Would you like some great innovative ideas for pizza recipes? As a recipe developer and a food adventurer, I like to explore, experiment, and create different ways to make enjoyable pizzas. Not every pizza has to have tomato sauce/paste, mozzarella cheese, and pepperoni, don’t you agree? Here is a vegan and gluten-free one, I call Eggplant Hummus Pizza, that is super satisfying, even though it lacks all of the traditional pizza ingredients.
I recently came up with a spicy lentil hummus recipe. It’s a healthy and flavorful dip/side dish that is easy and simple to make at home. As I was searching through my refrigerator, cupboards, and my storming brain, I thought of using this spicy lentil hummus to substitute the typical tomato sauce/paste and make a non-traditional pizza (although we do enjoyed our cheesy vegan gf pizza with roasted tofu slices). Does that sound like a fun idea?
Congratulations! If you’re still following me up to this point, you’re very close to making a simply divine healthy pizza.
Because the lentil hummus is rich in protein, dietary fibers, and flavor, you can be as creative as you want with the rest of your toppings. Choose from any number of toppings such as spinach, red onions, mushrooms, etc. and I’m sure you’ll end up with a fantastic pizza. I happened to have a big eggplant in my refrigerator that I thought would make this hummus pizza both tasty and appealing. After placing sautéed eggplant slices, some sliced mini sweet peppers, olives, and a handful of vegan cheese on the hummus, this hummus pizza is ready for the oven.
Oh, I forgot to tell you about the crust.
What type of pizza crust do you like; thick or thin? I personally prefer the thin ones. That way I can pile lots of toppings on and still fit the end of the pizza into my mouth. The recipe of this pizza crust is inspired by Aherns’ new book, Gluten-Free Girl American Classics Reinvented. With some modification, I made a new version of this pizza crust that is crispy, light, and flavorful. I guarantee you won’t be able to tell it is gluten-free.
Most of the time, gluten-free dough is more “fragile” than its wheat counterpart. I tried, using a rolling pin, to roll the pizza dough between parchment papers and then transferred it onto the pizza pan; I wasn’t very successful. Here is a better method:
Step 1. Roll the dough into a disk with generous amount of flour on a flour-dusted surface
Step 2. Use a pastry brush to brush off the excess flour on the dough surface
Step 3. Gently fold the pizza dough disk in half, and then half again, making a triangle.
Step 4. Transfer the triangle onto a lightly dusted pizza pan and then unfold the triangle.
I like to store some pizzas in my freezer for my “emergency/convenient” food when I run out of time. This pizza was so delicious that I don’t have any leftovers. If you like this non-traditional, vegan, gluten-free pizza, you may want to make a larger batch.
- 1 cup 150 grams all-purpose gluten-free flour (see note)
- 1 teaspoon psllium husk powder
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon active dry yeast
- 1/2 teaspoon olive oil
- 3/4 cup water
- 2 cups spicy lentil hummus
- 6 slices 1/2” thick eggplant
- 1 teaspoon olive oil
- 4 mini sweet peppers seeded and sliced
- 8 olives jalapeno pepper filled, (sliced)
- ¼ cup vegan cheese Mexican Style GoVeggie brand is preferred
- Whisk the flour, psyllium husk, salt, and yeast in a mixing bowl. Add water and olive oil and use a spatula or clean hand to form the dough. Cover the mixing bowl and let the dough rise in a warm place for 4 hours.
- Generously dust a working surface with some gluten-free flour and transfer the yeast dough onto the surface. Roll the dough gently to form a smooth ball and then flatten the ball to form a disc. Use a rolling pin to form the dough into a disc, approximately 12” in diameter.
- Use a pastry brush to brush off the excess flour on the dough surface. Gently fold the pizza dough disk in half, and then half again, making a triangle. Transfer the triangle onto a lightly dusted pizza pan and then unfold the triangle.
- Preheat oven to 350 ºF. Bake the pizza crust in the bottom rack for 20 minutes and then on the middle rack for 10 until the edge of the pizza crust turn golden brown.
- While the pizza crust is baking, heat a sauté pan over medium heat and add 1 teaspoon of olive oil when the pan is hot. Roast the sliced eggplant in the pan over medium heat, 2 minutes on each side, until the eggplant slices are slightly wilted. Set aside.
- Remove the pizza pan from the oven. Spoon the spicy lentil hummus into the center of the baked pizza crust and use a spatula to spread it out to the edges. Arrange roasted eggplant slices, peppers, olives on the pizza. Sprinkle the vegan cheese on top at the end.
- Bump up your oven to its highest temperature and bake for 3 minutes or until the bell peppers are soft and cheese are melted.
For homemade gluten-free all-purpose flour (yield 45 oz all-purpose gluten-free flour)
9 oz brown rice flour
9 oz millet flour
9 oz sweet rice flour
9 oz white rice flour
3 oz cornstarch
3 oz potato starch
3 oz tapioca starch
For Spicy Lentil Hummus recipe, see link https://lightorangebean.com/roasted-pepper-lentil-hummus/
You can use regular hummus for this recipe as well.
This pizza combines my two favorite foods: eggplant and hummus! Such a great combo, espoiecally on pizza!