Vegan Pumpkin Pizza

Pumpkin, avocado and pumpkin seed pesto makes this the most epic fall-inspired pizza ever!

It's homemade pizza night. My favorite. I don’t need to tell you that pizza is basically the world’s most popular food. It's simple to make, you can eat it with your hands and it's wonderfully delicious!

It's pretty cold now in Sweden and after a long day of work all I want to do is to come home, light some candles and make some cozy food to eat in the sofa while watching my favorite series. And what's better for a cozy night in than the most perfect food, pizza!

Gluten free dough

• 25g fresh yeast
• 1 cup water at room temperature
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 cups GF flour blend + 1 tbsp psyllium husk

Pepitas pesto

• 1/2 cup fresh Parsley
• 1 cup of basil
• 1/2 cup pepitas
• 1/4 cup pine nuts
• 1/4 cup finely grated vegan Parmesan cheese
• 1/4 tsp kosher salt
• 1/4 cup olive oil

Cashew cheese

• 1 cup cashews soaked in 3 cups of water for at least 1 hour
• 2 tbsp lemon juice
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1 tbsp nutritional yeast
• 2 tbsp water (optional)

Toppings

• Hokkaido pumpkin
• Chopped pistachios
• Avocado

1. Preheat oven to 400°F (200°C).
2. Combine yeast, olive oil, salt and water in a small mixing bowl.
3. Combine the gluten free flour and psyllium husk in a big mixing bowl. Make a well in the dry mixture. Add the water-yeast mixture and combine well. Work the dough by hand for about 5 minutes.
4. Leave to rise for about 30 minutes to double size.
5. Spread out the dough on a baking tray covered with baking sheet, forming it into a round flat pizza base – approx. 1 cm thick.
6. Make the pesto by blending all ingredients in a high speed blender.
7. Make the cheese. Soak, drain and rinse cashews.
8. Place in a food processor, along with lemon juice, salt and nutritional yeast.
9. Pulse for about 1 minute to combine ingredients.
10. Add water if needed and process until completely smooth, about 2-4 minutes. Put aside in the fridge until serving. (this goes on the pizza after it's baked)
11. Time to assemble the pizza. Spread out an even layer of pesto and top with slices of raw Hokkaido pumpkin. Use a mandolin and cut the slices about 5-8 mm think. You can cut some extra pumpkin and roast separately in the oven if you want some extra pumpkin on your pizza.
12. Bake the pizza in the middle of the oven for 20-22 minutes.
13. Add the raw cheese, chopped pistachios and avocado + extra pumpkin (optional) on your pizza before serving.

I love pumpkin everything! Pumpkin pie, pumpkin cookies, pumpkin muffins, pumpkin lattes… Haha, except pumpkin carvings, those are freakin awful! But this pizza is like a whole new element of pumpkin. Not the typical thing to put on a pizza... Sweet and savory is the flavor you'll find in this delicious piece of bread with toppings.

Not to say that you need a special occasion for pizza but this pizza is definitely festive enough to serve at a dinner party! It's so vibrant and full of colors! If you're not a fan of pumpkins, they could also be substituted with beets!