If you are like my brother then you are probably asking yourself (or in his case, his wife) why anyone would want to ruin a perfectly good pizza by topping it with pine nuts. Well, it’s not. (At least not in these recipes, click here for a pine nut pizza.) The pine nuts are for a vegetarian ravioli and the pizza… well, the pizza gets a healthy dose of cheese, chicken, bacon, artichoke hearts and baby spinach. As you can tell neither dish is particularly traditional, but that’s what makes them so uniquely delicious.
If you are tired of serving the same ol’ cheese ravioli and pepperoni pizza consider trying these spiced up Italian dishes. You might be surprised how well they go over.
DOUBLE NUT TURNIP RAVIOLI
Ingredients:
2 large turnips, peeled
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 cup pine nuts, soaked at least 2 hours
2 cups macadamia nuts, soaked at least 2 hours
1 tablespoon minced fresh rosemary
4 teaspoons minced fresh parsley
4 teaspoons minced fresh thyme
2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
1 teaspoon salt
1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
1/2 cup water
Directions:
Using vegetable peeler cut turnips into 32 very thin slices. Coat in olive oil and let sit for at least 1 hour.
Rinse pine nuts and macadamia nuts, and drain well, at least 10 minutes. Place in food processor fitted with an S blade, and process on high speed 10 seconds.
Add rosemary, parsley, thyme, yeast, salt, pepper and vinegar. Blend on high speed about 20 seconds. (Add water if necessary to make cheese-like consistency.)
Scoop 1 tablespoon of mixture onto each turnip slice, and fold in half.
Serve 8 raviolis per plate, coated with your favorite sauce (or you could simply coat with oil, salt, ground pepper, garlic and basil).
CHICKEN, BACON, AND ARTICHOKE PIZZA
Ingredients:
1 pre-made pizza crust
1 cup Alfredo Sauce
2 to 3 cooked, diced chicken breasts
8 pieces bacon, cooked and crumbled
1 can quartered artichoke hearts
2 cups fresh baby spinach
1/4 cup sun dried tomatoes
2 cups shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 cup shredded Asiago Cheese
1 cup grated Parmesan
Chopped scallions and basil
Directions:
Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Spread pizza crust with Alfredo sauce. Top with remaining ingredients. Bake in oven for 10 to 15 minutes or until cheese is melted. Top with scallions and basil before serving.
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Heart Healthy Vegetarian Dishes