Veggie Pita Pizza with pesto
Veggie Pita Pizza topped with lots of vegetables, sweet caramelised onions and a pesto with even more vegetables. Vegan friendly, quick, easy and gluten-free!
I love regular pizza with traditional fluffy bread-like bases. However sometimes when I want a quick and easy but healthy dinner or sometimes I want a lighter version of pizza!
Veggie pita pizzas are one of my favourite healthy comfort foods because you can indulge in the flavours of traditional pizza but without the heaviness of regular pizza! They are also SO EASY to make!
If you count calories, pita pizzas are much more lower in calorie than regular pizza!
Toppings for veggie pita pizza
I topped my veggie pizza with loads of healthy ingredients including:
- mushrooms
- capsicum
- fresh tomatoes
- zucchini
- basil
- spinach
- caramelised onions.
Just like normal pizza, it’s very easy to assemble pita pizzas. Just pile your veggies on top of your pita bread and bake!
Customising your veggie pita pizzas
For topping yopur veggie pizzas, you can use other vegetables like eggplant, sun dried tomato, artichokes, olives, pineapples and other ingredients you may already have in your fridge.
Just make sure you slice your vegetables THINLY so they bake at the same rate as your thin pita bases!
In addition to the veggies, you can also use vegan cheese, store-bought red capsicum pesto, crumbled tofu, chickpeas and more!
Since pita pockets are often small, you can customise the toppings for each individual pizza. Consider them a healthy personal pizza just for YOUR taste buds!
Why pita bread is the best THIN pizza crust
Pita bread is crispy when baked in the oven! If you prefer veggie pizza with a thin crust and LOTS of toppings, pita pizzas are perfect for you! There’s something so dreamy about a crispy base with roast vegetables and soft dairy free cheese.
They are quick and easy to use. Pita bread bakes much quicker than traditional home-made or store-bought pizza bases. Just make sure you cut your toppings thinly so your toppings bake at the same rate as the base.
I enjoy making pizza bases from scratch but, let’s be honest, they can take hours to rise and rest. Pita bread is ready in no time and are pretty fail-proof.
Pita bread is thin and light so are generally easier to digest than thicker pizza bases. I personally don’t enjoy eating heavy pizzas then needing a siesta! That means you can have pizza at any time of the day and not feel gluggy and tired. Well that’s for me anyway!
If you’re gluten free, it’s super easy to find gluten free pita bread! My favourite brand are by BFree which are made from healthy and wholesome ingredients :).
How to caramelise onions
Adding caramelised onions to your pizza is a completely optional step! However, I love caramelised onions because they add more flavour and a subtle sweetness to my veggie pita pizzas.
For those who aren’t familiar with caramelising onions, here’s a step-by-step guide:
- Thinly slice your onions. Heat a saucepan over high heat and add onions with a drizzle of olive oil.
- Saute the onions until fragrant, slightly translucent or as pictured in #2 above. Turn down the heat to low-medium.
- Add 1 teaspoon of coconut sugar and a dash of water. Allow the onions to saute or simmer until they are very soft.
- By now, the onions and sugar should’ve left a sticky residue on the bottom of the pan. Add a drizzle of balsamic vinegar to de-glaze the pan then allow the liquids to evaporate. Set aside.
It takes around 10-15 minutes to caramelise your onions. If your onions start to burn or stick to the pan at any point, add a dash of water to slow down the cooking. After the initial saute, the aim is to cook the onions slowly so they turn soft and caramelly.
This results in beautiful, sticky and slightly sweet caramelised onions.
How to make healthy vegan pesto
If you’d like to make homemade dairy free pesto, you’ll be glad to know that it’s as easy as making regular pesto!
Normally, pesto uses parmesan to add depth and punch. With vegan pesto, you can simply omit the cheese or add nutritional yeast which has a wonderful umami cheese flavour. For added depth, I also added roasted pine nuts and garlic to the pesto.
I want to increase my intake of vegetables so I sneaked in 1 cup of baby spinach leaves to the pesto. The spinach dilutes the basil flavour yet you cannot taste the ‘greenness’ of the spinach. This makes the pesto excellent for parents who want to increase their kids’ veggie intake!
To make these veggie pita pizzas even easier, you can simply use store-bought pesto!
You can also add lemon juice, pepper or other spices to the pesto to suit your palette.
Other healthy comfort food recipes
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Veggie Pita Pizza with caramelised onions and pesto
Ingredients
Caramelised Onions
- 1 red onion, sliced thinly
- Dash of extra virgin olive oil
- 1 tsp coconut sugar, or any other granulated sugar
- Drizzle of balsamic vinegar
Sneaky Pesto (or use store-bought)
- ยผ cup pine nuts, roasted or sauteed
- 3 cloves garlic, raw or sauteed
- 1 cup baby spinach, loosely packed
- 1 cup basil leaves, loosely packed
- 3 tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- Generous pinch of salt
Pita Pizzas (note 1)
- 6 small pita pockets
- 3 tbsp tomato pizza sauce
- 1 small bell pepper / capsicum, core removed and diced
- ยฝ cup mushrooms, sliced thinly
- ยฝ cup zuchinni, sliced thinly
- ยฝ cup cherry tomatoes, halved
- ยฝ cup vegan cheese, chopped or shredded
Instructions
To caramelise the onions
- Add the onion and olive oil to a medium-size saucepan over high heat and sautรฉ until fragrant. Turn down the heat to low-medium. Add the coconut sugar and a dash of water. Sautรฉ for 5-10 minutes or until the onions are very soft. Add the balsamic vinegar to de-glaze the pan and allow the liquids to evaporate. Set aside.
To make the pesto
- Add all ingredients to a food processor and process until it forms a paste. Set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 180ยฐC (355ยฐF).
To assemble your pita pizzas
- Place the pita pockets on a lined baking tray. Spread the pizza sauce on each pita leaving a 1cm edge. Scatter the capsicum, mushrooms, tomatoes, vegan cheese and caramelised onions on top.
- Bake the pita pockets in the oven for 10-12 minutes or until the vegetables are cooked.
- Dollop the pesto on the baked pita pizzas. Enjoy immediately!
Notes
- You can use other vegetables such as eggplant, sun dried tomatoes, or other vegetables you already have! Just make sure you slice the veggies thinly so they cook at the same rate as your pita bases.
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