Strawberry Pizza with Candied Basil

Okay, so it’s not really a pizza, but it’s delicious. Marie had wanted to make a strawberry pizza and we threw around some ideas. Part of me wanted to make a strawberry sauce but then what do you put on top that’s raw, vegan and appetizing looking. Because to take a quote from one of the very quotable kids here: “why is everything so beige?”. He’s not wrong.

One of our goals on this site is to make things that entice you. Food that you want to eat. To encourage people to eat better by visually kicking those food endorphins in first, then dazzle you with flavor. Let’s face it, people wouldn’t eat raw and vegan if everything was bland looking. So the strawberries were placed on top instead of underneath our banana cream, giving you a better idea of what flavors will pop in your mouth.

While I personally think strawberry pizza is the bomb on it’s own, it’s the heavenly candied basil that’s my favorite part. I can eat this all day, everyday. This savory herb tastes amazing in desserts and I often take the remaining syrup and use it in my tea or cereal.

RAW VEGAN RECIPE: Strawberry Pizza with Candied Basil

Use crust recipe from our tart page Decadent Creamy Fruit Tarts

This needs to be prepared at least a day before. It’s very moldable, so instead of pressing them into tart pans, roll out dough into a rectangle. You want the bottom to be thin but strong enough to support the weight of the cream and berries once it’s dehydrated. Build up the sides by rolling long strips of dough and adding them onto the edges of the tart. Press and shape. This is really easy and if you mess up, don’t stress, just start over, it’s very forgiving. Place on rack in the dehydrator for 24 hours at 115 degrees. Crust can be slightly soft inside, but if you want it harder leave in for 36 hours.

Banana Cream Filling

1 cup cashews

1/4 cup almond milk

2 bananas

Grind cashews until smooth adding the almond milk a little at a time. Add one banana at a time. Cover and place in the refrigerator. It’s perfectly natural for the mixture to turn darker from the bananas, so don’t worry, you’ll be covering it with strawberries. Leftover filling? Tastes like banana pudding to me, sprinkle some chocolate syrup on it and have fun.

Candied Basil

1 cup julienned basil

1/4 cup pulverized sugar

1/2 cup filtered water

Place all 3 ingredients in a heat resistant bowl and put in the dehydrator for 5 hours at 115 degrees. Stirring every hour to coat all the basil leaves. Remove leaves from syrup and place on flat sheet. Place in the dehydrator for 24-36 hours to dry. Mix it around every few hours to make sure the air is getting at it. You want it fairly close to crispy, Don’t worry if it doesn’t become crispy though since it will absorb the moisture from the strawberries anyway.

Assembly

Place crust on a plate and add a layer of the banana cream. Arrange the washed, sliced and hulled strawberries by fanning them out in rows. Sprinkle candied basil on top and enjoy!