Chickpea Flour Crust Pizza

*Note - this recipe is vegan, and uses shredded zucchini as a cheese replacement, but if you would prefer a vegetarian pizza, just swap the zucchini with cheese (see additional tips below)

Prep Time: 20-25 minutes Cook Time: 20 minutes

Serves 2-4

Ingredients

1 3/4 cups chickpea flour

3/4 tsp. salt + more to taste

1/4 cup + 1 tbsp. olive oil, divided

1 1/4 cups warm water

6 oz. sliced mushrooms

1 tsp. fennel seeds

1 cup Marinara sauce or other pizza sauce

1 cup shredded yellow zucchini

3/4 cup roughly chopped Kalamata olives

1/4 cup sliced red onion

  1. Preheat the oven to 450ºF. Stir together the chickpea flour and salt. Add the warm water, and whisk until smooth. Add 1/4 cup of olive oil, and whisk until combined.

  2. Pour the batter into a parchment lined 9x12 inch baking pan. Cook until lightly browned on top and fully set, about 15-20 minutes. Let cool slightly before adding toppings.

  3. Meanwhile, heat the remaining tablespoon of olive oil in a medium skillet over medium heat, and saute the mushrooms until lightly browned and tender, about 4-5 minutes. Stir in a pinch of salt to taste and 1 teaspoon of fennel seeds. Set aside.

  4. Spread marinara sauce onto the pizza crust, and top with shredded zucchini, olives, mushrooms, and onions. Bake until cooked to desired doneness, about 15 minutes.

Tips

  • The Kalamata olives REALLY make this pizza. You can cheap out with regular canned olives, but for a vegan pizza, the savoriness of the olives goes a really long ways towards making this a very satisfying pizza.

  • If your zucchini is exceptionally wet, I would recommend squeezing a little bit of the moisture out of them before adding to the pizza. You still want some moisture for the “cheesy-ness” so you don’t need to squeeze out too much, but just enough to make it so your pizza won’t be soggy.

  • If you don’t want it fully vegan, add 3-4 oz. of fresh Mozzarella cheese

Ben Mastracco