Pizza with Fresh Artichokes, Spinach and Beans

We all love pizza, don‘t we? It‘s such a great comfort food, there are so many ways to garnish a pizza and it‘s so easy to make a vegan version. For my artichoke pizza I used fresh, raw marinated artichokes which I put only after the baking on the pizza. That way the artichoke is a true delicacy and also a powerful superfood: its bitter substances support the liver. Anyway: Pizza with spinach and fresh artichokes on a soft bed out of white beans and cashews, topped with chili flakes and some vegan mozzarella – how does this sound to you? I have to say: this vegan pizza was so delicious, particularly the fresh, slightly bitter artichokes together with the creamy bean cashew mixture.

Vegan Artichoke Pizza with Spinach and White Beans

Makes 4 round pizza

For the dough:

• 500 g flour
• 1 heaped tsp salt
• 1 bag dry yeast

For the topping:

• 1 jar or can white beans (220 g)
• 65 g cashews
• 7 tbsp olive oil
• salt, pepper
• juice of 1 lemon
• 4 fresh little artichokes
• 2 onions
• 3 garlic cloves
• 400 g spinach leaves
• 300 g (vegan) Mozzarella cheese
• chili flakes

Knead the ingredients for the dough with ca. 330 ml lukewarm water, until the dough doesn‘t stick anymore. Form 4 smooth balls and cover them (best in a big plastic box with a lid). Let the dough rise at a warm place for 1-2 hours.

Preheat the oven with the baking tray to 275° C (circulating air). Blend the beans and their dripping water with cashews, 1 tbsp lemon juice, salt, pepper and 3 tbsp olive oil to a creamy and smooth puree (if you don‘t have a powerful blender you can soak the cashews in water for at least 6 hours before using them). Put aside.

Break away the leathery outer leaves from the artichokes. Cut the stem to about 5 centimeters and peel it with a little knife. Cut off the upper half of the artichokes and halve them lengthwise. Scrape out any hairs with a teaspoon and then slice the halves thinly. Mix remaining lemon juice, 3 tbsp olive oil and salt and marinate the artickokes in it.

Peel and chop onions and garlic. Wash spinach and spin-dry. Heat 1 tbsp olive oil in a pan, fry the onions until glassy, add garlic and 350 g of the spinach. Steam everything 3 min, season with salt and pepper.

Roll out a dough ball on a floured working space to a round pizza base, you can also use your fingers to knead it into shape. Place the pizza on a baking paper and spread ¼ of the bean puree and steamed spinach on top. Slice the mozzarella and scatter ¼ of the slices on the pizza as well.

Bake the pizza (on the baking paper) on the preheated baking tray in the middle of the oven 6-8 min. (while the first pizza is in the oven, prepare the next one). Remove the pizza from the oven and top it with ¼ of the marinated artichokes, some raw spinach leaves and chili flakes.

Quarter each pizza  and enjoy it hot, one after the other…