Vegan Spinach Artichoke Pizza
Created by Laura Wright from the First Mess
A note from Claudia
An easy go-to meal any day of the week. Leftovers are great for lunch the following day or a late-night snack.
I make the pizza dough since some of the ready-made dough at Trader Joe's is not dairy-free. I'll make the dough the night before, let it rise, wrap, and refrigerate overnight; the following day bring the dough to room temp & roll out on a lightly floured surface. Google pizza dough and you will easily find a recipe.
For the toppings -
Instead of 1 cup artichokes, I use a 12-ounce jar of Trader Joe's either grilled or marinated artichokes.
1 small head of broccoli florets (steam until bright green)
1 small shallot - Caramelize the shallot instead of using raw.
1 Cup - kalamata olives sliced
optional - cubed roasted eggplant will add a bit of substance to the pizza.
Ingredients
Artichoke White Sauce (makes extra)
1 cup canned and drained artichoke hearts (6-7 hearts)
½ cup cooked and rinsed chickpeas
½ cup raw cashews, soaked for at least 2 hours and drained
2 tablespoons lemon juice
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 cloves garlic, peeled
2 teaspoons capers
1 teaspoon light miso
⅛ teaspoon chili flakes
sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
6 tablespoons water
Pizza
1 lb prepared pizza dough at room temperature
3 cups baby spinach, lightly packed
1 teaspoon olive oil, plus extra
½ teaspoon lemon juice
sea salt and ground black pepper, to taste
1 small shallot, peeled and sliced thin
1 cup canned and drained artichoke hearts (6-7 hearts), cut into quarters
vegan “parmesan”
chili flakes/chili oil
Instructions
Lay a pizza stone on the bottom rack of a cold oven, ensuring that there’s enough clearance above to transfer the pizza. Preheat the oven to 500°F. Let it preheat for 30 minutes.
Make the artichoke white sauce. In an upright blender, combine the artichoke hearts, chickpeas, cashews, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, capers, miso, chili flakes, salt, pepper, and water. Run the blender on high until you have a smooth and creamy thick sauce. Scrape down the sides of the blender midway or add a bit more water if you need to. Check the sauce for seasoning, adjust if necessary, and set aside.
Dust your working surface and a pizza peel with flour OR line the peel with a piece of parchment paper. Start stretching out the dough until you have a 12-inch circle of even thickness. Carefully transfer the dough circle to the floured/papered peel. If you use the paper method, trim the paper so that you have a ½ inch border around the circle of dough.
Jiggle the pizza peel to ensure that the pizza will come loose. If it’s sticking, carefully lift up the edges and toss in a bit more flour until it seems to loosen from the peel.
In a large bowl, toss the baby spinach with the teaspoon of olive oil, lemon juice, salt and pepper to coat. Top the circle of dough with half of the artichoke white sauce, spreading it out evenly. Place the dressed spinach on top in an even layer and press it into the artichoke white sauce. Drizzle a few spoonfuls of the artichoke white sauce across the top of the spinach. Then, top that layer with the sliced shallots and quartered artichokes. Give the pizza a little drizzle of olive oil and season the top again with salt and pepper.
Open the oven and with equal measures of care and efficiency, slide the pizza off of the peel and onto the hot stone with a few flicks of your wrist (or just pull a tab of the parchment paper). Close the oven immediately.
Let the pizza cook for 7 minutes. Open the oven and, using the peel, rotate the pizza. Cook for an additional 5 minutes, or until the top crust is browning in spots, the spinach is fully wilted, and the shallots have shrunk up a bit.
Remove the pizza from the oven. Top the pizza with chili flakes and vegan “parmesan” if using. Slice the pizza and serve hot.