Adventures in Vegan Pizza

You guys already know about my love of homemade pizza. The love stems from memories of fun Friday meals at home with my family (including one last week!) and the pure deliciousness of tangy sauce, fresh dough, rich and salty cheese and garlic, lots of garlic. Despite my love of it, I tend to play it safe and stick to my mom’s favorite versions – plain cheese with garlicky tomato sauce and white pizza with garlic, cheese, broccoli and red pepper flake.

Well, I got the idea from a new friend to make a vegan pizza using bbq sauce and avocado. Never one to shy from a challenge (or bbq sauce and avocado – yum!) I set out to make my own version. Unfortunately, the dough was a little disappointing (I froze and thawed it without much success) and I think I was a bit too heavy handed with the bbq sauce, but it was still tasty. If nothing else, I found a delicious new way to roast chick peas…

Here’s what you need:

Fresh pizza dough from the market (I went with white but prefer wheat, most times)
BBQ Sauce – I went with the only one without scary ingredients: Bulls Eye
1 can of chickpeas, drained and rinsed
½ a sweet onion
1 avocado
Lime juice
Chili powder
Salt
Pepper

Here’s what you need to do:

Preheat the oven to 375 degrees. Toss the chickpeas with 1.5 tablespoons of lime juice, chili powder, salt and pepper to taste. Place on a greased cookie sheet and roast for 15-20 minutes until crispy but not burnt. 

Dice the onion and caramelize in a bit of olive oil over low heat. Low and slow is the way to go here! Slice avocado into bite sized chunks and toss with lime juice.

Spread the pizza dough out on a pizza pan or cookie sheet depending on the breadth of your kitchen supplies. ( I usually make free form pizzas on my large cookie sheet.) Place in oven and pre-cook dough for about 10-15 minutes, depending on thickness.

Spread pizza with bbq sauce (not too much, though – the flavor is strong!) and top with chickpeas, onions and avocado chunks. Place back in oven for 10-15 more minutes until crust is golden and toppings are heated through.