Raw Avocado and Nectarine Pizza

How have you been? What have you been up to? Things have felt a little crazy around here. I haven't been taking the best care of myself lately. Working long days. Worrying late into the night. Walking too much on my still-sore ankle. And forgetting the importance of deep breaths and down time.

The one thing I have been doing right this week is... this pizza. This pizza reminded me of the power of good food and how a good lunch is always made better by chewing slowly, eating with others, and laughter. This pizza is absolutely beautiful and delicious. I happened to have an abundance of nectarines (never a bad thing) and have been experimenting with new ways to use 'em.

I'm sure someone out there is thinking that fruit on pizza is weird. But, it's all about perspective. And maybe it's time we got a new perspective, at least, on pizza. Who knows where it might take us.


I'm not going to lie... this can be a labor-intensive pizza. But, once you've invested the time into making the crusts, sauce, and chopping the toppings, it's easy from there. Besides, we all could use a little more time in the kitchen and a little less at our computer.

Pesto:
1 cup de-stemmed basil
1/4 cup walnuts
1 garlic clove
1/4 cup olive oil
sea salt and pepper to taste

Combine the basil, nuts, and garlic in a food processor and process until it forms a course paste. Slowly add the olive oil in a steady drizzle and continue to process until it becomes a smooth texture. Season with salt and pepper to taste.

This makes roughly 1/2 cup of pesto, which is more than enough for the 8 pizzas.

Marinated onions:
Cut 1 red onion into thin slices. Place in a glass jar or container. Then fill with the apple cider vinegar marinade: 1 part apple cider vinegar to 1 part water. Let them marinate overnight. They will keep for about a week or so in the fridge.

Raw Flax Crust: From The Raw 50 by Carol Alt, this makes 8 crusts

1 cup golden flax seeds
1 cup water
2 cups raw almonds, soaked overnight
2 tablespoons chopped onion
2 tablespoons chopped fresh thyme
2 tablespoons chopped fresh rosemary
2 tablespoons chopped fresh oregano

Grind the flax seeds finely in a spice or coffee grinder. Soak the ground seeds in the water until it is completely absorbed, stirring occasionally (this should take about 2 hours). Place the soaked flax seeds in a food processor and add the almonds, onion, thyme, rosemary, and oregano. Process until the mixture is finely ground and well mixed.

Roll the dough in your hands to form 8 balls of equal size. Once the balls are rolled, flatten them evenly with the palm of your hand.

Place the pizza breads on a Teflex-lined dehydrator tray and dehydrate at 115 degrees F for 4 hours. Then flip the breads over onto the dehydrator trays and remove the Teflex liners. Continue to dehydrate for another 4 hours, or until done. You can make bigger pizza breads, which will take longer to dehydrate.

Other ingredients:
a couple of nectarines
a couple of avocados
fresh herbs for garnish (basil or dill are nice)

Assembly:
Take your pizza crust and top with a layer of pesto. Slice up your avocado and nectarines and assemble on top. I used about a 1/4 of avocado and 1/2 a nectarine per pizza. Garnish with a few marinated onions and a pinch of fresh herbs.