hummus & grilled vegetable pizza

I know it sounds weird, hummus on a pizza? Well, back in the day when I was slingin' pizzas at Whole Foods, we made a special vegan pizza using hummus as a replacement for the sauce and cheese. We didn't really ever get any requests for this pizza but we made it a few times just for fun. So, what was it like? GOOOOOOOOOOD!

The hummus just kind of works because it's thick and rich like cheese and it's almost as moist as sauce. Not to mention, hummus has LOADS of flavor. I guess you can just think about it like dipping some pita into hummus and then eating some roasted vegetables in the same bite. See? It does make sense.

Anyway, I made this pizza from scratch using this dough recipe and this hummus recipe. So, it did take a while to make but I was able to make both the hummus and the roasted vegetables during the rise time for the dough. This is a great rainy summer day project.

If you don't want to go through the trouble of making the dough, check with your local pizzeria to see if they sell raw dough balls. Also, check the frozen section of the grocery store. Sometimes pizza dough balls are sold frozen. They just need to be thawed and stretched then they're ready to go!





Total Recipe cost: $4.40
Servings Per Recipe: 4 (two slices each)
Cost per serving: $1.10
Prep time: 1 hr. 20 min. Cook time: 20 min. Total: 1 hr. 40 min.

INGREDIENTS		COST
1 recipe	pizza dough	$0.37
1/2 recipe	hummus (any flavor)	$0.99
1 small	zucchini	$0.47
1 small	summer squash	$0.48
1 medium	portabello mushroom cap	$0.84
1/2 small	red onion	$0.24
1/3 of 12 oz. jar	roasted red peppers	$0.67
2 Tbsp	olive oil	$0.24
to taste	salt and pepper	$0.05
1/2 tsp	crushed red pepper (optional)	$0.03
1 Tbsp	cornmeal	$0.02
TOTAL		$4.40

STEP 1: Prepare and knead the pizza dough. Place the ball of dough in a bowl, loosely covered, in a warm place to rise for one hour.

STEP 2: While the pizza dough is rising, make the hummus. Add enough liquid to the hummus so that it is easily spreadable with a spoon. Keep the hummus refrigerated until ready to use.

STEP 3: Wash the vegetables to remove debris. Slice the squash and onion into half inch thick pieces. Place the squash in a bowl and drizzle with 2 Tbsp of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and toss to coat. Preheat a counter top grill and then grill the squash for about 5 minutes. Wipe excess oil out of the bowl the portabello cap and onion pieces. Grill them in the same manner as the squash. After the vegetables are grilled, cut into bite sized pieces. Also, cut one of the roasted red peppers from the jar into strips.

STEP 4: Once the dough has risen to about double its original size (about one hour), begin to preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Prepare a pizza pan with non-stick spray and a generous sprinkle of cornmeal.

STEP 5: Punch the dough down and, using floured hands, stretch it into a 16 inch circle. Using the back of a spoon, spread about half of the batch of hummus over top of the dough. Top with the grilled vegetables.

STEP 6: Bake the pizza for 20-25 minutes or until the outside edges of the crust are golden brown. Cut into 8 pieces and enjoy!

Step By Step Photos

I started by making the pizza dough. It only takes a few minutes to combine the ingredients and then 5 minutes to knead. Once you have the kneaded ball, place it in a bowl, loosely cover, and allow to rise.


Next I made the hummus. Hummus only takes a few minutes to make but you will need either a food processor or blender. Food processors are a lot easier to make hummus with than blenders. I have this food processor. It's not very expensive but it's completely awesome.


Next, I started working on the vegetables. I used a small zucchini, summer squash, red onion (half), portabello cap, and 1/3 of a jar of roasted red bell peppers. The jar of peppers was actually the same price as one fresh pepper but I got 3 times as much. Plus I can keep the extra in my fridge to use later.


As the George Foreman Grill heats up, wash and slice the squash. Place them in a bowl and drizzle with a little olive oil, salt, and pepper. Toss everything to coat. The portabello is pretty delicate so instead of tossing it with the rest, I just wiped the excess oil out of the bowl with each side of the mushroom.


Grill all of the vegetables (about 5 minutes per batch) on a countertop grill. After grilling, cut into bite sized pieces.


I like to prepare my pizza pan with a little non-stick spray and cornmeal. I like the crunchiness of the cornmeal on the bottom of a baked crust.


Once the dough has doubled in size, punch it down and then stretch out to a 16 inch circle (flour your hands well). Spread half of the batch of hummus over the top of the dough using the back of a spoon.



Top it with the prepared vegetables and a little crushed red pepper if desired. Isn't it pretty? I feel sorry for people who don't like vegetables.


Bake in a fully preheated 450 degree oven for 20-25 minutes or until the crust turns golden brown.


And then EAT IT!



Totally delish and totally healthy. Bam and BAM!