Tahini Chickpea Pizza

Chickpeas are so versatile. I can't believe how many ways you can use them in cooking and baking. They can be used as flour, to make raw cookie dough, they can be used in soups, salads and burgers; I can't even begin to list all the recipes they can be used in. Lately, I've bought uncooked chickpeas in the bulk section of Whole Foods and I take about a cup out at a time, soak them, boil them and store for use throughout the week. I use chickpeas in salads and lately on my avocado mash but nothing says yummy like tahini chickpea pizza.


I hadn't even given this much thought until I was about to make pizza yesterday. I was scouring my kitchen for toppings and saw my bowl of chickpeas waiting to be used and thought why not. It turned out to be a very scrumptious pizza which I will definitely be making again. I was thinking what a wonderful appetizer this would be for a party.

When I make pizza, I buy Engine 2 plant strong pizza dough at Whole Foods. The ingredients are so simple and whole: whole wheat flour, a touch of maple syrup, yeast, white vinegar and salt. How much simpler can that be? You get two pizza crusts in each package and they taste incredible after baking, crisp yet easy to bite into and not too thick. Try a few different crusts to see which one you like best. Look for the least ingredients as possible and put down any that contain dough conditioners or crazy long chemical names.

After purchasing your crust, buy a vegan cheese that you like. I prefer Daiya or Go Veggie but try different ones. Or you can make my cashew cheese. Prepare your chickpeas as stated on the package.

Recipe:

1 pizza crust
2 tbsp of extra virgin olive oil
2 tsp of sea salt
2 tsp of ground pepper
1 tbsp of powdered garlic or 2 cloves of fresh garlic
1/4 cup of sweet onion
2 tsp of oregano
1/4 cup of vegan cheese
1/2 cup of chickpeas
3 tbsp of tahini sauce

Brush the olive oil on the pizza crust and add all the spices and onion. Sprinkle on the vegan cheese and then add the chickpeas. Add more of the spices on top of the chickpeas and bake according to the crust package (mine was 450 degrees for 8-10 min). After the pizza is baked, remove from the oven, let cool for a few minutes then drizzle on the tahini sauce. Cut and serve. NOM! Serve with steamed kale or a fresh green salad.

Are you following me on Facebook?