I’m gonna give you one more pizza recipe since I seriously can’t stop making this gluten free pizza crust I posted last week. Like, really, someone needs to come over and take the yeast and flour out of my hands because I’ve been eating an insane amount of pizza lately. And I must say that my husband certainly isn’t complaining about that 🙂
The ingredients on this pizza are pretty simple; pesto, roma tomatoes, and cheese. But, this simple pizza is one of my favorites ever. When you throw pesto into the pizza mix you really don’t need many other ingredients to make things taste delicious. Honestly, I’m happy eating pesto with a spoon sometimes!
Basil is one of those plants that you absolutely need to have in your garden just so you can run your fingers through the leaves on your way to work in the morning and then smell your fingers on the entire car ride. Because basil really does smell that good! It also really makes me think of summer so this pizza is a perfect way to welcome in the new season. And, there aren’t many better combinations than tomatoes and basil.
Pesto is one of those foods like hummus, there are so many different variations of it out there and you can make a great one by mixing it up and adding fun ingredients. I kept this pesto fairly traditional by using basil, although you could also use arugula, but instead of adding the usual pine nuts I decided to throw some hemp hearts into the mix. Hemp hearts have a great taste and they are also really good for you, so they are a definite pesto win-win!
I also decided to make this pesto vegan by adding nutritional yeast instead of Parmesan cheese. Nutritional yeast is kinda like powdered gold and adds an amazing cheesy taste to everything you add it to. Besides pesto, I like to add nutritional yeast to popcorn, pasta, and Baked Cauliflower. If you aren’t familiar with it I recommend you try it out! You can find it in the bulk section at your natural foods store 🙂
I hope you all have a great Thursday and a pizza filled weekend!
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Pesto Pizza with Roma Tomatoes {gluten free, vegan}
Ingredients
- 1 pre-made pizza crust or recipe for pizza dough, I used gluten free
- 2 – 3 roma tomatoes, thinly sliced
- 1 cup grated cheese, or more depending on how cheesy you want it. (I used vegan cheese)
- Roasted red pepper flakes, if desired
Fresh Basil Pesto:
- 4 cups basil leaves, mostly packed
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 1 tablespoon + 1 teaspoon nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons hemp hearts
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 1/4 cup olive oil
Instructions
- Pre-bake pizza crust if necessary. Pre-heat oven to temperature required by pizza crust that you are using.
- Add all pesto ingredients, except for the olive oil, to a food processor or blender and turn on low. Slowly pour the oil in and blend until everything is combined.
- Evenly spread the pesto onto the pizza. Top with cheese and roma tomato slices. Bake pizza until dough is cooked through and cheese is melted. Top with roasted red pepper flakes, if desired.
- Makes 1-14 inch pizza.
- Category: Entree, Gluten Free, Vegan
Love this! How many calories are in this recipes?
I will work on getting that info added asap!
Just baked your crust with pesto topping and shared it with the world myself…it was SO delicious, thanks for the recipe! http://garysthirdpotteryblog.blogspot.com/2016/08/britney-and-gluten-free-pesto-pizza.html
Wow this looks wonderful! I love pesto on pizza. Can’t wait to try!
YUM YUM YUM!! This looks amazing! Being gluten and dairy free I never eat pizza! I really NEED to make an alternative pizza like this!! SO lovely 🙂
Pizza night is our favorite and I love finding new ideas to make them! Love your gorgeous pesto version! It looks amazing!
Izzy I love this pizza! I think I’d eat pizza every night if Brian wouldn’t get bored. Plus pesto? Perfect!
Im growing basil and roma tomatoes in my garden so this pizza will definitely happen soon 🙂 Looks delicious Izzy.
I didn’t realize we both had pizza recipe yesterday! This one looks amazing Izzy! Can’t wait to try it! And the vegan pesto looks so good! Pinning!
This pizza looks absolutely perfect! I adore pesto, especially on a pizza!! What a beautiful, healthy recipe 🙂 and your photos are stunning! Thank you so much for sharing 🙂
Hi Harriet!! Thank you so much! I love pesto pizza so much too 🙂
So beautiful this pizza! I have to try vegan cheese. I’ve never had this before! Pinned!
Just perfect! I love a good pesto pizza!
I’m not complaining either- keep the pizza comin’! It’s probably my favorite food. 🙂
I love that you used nutritional yeast in place of parmesan. It really is liquid gold!!
We both have pesto recipes up today. Great minds think alike 😉
I really need to make a gluten free pizza as I am craving pizza so badly since going gluten free.
Another delicious pizza, Isadora. This looks wonderful. xo, Catherine
You can NEVER have too many vegan and gf pizzas everrrr! Pinning this beauty 🙂
Yum!
Thanks Sho!!
You had me at pesto, Izzy! I could eat that on just about anything! And it’s SO good on pizza, too. This looks like the ultimate meal for me. Love it!