepper to taste
- For the toppings:
- 20 asparagus spears, woody ends trimmed
- 4 red bliss or yukon gold potatoes, very thinly sliced (about ⅛th of an inch). Place the sliced potatoes in a bowl of cold water and let them stand 30 minutes.
Instructions
- Make the pizza dough:
- Combine the yeast, warm water and sugar or maple syrup in a bowl and set aside to activate the yeast.
- After five minutes, add the whole wheat flour and a cup of the bread flour along with salt.
- Knead by hand or on low speed in a stand mixer until the dough comes together. If needed, add more flour a few tablespoons at a time. You want a smooth, slightly sticky dough. Continue to knead for another five minutes.
- Shape the dough into a smooth ball and place in an oiled bowl, turning over once to coat the top. Cover loosely with a plastic bag or kitchen towel and set aside to rise and double, about 2 hours.
- Make the kale pesto:
- Place all the ingredients in a food processor and process until they have broken down into a fairly smooth paste. Set aside.
- Prep the veggies:
- Heat a large pot of water and add some salt to it, like you would for cooking pasta. Blanch the asparagus and the sliced potatoes by adding them to the pot of boiling water. Let them be for three minutes, then turn off heat, strain the vegetables and rinse under cold water. Set aside.
- Assemble and bake the pizza:
- If you have a pizza stone, place it in the oven and preheat the oven to 500 degrees Fahrenheit.
- Remove the dough from the bowl, knead it slightly to deflate, then let it rest for 10 minutes, covered.
- Roll out the pizza dough as evenly as possible to a diameter of about 15 inches. If the dough is too resistant, let it rest for a few more minutes, then roll.
- Transfer the pizza dough to a baking sheet sprinkled with cornmeal or, if you have one, a pizza peel also sprinkled with cornmeal. Shape and stretch again with your fingers if the dough shrinks. Using your fingertips, make dimples in the surface of the pizza. This will keep the pizza from forming air pockets when it bakes.
- Slather the pesto on the pizza, then top with the blanched slices of potato and asparagus spears. Drizzle some extra virgin olive oil on top, if desired and sprinkle some salt and pepper.
- Place the pizza directly on top of a pizza stone in the preheated oven or leave it in the baking sheet if you don't have a pizza stone. Bake 20 to 25 minutes or until the crust is all crispy and golden.
- Remove carefully, slice, and serve hot.
Nutrition
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NomJ
Lovely looking creation! We have a family Christmas-do this weekend. And with my GF-DF nephew, I'm looking at doing a GF version of this. Menu is gourmet pizzas and salads. 🙂
I was happy to find your recommendation, for a tasty alternative to cheese 🙂
Thanks for the great photos and clear instructions. Can't wait to present this to him/them.
Blessings! nj
Melissa Lang
I puchashed the dough and already had some Vegan pesto on hand, but I followed the overall recipe otherwise and I love, love, loved the combination!!! Will be making this again and will try your dough recipe when I have enough time! Thanks for the inspiration!
Karuna
Hi Vaishali,
Your dogs look so healthy and bright eyed in the pics. Have been wanting to ask you for a while, are there any natural immunity boosting supplements that you give your dog over and above his food? I wanted to know because my dog ( a cross between street dog and German Shepard) has always been prone to skin and ear allergies. We don't have any holistic vets in Bangalore and everytime it gets too bad our vet has been pumping him with antibiotics, which he is increasingly becoming resistant to.
From a few searches on the internet, I have understood that ear problems, mange etc are symptoms of poor immunity but out vet does not address it from that angle. I am really at my wit's end trying to control these problems and am really reluctant to take him back to the vet this time, I know he will just give a different set of antibiotics
I am planning to give him a dose of sunflower lecithin and kelp for a few months.
By the way his daily diet is cooked brown rice, a few steamed veggies, a boiled egg and a bit of skim milk. He also gets a cup of royal canine dog food. I have tried weaning him off milk and eggs, I know they are common allergens, but I have no idea what to replace it with. We never give him any fresh meat since we are vegetarians ourselves.
any tips hints would be much appreciated.
thank you
Karuna
Vaishali
Hi Karuna, I feed Opie and Pie a homemade diet -- it's not vegan or vegetarian-- and I guess that might be part of the reason. At least this way I know that all of the food they are eating is free of dubious additives and preservatives, and they love it. I don't have much experience with food allergies in dogs, but if you suspect the milk could be causing it, you might try giving him yogurt. Yogurt is also a good source of protein-- like milk-- for dogs, and they do need a good amount of protein in their diet. You can also add lentils to his diet. Opie gets a lot of lentils in his homemade diet (which also includes chicken). I also add turmeric to Opie's food because a number of people, including his orthopedist and the vet he sees for acupuncture, said it could benefit his arthritis, and of course turmeric has many other health properties too. I don't know if it has any benefits for dogs with allergies.
A reader had once told me she added cumin (jeera) to her dog's food because he had a sensitive stomach, and it helped.
I don't know much about sunflower lecithin and kelp. If you do try them and they work, please leave us a comment to let us know.
Hugs to your doggie-- he sounds like a sweetheart. 🙂
Karuna
HI Vaishali thanks for replying. I am continuing to give him a homemade diet of cooked toor dal brown rice and mixed veggies. But what really helped to stop tearing his hair out in a frenzy was a bath using an anti mange shampoo as well as a final rinse with neem water( lots of fresh neem leaves boiled in water for about two hours, cooled and drained). I will continue this routine once a week for a month, hopefully it will get rid off those mites completely.but he MUCH MUCH better and the hair has started to grow back as well,.
For his immunity I will try the lecithin and kelp for about six month to see if it really makes any difference. Will let you know if it has helped for sure. I have tried yogurt but he isn't overly fond of it to have it everyday. Will also try adding turmeric to his cooked food
Thanks again Vaishali
Pallavi Kulkarni
How unusual and creative! It looks very pretty too.
Vaishali
Thanks, Pallavi!
Anusha
Looks so creative !!!
Vaishali
Thanks, Anusha! 🙂