roasted garlic chickpea pizza

Last week I shared with you my Refrigerator Dough recipe. This week I'm using it to make a garlic-lover's pizza. I am a garlic lover and often times I hold back when writing recipes, but this one is full-on garlic and I make no excuses or apologize. #sorrynotsorry

Let me start by saying that if you haven't made this dough and have it handy in the fridge, you are missing out on easy meal times. The dough can be made into flatbreads, rolls, focaccia, pizza and even frybread. Check it out HERE (video) or HERE (printable) and whip up a batch; it lasts for up to 7 days!

This pizza boasts whole roasted garlic, a garlic sauce and garlic sauteed chickpeas and artichokes. It also has sun-dried tomatoes, kalamata olives and arugula, to round things out.

I roasted the garlic in the air-fryer and it was ready in about 8 minutes! And without any oil! I was thrilled.

The garlic sauce is a quick cashew-based aioli that is blended with some of the roasted garlic, before the remaining garlic gets thrown onto the pizza.

Like I've said before, the dough is ready when you need it and it is very easy to roll. If it is giving you any problems, just let it warm up for 15 minutes, while the oven is preheating.

A well-dressed pizza is always a welcome sight!

Bake it until it is golden brown and crisp. Top with arugula and more ailoli and you are all ready to enjoy a classy pizza night.

Roasted Garlic Chickpea Pizza 
Serves 4

Garlic Aioli Sauce:
1/3 cup raw cashew pieces
2/3 cup non-dairy unsweetened, plain milk (plus more as needed)
2 teaspoons nutritional yeast
2 teaspoons fresh lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon vegan lactic acid (optional)
4 cloves roasted garlic**
Sea salt and black pepper, to taste

Chickpea Topping:
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cups cooked chickpeas
1 (15-ounce) can artichoke hearts, drained
8 garlic cloves, sliced 

Pizza:
1/2 cup pizza sauce
1 pound Fridge Dough or other pizza dough
Vegan shredded cheese (optional)
Roasted garlic**
4 soft or oil-packed sun-dried tomatoes, finely chopped
12 kalamata olives, chopped
1/2 cup arugula

1. Sauce: Preheat the oven to 475-degrees F. Use a pizza stone if you have one. Remove the dough from the fridge to warm. Combine the cashews, milk and nutritional yeast in a small saucepan. Bring to boil, reduce to simmer and cook for 5 minutes.  Transfer to a small blender and add the lemon juice, lactic acid (if using), garlic and salt and pepper. Blend until very smooth, adding a few tablespoons of milk as needed. Taste and adjust seasoning and set aside.
2. Chickpea: Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the chickpeas, artichokes and garlic. Cook until golden brown, about 8 minutes, but do not burn the garlic; stir often. Season with salt and black pepper. Set aside.
3. Pizza:  Combine the pizza sauce with 2 tablespoons of the garlic aioli. Divide the dough into 4 (or 2). Roll or spread the dough on a parchment paper, out to about 1/4-inch thick. Spread a thin layer of tomato-aioli sauce. Add cheese, if using. Top with the chickpeas, sun-tomatoes and olives. Bake for 6 minutes on a baking sheet or pizza stone. Remove the paper from under the pizza, using tongs or a spatula if needed. Continue to bake until golden brown, about 7 to 9 more minutes. 
4. To serve, cut into slices, top with arugula leaves and more sauce. 

** Roasted Garlic. Divide a garlic head into the cloves; do not peel. Air-fry for about 8 to 14 minutes at 330-degrees F. Check the garlic after 8 minutes; if it is soft it is ready. Do not burn. Alternatively, pan-fry the garlic with the paper on. Use a dry cast iron skillet and cook until soft, about 6 to 8 minutes, stirring often to avoid burning. Peel the garlic when cool. 


© 2016 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

PIN IT!

chocolate sugar cookies (aquafaba recipe)

It is officially fall! And the very first holiday we encounter is Halloween. As someone with children, especially vegan children, Halloween has always been important to me because of all the treats that they encounter that aren't vegan.

I remember when they were very little and we'd go trick or treating; they would go up to the houses, get their "treats" and when we got back to the house, we would trade their non-vegan (or non-vegetarian many times!) with our homemade or online-bought (no luck finding anything in stores at the time) vegan treats.

In a way, it was a double bonus for them because they got two activities for the price of one. As they got older, they went with their friends and traded candy with them instead of us. Luckily for us, they never felt cheated out of all the non-vegan treats; our kids always knew why we were vegan. Of course, at that young age, it wasn't in graphic detail, but simply because eating animals is wrong.

Now that they are older (youngest will be 17 in February) and all in college, the only thing that has changed is that they no longer trick or treat - not that some of them still don't want to! The "treat" part is still on their minds, however, and when the treats are adorable in one way or another, it makes it all the better.

These cookies are just fun enough to treat adults and kids alike - and they go over well with the cook, too. This is a very easy chocolate sugar cookie to throw together, roll and bake.

This is a chilled dough, so it is important to plan accordingly. This batch will make about 30 to 40 cut cookies.

Roll them to be just a tad thicker than 1/4-inch and bake them for about 10 minutes. Cool them on the baking tray until they firm up, about 3 minutes, and cool them completely on a cooling rack before icing.

There you have it! Happy Halloween!

Chocolate Sugar Cookies
Makes about 30 to 40 cut cookies

3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup (8 tablespoons) vegan butter
3 tablespoons aquafaba**
1 teaspoon pure vanilla extract
1 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
1/3 cup cocoa, regular or Dutch-processed***
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon baking powder
Vegan frosting or royal icing, for decoration

1. Combine the sugar and butter in a medium bowl. Cream the ingredients together using an electric hand mixer until homogenous. Add the aquafaba and vanilla and mix again. 
2. Sift together the flour, cocoa, salt and baking powder into a small bowl. Sifting will eliminate the lumps in the cocoa.  Add the dry ingredients to the wet ingredients and mix until well combined. Transfer the batter to a wax paper and fold over well. Chill in the refrigerator until firm, about 2 hours.
3. Preheat the oven to 350-degrees F.  Roll the dough out on a lightly floured work surface to a little thicker than 1/4-inch. If the dough is breaking a bit, set aside to warm up for a few minutes. Cut the dough using cookie cutters and transfer to a baking sheet prepared with a silicon mat or parchment paper. Bake in the preheated oven for 10 to 12 minutes. Remove from the oven and allow to firm up on the baking sheet for 3 to 4 minutes. Transfer to a cooling rack until completely cool to the touch.
4. Decorate the cookies using frosting or royal icing. If using royal icing, allow to completely dry before stacking. 

** Although aquafaba is best if homemade using the recipe provided in the book, you can use aquafaba from canned chickpeas. Use the organic, low-sodium, canned chickpeas and strain off the liquid into a measuring cup using a fine mesh strainer. Note the amount of liquid you acquired, then add it to a medium saucepan and bring to a boil. Reduce to a simmer and cook until the liquid reduces by 1/3. Cool the aquafaba completely before using.

*** Dutch-processed cocoa is lighter in color and less bitter because it is alkalized. Regular cocoa will make a darker cookie, but it is a bit more bitter and more harsh in flavor. 

© 2016 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.

PIN IT!