Pizza with Chipotle Red lentil Tomato Sauce, Basil and Vegan Ricotta. vegan, dairy-free, soy-free,
It is finally cooling down this week and I am able to stand in the kitchen without cursing the heat :). and yesterday I even started up the oven! I know I know, but one gets used to the pleasant pacific northwest weather.
This simple pizza has Chipotle Red lentil Tomato Sauce, fresh Basil and Kite hill almond Ricotta. Make the sauce and spread it on the pizza, add veggies and olives if you like, some ricotta or vegan mozzarella, fresh herbs and yum. The sauce has red lentils for a protein boost! Chipotle peppers can be all sizes and can make a mild to spicy sauce.
Use the sauce as pasta sauce, add cooked pasta, or make sloppy sandwiches!
More Pizzas from the blog.
- Black eyed Pea, Tofu Riccota Deep dish Pizza
- Buffalo Chickpea Pizza with Celery ranch and white garlic sauce. this one s always a hit!
- Thai Pizza with veggies, sprouts and peanut sauce. GF crust.
Kite hill cheeses are amazing. Pricey, but some of the products like the new chive cream cheese spread is just so good. And they use almonds, which is a plus for me. Cashews make great cheese too. They mostly come from India, Vietnam, some African regions. I recently found out that cashew production, processing to ready to ship is a long intense process. 80% of their processing cost is linked to workers, and when the markets press for cheaper options, the production companies look to reduce that component of the processing cost. That has led to really bad working conditions, workers have to work really long hours in the same position, are not given enough protective gloves and workers who de-shell the nuts have to hold these acidic raw nuts in their bare hands which leads to permanent damage. (Cashew seed is surrounded by a double shell containing an allergenic acid). Every product or food can have a similar story. A price cut somewhere takes away a lot more from someone else somewhere down the line. Please choose fair-trade, fair-wage/priced, small farmer or local options whenever possible.
Steps:
Make the chipotle lentil tomato sauce. Prep the Pizza dough, shape and let rise.
Layer the sauce generously. sprinkle fresh and dried basil or other herbs, vegan ricotta and bake. Use a lot more fresh herbs than pictured 🙂
Serve hot!
Pizza with Chipotle Red lentil Tomato Sauce, Basil and Vegan Ricotta
Ingredients
For the Chipotle Lentil tomato sauce:
- 2 tsp extra virgin olive oil
- 1/2 cup (70 g) finely chopped red onion
- 2 cloves of garlic minced
- 1/2 cup (64 g) chopped carrot chopped small (optional)
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) dry oregano
- 1 tsp dry basil or 1 Tbsp packed chopped fresh basil
- 2 cups (298 g) chopped tomato or canned (loaded) 2 juicy tomatoes
- 1 tbsp tomato paste optional
- 1 chipotle chili pepper in adobo sauce
- 1/2 tsp (0.5 tsp) salt
- 1/3 cup (60 g) red/pink lentils masoor dal, washed and drained
- 1 cup (250 ml) water
- 1 tsp apple cider vinegar
- 1/4 tsp (0.25 tsp) cayenne or to taste feel free to leave out the cayenne
- generous dash of black pepper
For the Pizza:
- Use any of my white wheat or gluten-free pan pizza crusts
- nutritional yeast, fresh basil leaves, salt, pepper
- Vegan ricotta such as kite hill almond ricotta or vegan mozzarella
Instructions
- In a pan, add oil and heat over medium heat. Add onions and garlic and cook for 5 minutes or until translucent.
- Add the carrots and herbs and mix well. Add the tomatoes, paste and chopped chipotle pepper and cook for 5 minutes until slightly mushy. Mash the larger pieces.
- Add washed and drained lentils to the pan. Add salt, water, vinegar, cayenne, black pepper. Cook partially covered for 16 to 17 minutes or until the lentils are tender. Cook a few minutes longer, uncovered, if the sauce is too thin. Taste and adjust salt, heat and herbs. Take off heat and keep aside to cool. the sauce should be enough for 2 medium pizzas.
- Prep your pizza dough and shape. Let the dough rise for 10 minutes. Pre-heat the oven to 425 degrees F / 220ºc.
- Spread the sauce liberally on the shaped pizza. Add sliced veggies of choice or olives if you like. Sprinkle a generous amount of vegan ricotta or vegan mozzarella and some chopped basil(fresh or dried or both).
- Bake for 14 to 16 minutes. Sprinkle more fresh basil, nutritional yeast (optional), salt and pepper and serve.
Notes
Add 1/4 tsp fennel seeds to the sauce.
Add a tbsp of nutritional yeast to the sauce.
Chipotle peppers can be all sizes and can make a mild to spicy sauce. Use 1 or 2 to preference. Nutritional values based on one serving
Nutrition
Looking for sources of protein, see this fantastic graphic made by Vegans of IG.
Mythri
Richa – lovely recipe. Thank you for the heads up on cashews. Sort of broke my heart, really.
Richa
Yes there are issues with everything. Almonds use a lot of water etc. There are bigger labor issues in animal agriculture as well. Its a matter of finding the right source and consumption in moderation and no waste.
Nina
I have just made this pizza. I didn’t bother to make any vegan cheese. Just made a crust with garlic and the lentil sauce. Some fresh basil on it and sprinkled some garlic and onion powder. It tasted really good!! Definitely going to make this one more often.
Lynsi
This was so good! I love any excuse to use up chipotle peppers and I also got to use the carrots, onions and basil from my CSA. The whole thing was so easy since I used Trader Joe’s pizza crust (I’m lazy) and whipped up a quick tofu ricotta from Veganomicon. Two pieces of pizza rarely fill me up, but with the lentils and tofu and a small side salad, I was so delightfully satisfied. Homerun again! And now I have tons left over!
Sarah | Well and Full
This looks fantastic, Richa! I love how the lentils will give the pizza added protein. Though I must say your buffalo chickpea pizza is still my favorite! 😉
shay
I never would have thought to use dal in a tomato sauce! This is such a creative recipe!
Jenn
This looks great!! Must try that ricotta!
Anna
yummy!! love the idea 😀
https://aspoonfulofnature.wordpress.com/
Nina
This looks amazing, I really love all your pizzas! And I love red lentils. For me it’s just perfect to eat pizza and get a fair share of protein too. I think the recipe for almond feta on your blog goes very well with this pizza 🙂
Maria
Yes, as Jacquie mentioned, thank you for sharing the info on cashews and the poor working conditions, and how other food products can have the same story. That’s brutal. We will most certainly seek out fair trade for such products. Been doing that with coffee and chocolate products but it hadn’t occurred to us about cashews. And, of course, your pizza looks amazing! 🙂
Cassie
This is genius! I absolutely love red lentils 😀
Laura M.
Hi Richa, thank you for sharing your recipe. What crust recipe did you use for this pizza? It looks delicious and I can’t identify it among all the alternatives you have. Thanks!
Richa
probably this one with 1/2 wheat and 1/2 white flour. https://www.veganricha.com/2013/05/tandoori-tempeh-mini-peppers-pepper.html I just throw things in a bowl most days. 🙂
jacquie
i love cashews also so it was dismayed when i read your post as i had no idea about the awful working conditions that cashew workers have. thanks for the information and i will certainly keep that in mind when purchasing nuts in the future.