Vegan Macadamia Nut, Currant, Avocado & Arugula Pizza

The best thing about pizza is how diverse and versatile you can make it. It's definitely the best vessel for piling on many different fun combinations of vegetables, fruits, meats, "meats", cheese, and "cheeses" and everything in between. I actually have a severe weakeness for pizza and is one of the foods that I'll break vegan without even thinking about it and will wolf down four slices... but that's a separate conversation for a therapist.

This pizza was non-hassle and came about just by walking the aisle at Whole Foods. The initial inspiration came from the gorgeous and massive Hass avocado and the rest just fell into place afterwards. I ended up getting the fresh dough from Whole Foods, but would advise to either get your dough from Trader Joe's or fresh&easy since I think it taste better and is half the price. 

Ingredients: 

• 1 pizza dough
• 2 cups baby arugula
• 1/4 white onion
• 1/4 cup macadamia nuts
• 1/4 cup dried currants
• 1/2 hass avocado
• 1/2 cup vegan béchamel sauce
• 1 T avocado honeu
• 1 T olive oil
• salt and pepper 

1. Slice white onions into strips and chop macadamia nuts into fourths.

2. Slice avocado into large chunks.

3. In a bowl, toss arugula with the avocado honey and olive oil until all leaves are coated.

4.  Bring dough to room temperature and roll and stretch until desired size. Transfer to a sheet pan or pizza stone. (Side note: just ordered a pizza stone, can't wait to use it!)

5. Layer the dough starting with the vegan béchamel sauce, then honey coated arugula, avocado, onion, macadamia nuts, and dried currants. Salt and pepper lightly the whole pizza. 

6. Bake in a 450° F for 12-14 minutes or until crust is nice and golden.

7. Slice into pieces or eat the whole thing in one sitting*.

This pizza has it all, the peppery arugula, the sweetness of the dried currants, the nuttiness and saltiness of the macadamia nuts, the tang of the onions and the meatiness of the avocado that are quite delicious when they are warmed all of the way through. From start to finish, this pizza took 20 minutes from start to finish, including cooking time and that is something that cannot be beat when I either get home from work late or do not want to spent a lot of time on prep or cleaning.

I'm going to say it again, but LA definitely needs a vegan pizza joint.

Cheers,

Kate 

* - guilty