Twin Peaks and Raw Pizza...2 great tastes that, well, you know.

This entry is a little late being posted, thanks to the holidays...


I'm blessed. Yes, let's start with that. I'm truly blessed to have found a community of really cool people here in Raleigh. People that are into raw, but not obsessed with it. People that will willingly come over on a Friday night for Twin Peaks viewing and Raw Pizza tasting.

As my first experiment with raw pizza began on a Thursday night, I was uncertain as to what the results would be. And on the following Friday afternoon, when I came home on my lunch break to assemble the pies and put them in the D for the next 5 hours, I only knew that they looked great, but wasn't certain about the taste.

Ladies and gentlemen, I say with almost no humility at all...I rule. This is my favorite meal I've made thus far, and it came out far better than my expectations. I had three different crusts, three different cheeses, and a variety of toppings. The pizzas were scarfed down by my appreciative friends so quickly, I barely had time to remember to snap pics. So let's get your appetite whetted with a snapshot of love:


Now, for the recipes. I really did just take some basic raw crust recipes and alter them according to my available ingredients and personal taste. But I'll post the original ones and let you know what I changed up. If I can remember that far back. ;)

Let's start with the base.

Gourmet Crust from Alissa Cohen's Living on Live Food book

• 1/2 cup sprouted barley
• 1/2 cup sprouted wild rice (I used sprouted kamut berries.)
• 2 dates, pitted and soaked
• 1/8 cup sundried tomatoes, soaked
• 1/4 cup olive oil
• 1/4 cup basil
• 2 cloves garlic
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• dash sea salt

Toss all the ingredients in a food processor. Blend. It gets all doughy.
Then plop some dough in a ball onto a Teflex sheet on a dehydrator tray. I use an offset spatula, and then spread it around in a circle, leaving a thicker area around the edge for the crust. (How thick you want your crust is a personal preference. The one you see pictured in front was the gourmet. The one in the back is the "Easy Crust," recipe below, and I did it a big more thin.)

I threw it in the D at 125 for about an hour, then turned it down to 110. After about an hour, check it. If it's dry enough to peel off the Teflex, do so and put on the screen. I ended up bumping the D down to 105 and letting it go for the night, and the crust was perfect. Again, it's all personal preference. This crust, since I used kamut, was in need of a longer time in the D.


Easy Crust from Alissa Cohen's Living on Live Food book
(I doubled this to make two)

• 2 cups sprouted buckwheat

(I added 4 cups of barley, too, when I doubled this, so it was 4 cups buckwheat, 4 cups barley)

• 1 cup soaked flax seeds
• 1 cup red bell pepper (I skipped the pepper and added 1/2 cup of soaked sundried tomatoes)
• 1 carrot
• 1 celery stalk (I skipped this)
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1/8 teaspoon sea salt

(I also added fresh rosemary)

Follow the same instructions as the crust above.


Sundried Tomato Marinara from Ani's Raw Food Kitchen

• 2 cups tomatoes, chopped (I used Roma)
• 1 clove garlic
• 1/2 cup fresh basil leaves, loosely packed
• 1/4 olive oil
• Juice of 1 lemon, about 1 TBSP
• 1 teaspoon pitted and soaked dates
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon rosemary
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 3 tablespoons sundried tomatoes, soaked

Blend tomatoes, garlic, basil, olive oil, lemon juice, dates, herbs, and salt until smooth. Add the sundried tomatoes and blend until mixed well.


Ricotta Basil Cheese (Italian Pizza Cheese from Ani's Raw Kitchen)

• 2 cups macadamia nuts, soaked
• Juice of 1-2 lemons, to taste
• 3 cloves garlic
• 1/2 cup basil leaves
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 2/3 cups water, as needed.

Put everything in the food processor (or blender), adding water as needed to make cheese creamy and fluffy. And YUMMY


Brazil Nut Parmesan Cheese from I am Grateful, Recipes & Lifestyle of Café Gratitude

• 1 cup Brazil nuts, dry
• 1 teaspoon chopped garlic
• 1/2 teaspoon salt

Put in the food processor. Process. You won't believe how freakin' GOOD this is.


Vee's Pizza Alfredo Sauce
2 cups pine nuts
1/4 cup olive oil
1/2 cup almond milk or water
Nutritional yeast to taste
Sea salt to taste

Blend in food processor, tasting. Not just for the seasoning, but because it tastes groovy.


Veggies
I basically took mushrooms, orange and red peppers, and tossed them in olive oil, garlic and a bit of lemon and sea salt. You can add whatever veggies float yor boat. Let them marinate and soften.

Assembly
At this point, you may be thinking, "Hey, Vee, I don't have two weeks to make this stuff." But I promise you, once you have the ingredients all out, you can turn this all out in very little time. With the sauces and veggies prepped as the crusts dehydrate, it's just a matter of assembling them once the crusts are done. I spooned sauce on, then put cheeses on in varying degrees and combinations. Then put whatever veggies you like on, or sundrieds. I threw them in the D for 6 hours at 105 degrees and they were to LIVE for.

Have fun. Abondunzza and all that stuff.

xoxo