Tuscan White Bean Pizza with Roasted Tomato Aioli - Vegan

(recipe  based on Vegan on the Cheap, by Robin Robertson, Wiley, 2010)

Garlic. Canned beans. Store bought thin crust. Roasted tomatoes. Pesto. Beer. Friday night. Happiness.

Here’s what you need for the pizza:

One good quality store bought thin pizza crust. (I swear by Boboli brand.)

I actually have two homemade pizza crusts that I also swear by, one of them is on my other blog……

did you know I used to write another blog?

That’s ancient history, now, but there’s some great stuff over there.

Click here and here to see my favorite homemade pizza crusts.

Olive oil

Fresh garlic

15 ounce can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Salt, pepper

1/3 vegetable stock

2 T nutritional yeast

Roasted tomatoes (mine came from the freezer)

Pesto (mine came from the freezer)

    (Olives, artichokes, spinach, fresh basil - the sky’s the limit when it comes to pizza toppings, right?)

Here’s what you need for the aioli:

1 pound Roma tomatoes

1 C water

½ C raw cashews

1 clove fresh garlic

Lemon juice

Salt, pepper and ¼ t liquid smoke

Here’s what you do for the aioli:

Quarter the tomatoes, remove the seeds, place cut sides up, drizzle with olive oil. Roast under the broiler until soft, but not too charred. Place all aioli ingredients in a high speed blender and watch what happens! Heat it over low heat.

I had my doubts before I put this in the oven,
 but now this pizza is in my regular dinner rotation. Try it! 

Here’s what you do for the pizza:

Mince and sauté the garlic until tender but not brown, over a very low heat. Add the drained and rinsed beans and stir around a bit. Season with salt and pepper. Add the vegetable broth and nutritional yeast. Smash the beans with a potato masher or fork.

Spread the bean layer on the crust. Top with the beautiful tomatoes and pesto. Bake. Spoon the Roasted Tomato Aioli over the slices. Eat. Drink beer. Enjoy Friday evening.