It is pumpkin season again and it is time to share pumpkin recipes, I have decided to update this pumpkin pizza recipe format from September 17, 2015, to include nutritional data when a reader posted the photo and recipe on Instagram saying she amazing the quinoa crust was. I’m slowly updating old recipes.
It’s the time of year that I’m enjoying the last of my vegetables from my garden. My tomatoes, cucumbers and basil plants are still producing well and to keep up I try to incorporate as much in recipes and juice the rest.
This year we also harvested a large number of pumpkins and this Mediterranean Pumpkin Pizza (Gluten-Free, Vegan) is a great pumpkin recipe for you to try. Also my Pumpkin Cheesecake, Pumpkin Curry, Jamaican Pumpkin Soup.
How To Make Mediterranean Pumpkin Pizza (Gluten-Free, Vegan)
For this pizza crust, I decided to make the crust with Organic Quinoa Flour it turned out pretty good. You can make your own quinoa flour by processing quinoa in a high-speed blender. Doing it yourself is pretty easy, even if you don’t have a high-speed blender.
Measure out the amount of quinoa, blend in a regular blender in small batches. Sift with a fine mesh strainer and re-blend the remaining flour that didn’t go through the strainer until you get the desired texture. To store quinoa flour, place into a freezer container with a tight-fitting lid in the freezer.
Store in freezer until needed, remove the specific amount and thaw before use. I used pumpkin puree to give a pretty moist crust and pretty orange color.
For the pesto, I used raw pumpkin seeds (pepitas), with kale and basil. It’s better to soak pumpkin seeds overnight to allow the seeds to begin sprouting and increase digestibility. Pumpkin seeds are a great source of magnesium and zinc, they are also great for expelling parasites from the body. You can substitute with walnuts or substitute with my Kale Pesto.
Recipe notes
Substitute the quinoa flour with brown rice flour. You can make your own brown rice flour with a blender and a strainer.
The benefits of making your own gluten-free flours are:
- Reduce cross-contamination.
- Less expensive than store-bought flours.
- Ensure you get a fresher product.
If you make this Mediterranean Pumpkin Pizza (Gluten-Free, Vegan) recipe snap a photo and hashtag #healthiersteps — we love to see your recipes on Instagram, Facebook & Twitter!
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Nutrition
(Per serving
)Cooking Time
Ingredients
For The Crust
- 1 1/2 cups quinoa flour
- 3 tablespoons ground flax seeds, (yellow)
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 1/2 teaspoon Italian seasoning
- 1/4 teaspoon sea salt
- 1 cup pumpkin puree
For The Pesto
- 1 cup raw pumpkin seeds, (pepitos) or walnuts
- 1 cup basil leaves
- 1 cup kale leaves
- 1/4 cup olive oil
- 2 tablespoons lemon juice
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast flakes
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
Toppings
- 1 cup artichoke hearts,, chopped
- 1 cup grape or cherry tomatoes, cut in halves
- 1/4 cup black olive slices
- 1/4 cup basil leaves, for garnish
Instructions
- Preheat oven 400ºF. Light grease parchment lined baking sheet and set aside. In a large bowl add, quinoa flour, flax seeds, baking powder, Italian seasoning, salt, whisk to fully combine.
- Stir in pumpkin puree and form into a dough. Transfer dough to baking sheet and press to about 8-inch circle, leaving edges thicker. Bake for 20 minutes.
- In the meanwhile prepare pesto, add pumpkin seeds, basil, kale, olive oil, lemon juice, yeast flakes, garlic, sea salt in a food processor and process until smooth.
- Stop and open the lid of the food processor and scrape down the sides with a spatula and continue processing until desired texture is reached.
- Remove from oven, spread pesto on top, then top with vegetables and brush with olive oil. Bake for additional 10 minutes. Toss with basil leaves, then cut in wedges using a pizza cutter and serve.
Notes
Just made this tonight and had to come back to write a review. This is the best made-from-scratch pizza I’ve ever tried! The pesto is AMAZING (I made extra just so I can have more throughout the week) and the pumpkin crust came out perfectly (I was a little nervous while mixing, but it was great). Can’t wait to make this again!
Tia, thank you for your feedback, I’m so happy you tried it and enjoyed it. It was a popular recipe in the early days.
Can i use normal flour if I’m not gluten free?
You should be able to, you might need to add less liquid since gluten-free flours require more liquid than normal flour.
This looks delish! Can’t wait to try it. If I don’t find nutritional yeast flakes, can I use nutritional yeast powder?
Nadia thank you, yes you can use nutritional yeast powder.
Could you bake the crust for the first 20 minutes in advance, do you think? Trying to save myself some time later on… :)
Lish, sounds like a great idea, I didn’t try it though but I believe it will save time.
This recipe looks awesome! Do you taste the pumpkin in the crust?
Thank you Jen, yes I added pumpkin puree to the crust.
This is my go to recipe, the crust is spot on. I change up the toppings as well.
Wow Diane that’s great. I’m so happy you enjoy it and I love how you add different toppings.