Sweet Potato Pizza with Almond Ricotta

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In one of our zoom chats with friends during the pandemic, Robert & Judy shared their desktop to flip through some random photos. I asked them to pause on a beautiful pizza they made for dinner. Judy said it was one of her favorites! So I had to give it a try. I found a crust recipe and adapted it; the dough turned out crunchy and good! We wanted a bit more flavor, so I added kalamata olives, as well as whipped almond ricotta,  like True Food Kitchen does.

Ingredients

Toppings:
Sweet potatoes or squash, cubed or sliced
Red onion, sliced
salt & pepper
2 C kale or spinach
1 T balsamic vinegar
1 apple, chopped (optional)
1 T fresh chopped rosemary (optional)
Kalamata olives (optional)
Whipped almond ricotta (or mozzarella for non-vegans)

Pizza dough (if making; TJ's whole wheat pita also works)
1 1/3 C flour
1 T cornmeal
1 1/2 tsp baking powder
1/2 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 tsp sugar
3/4 C water
1 T oil

Whipped almond ricotta:
1 C blanched almonds (raw almonds in boiling water 60 seconds, cool, pop off skins)
1/3 C water
1 T lemon juice
2 tsp nutritional yeast
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp salt

Instructions

Preheat oven to 400 degrees. Toss sweet potato/squash, onion slices, oil, rosemary (if using), salt and pepper in ziplock or bowl. Place on large baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes, and turn them once halfway through. Remove from oven.

Prepare the dough: Combine dry ingredients. Combine water and oil in a separate cup and add to flour mixture. Using a wooden spoon or your hands, gently stir and mix until dough forms a ball; dough should be soft, but not sticky. Add more water if it's too dry, 1 T at a time. If it's too sticky, add flour. Knead for a few minutes, then set aside in fridge. Go on a walk or bike ride if you like :)

In small bowl, toss greens with vinegar.

On lightly floured surface, roll out pizza dough and place on pan that has been coated with cornmeal. Lightly brush dough with olive oil. Add kale, sweet potato, onion, and olive toppings. Bake for 15 minutes. Cool for a few minutes before slicing.

After trying it, we decided that it needed something more... we added kalamata olives, and think more onion would be good.  I also tried whipped almond ricotta. (The original recipe had mozzarella cheese, so adding these replaces some of that missing strong taste. Of course if you're not vegan, you could add mozzarella!)

To make almond ricotta: Whip blanched almonds, water, and salt in food processor until smooth, adding water as needed. Add nutritional yeast, lemon, and any other spices you want to try (basil?)




 Blanched almonds!
 Adding almond ricotta


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