Since my daughter had her surgery she can’t eat really crunchy or hard food, but she wanted to have some veggie pizza. I made this pizza for her with a polenta crust. The polenta holds all the toppings really well, but it softer than a regular crust. This is not a pizza that you can pick up to eat, but the polenta is so good with all the veggies. I topped this pizza with tofu ricotta and lots of veggies. The polenta crust is great with any pizza toppings that you like though.
Polenta Pizza
2 cups Polenta (not the kind in the tube the is already cooked)
1 tsp salt
pepper to taste
Pizza toppings of your choice: spinach, tomatoes, mushrooms, tofu ricotta, broccoli, artichokes, olives, peppers, vegan cheese, veggie sausage or pepperoni
Cook the polenta according to the package directions until it is very thick. I do not use the instant, so I boil the polenta in 6 cups of water for about 20 minutes. Stir it frequently. Stir in the salt and pepper. Pour the polenta onto a large lightly oiled sheet pan and smooth it out. Let it sit at room temperature for at least an hour so it can firm up. Preheat the oven to 400. Once the polenta is firm bake it for 20 minutes. Take it out of the oven and add you toppings. Bake it again for another 15-20 minutes until the polenta begins to brown around the edges and on the bottom.
Tofu Ricotta
1 block of firm or extra firm tofu drained and pressed
The juice of 1 lemon
5 TBSP of nutritional yeast
2 TBSP Italian seasoning
salt and pepper to taste
Combine all of the ingredients and mash them together. I like to use a potato masher for this. It should have the texture of ricotta cheese when it is mashed. Let is sit in the fridge for at least 30 minutes before you use it.
This is great as a pizza topping, for lasagna or stuffed shells.
I need to incorporate polenta into my menu….this looks yummo!