A raw vegan pizza with crispy crust, garlic basil tomato sauce, zucchini cheese, and “sautéed” mushrooms. The crust is made with sprouted buckwheat, almond flour, flax seed and zucchini.
When I was younger, growing up in upstate NY, if you asked me what my favorite food was I would say “pizza”! There is something delicious about the mixture of dough, tomatoes and cheese; except it’s also a mixture for digestive disaster.
When I started eating raw vegan food, I was obsessed with recreating my favorite meals for better digestion. And so for years I have been experimenting with dough, sauce and cheese recipes from wholesome ingredients and none of it is cooked.
Don’t get me wrong I love a a good gluten filled pizza with daiya cheese and cooked marinara sauce, but there is something refreshing about raw pizza, it’s the perfect summer pizza.
For this crust version I am using zucchinis because they are in season, but I also like to use red bell pepper instead.
The first step is to soak the buckwheat groats for about 6 hours, drain and rinse afterwards and use either right away; or you can drain and rinse twice a day for up to 2 days, until the buckwheat sprouts little tails. I normally keep them in a strainer over a bowl, with a towel over the top. Don’t let the buckwheat sprout too much or the crust will taste like grass.
The thinner the crust, the quicker it will dehydrate. You could also make personal sized pizzas which will also dehydrate quicker. A dehydrator is recommended but an oven on the lowest temperature should work just as well.
While the crust is dehydrating, we make our toppings; which will also be going into the dehydrator at the same time.
The first topping is tomato sauce. To make a quick and easy raw vegan tomato sauce, I like to slice my tomatoes about a 1/4 inch thick. I then put some fresh basil, garlic and onions on top. Lastly I let them dehydrate until the crust is done and then I process all the sauce ingredients in a food processor. If the sauce is still watery, put it in a glass bowl to dehydrate for a while longer.
The second topping is the mushrooms. All you need is a little soy sauce, olive oil, scallions and a pinch of salt. Mix it all together and throw it into the dehydrator until the mushrooms resemble cooked mushrooms.
Last but not least I think I have created a masterpiece here….Zucchini cheese!! It’s so easy and it tastes out of this world, Just shred some zucchini and add in some nutritional yeast and a little salt. Lay it out flat on a dehydrator tray and dehydrate for 1-2 hours.
I should add, I used golden zucchini, because they had it at the farmers market, and it was a deep yellow, perfect for resembling cheese! However green zucchini will work, I haven’t tried squash but I’m sure it will work as well!
The dehydration process can take anywhere from 2-4 hours total, patience is required but once it is finished you can store it in the refrigerator and heat it back up whenever. It lasts about a week in the fridge.
Raw Vegan Pizza
INGREDIENTS
Crust
- 2 cups buckwheat; soaked
- 1 cup almond flour
- 1/2 cup zucchini
- 1/4 cup flax seed
- 1/8 cup scallions
- 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tbsp coconut sugar
- pinch of salt and pepper
Sauce
- 3 to matoes; preferably roma
- 1/2 cup basil; fresh
- 2 garlic cloves
- 1 scallion
Zucchini Cheese
- 2 cups shredded zucchini
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- 1 tsp lemon
- 1/4 tsp salt
Mushrooms
- 2 cups crimini mushrooms
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tbsp soy sauce
- 1/4 cup scallions
- 1 tbsp herbs; rosemary basil, etc.
INSTRUCTIONS
Crust
- Soak the buckwheat groats for up to 6 hours, rinse and drain.
- Optional- Continue to rinse and drain until little tails sprout.
- Add all the crust ingredients to a food processor and process until smooth.
- On a dehydrator sheet, smooth out the pizza crust about 1/4 inch thick.
- Dehydrate at 165 degrees for 30 minutes, turn down heat to 115 degrees until the crust is crispy. Takes about 2-4 hours.
Sauce
- Cut the tomatoes 1/4 inch thick.
- Add fresh herbs, garlic, and onion on top of tomatoes.
- Dehydrate with crust for about 1-2 hours.
Mushrooms
- Mix all the mushroom ingredients together and lay out onto a dehydrator sheet.
- Dehydrate with tomatoes and crust for about 1 hour.
Zucchini Cheese
- Shred zucchini and add to a small bowl.
- Add nutritional yeast, lemon juice and salt and mix together.
- Spread out evenly on a dehydrator sheet and dehydrate with all the other toppings for about 1 hour.
Comments 15
Quick question, what size dehydrator is best when making pizza
Basically any dehydrator that is not circular is best, however when I had one of those cheap circular dehydrators I just made a bunch of mini pizzas. I now have a 9 tray Excalibur which is great for a full sized pizza, of course the 4 tray will work as well. Cheers!
Do u have a recipe book
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Thank you! Is the coconut sugar critical?
Author
No not critical. Hope you enjoy!
Can I substitute something for almond flour? Maybe coconut flour or chickpea flour? Thanks
Author
Hi Donna, I’m not sure coconut flour or chickpea flour would taste very good but if you do try, let me know how it goes. If it’s needing to be nut-free, I would use pumpkin seed flour, by just blending the pumpkin seeds by themselves. Hope you enjoy!
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What could I substitute the mushrooms for?
Author
How about eggplant bacon?! https://therawchef.com/eggplant-bacon/
Thank you for the recipe, got to say, first time I do raw pizza, after contemplating the idea for a very long time! Love it, really good! Replaced the almond flour with coconut flour and it tastes good.
Hi again! The lady who found you 6 years ago and just found you again. 😂 I am reading “dehydrate with” to mean separately, not on top of. Thought the crust would get soggy. Is this accurate? Or should I just layer straight away? I’m thinking it’s the former, since that’s what I’m doing, but if I’m wrong, I’ll do it that way next time!! Oh, and I flipped the crust and removed the Teflex for the last hour…. I know we’re not going for crackers but I didn’t want it soggy on the bottom ….. Ha!! Thanks for another great recipe and your mastery of buckwheat!!!!!
Author
Hello! I’m glad you found me again! You are correct, the crust will get soggy if not dehydrated separately. Also good idea on flipping for the last hour, especially if it’s still wet in the middle.
I’m glad you like the recipe!
Buckwheat is an amazingly versatile ingredient! I just made the popcorn cauliflower the other day and I can’t get over how crunchy the buckwheat gets!