Spicy Peach Sunflower Butter Pizza with Caramelized Onions (made from scratch)

RECIPE TIME!

Hold on to your oven mitts! This anything-but-ordinary pizza just might blow you away.

Hi! It’s Julia here. Today I invite you into the kitchen where I am sharing one of our favorite homemade pizza recipes. I made it often in the late summer time when peaches and corn were very much in season. There are so many variations and endless directions you can go with a homemade pizza. Nathan and I prefer to shy away from wheat flour and like to use ingredients we have in abundance. In the fall seasons, for example, I will use homemade apple sauce instead of tomato sauce on a pizza since apples are in abundance at that time (sounds weird, but it’s really good!). Before I get started, here’s a short breakdown of each component of today’s pizza…

The crust is made from green plantains and rye flour. Different flour could be substituted in place of rye; however the ratio of flour to plantain will be different depending on the flour. The recipe below is for a soft thick crust; however more flour can be added if you desire to create a thin and crispy crust. Be sure to use green unripe plantains and NOT ripe plantains unless you are looking for a sticky mess. If you don’t have these, the best substitute would be either potatoes or unripe bananas.

Today’s sauce is a very simple basic tomato sauce recipe. You could use a store bought pizza sauce but what’s the fun in that!?

The first layer of toppings will be corn, jalapeno pepper, and peaches. Why the summertime vibe you may be asking? Well, the rainy November weather makes me miss it, and I usually keep these ingredients in the deep freezer for times like these. It’s a winning combination, but you may substitute any of these if you don’t have them on hand.  

I am using homemade sunflower butter to function as a cheese/ meat substitute. Sunflower seeds, high in selenium, magnesium and vitamin E, are quite nutrient dense and make the pizza much more filling. The sunflower seed butter functions as both a meat and a cheese in this pizza. When baked together with all the other toppings, it literally looks like sausage yet tastes more like a flavorful ricotta cheese. It’s possible to substitute with sesame seed butter (tahini) to achieve a similar effect.

And now for the cream on top, the caramelized onions should definitely not be omitted. This ingredient is what elevates this good pizza to a really great pizza. Using a cast iron pan/skillet will result in the best caramelization and flavor. Make sure to use either sweet Vidalia or yellow onions for best results. Red onions will give you an “ok” result. If you use white onions, the result will not be good. The type of oil you choose to use doesn’t matter that much, just make sure you use plenty of it! Also, be patient. There is no short cut to making good caramelized onions.

Not gonna lie, this pizza is definitely a labor of love. Basically, each component of the pizza is homemade. However the effort is beyond worth it! This pizza is popping with flavor and deliciousness.

I would suggest making the dough for the crust, sunflower seed butter and the tomato sauce days in advance so that on the day that you actually plan to make the pizza, all you need to do is make the caramelized onions, bake the crust and assemble the pizza.

First, I’ll cover special kitchen equipment to have on hand before getting started. Next, I’ve broken the recipe down based on each component. Last, we assemble the pizza, bake it and enjoy!

Equipment:

-          Cast iron skillet ( or pizza stone)

-          Cutting board, knife

-          Food processor (If you don’t have one, use a blender. A potato masher could work as well)

-          Medium sized saucepan

-          Long “casserole” style baking dishes or pie plates ( for making the sauce)

Crust:

3 or 4 green plantains

2 cups Rye flour (I used dark rye)

Water for boiling

1 tsp salt

Chop the ends off the plantains and cut into 3 pieces each. Place the chunks of plantain in a medium saucepan and pour enough water on the plantains to cover them. Bring to a boil and boil for about 10-15 mins until the plantain flesh is bright yellow and soft. Remove from the heat.

 Pluck out each plantain with a fork onto a cutting board to cool. Once cool enough to handle, gently remove the plantain flesh from the skin (it should come off easily) and place into a food processor. Add the boiled water from the saucepan into the processor with all the plantain. Blend on a low speed until smooth.

Transfer to a mixing bowl and add the salt and slowly add the Rye flour and mix. Use a spoon first to get started, and then switch to mixing by hand until the dough is formed. It should be sturdy enough to hold its shape, yet still be pliable and sticky.

At this point, the dough can be stored in the refrigerator for later use, or to continue making the pizza, spread the dough onto a pizza stone or cast iron skillet using a spoon. Once you have formed an even layer of dough on the pan, bake at 350 for 10 minutes and remove from the oven. If using the cast iron, preheat it either in the oven or on the stove top until it’s hot before spreading the crust on it. This helps in two parts. 1. This prevents your crust from sticking to the pan. 2. The heat from the cast iron will slightly “melt” the dough making it easier for you to spread out.

Sauce:

Half gallon of tomatoes (about 8 or 9 tomatoes)

1 Tbs olive oil

1 tsp salt

Cut the tomatoes into large chunks and blend in a high speed blender with the oil and salt. You may need to do more than one batch depending on the size of the blender. Do not add any extra liquid.

Prepare a long and shallow casserole dish (or 2) by pouring a small amount of olive oil in the dish. Once blended, pour the tomato mixture into the dish and bake at 350 F for about 3 hours.

The sauce is finished when it has reduced by more than half, it should look quite thick, chunky and dark red.

Store in a mason jar in the fridge for up to a week, it can also be frozen.

Sunflower seed butter:

4 cups sunflower seeds

1 Tbs oil

1 tsp salt

Roast the sunflower seeds on a baking pan at 350 F for 15 minutes, occasionally stirring the seeds to prevent burning. Remove from the oven and let cool slightly before pouring into a food processor and blending until smooth. This may take a little patience. You may need to start and stop a lot in the beginning to push the seed mixture off the sides of the food processor and back into the blade. Add a little oil for easier blending and lastly add the salt. Once smooth, transfer to a jar and store in a cool, dry place.

Caramelized onions:

2 sweet (or Vidalia) onions

4 Tbs oil

1 tsp salt

 Split the oil amongst 2 separate cast iron pans and place each on low heat. Slice the onions as thinly as you can and spread onto the pans with the salt. Each pan should have a thick layer of oil and thin layer of onions. The onions should sizzle very gently on low heat for about 2 hours with mixing about every 30 minutes. Use your nose, the caramelizing onion process should smell very pleasantly delicious not like something is burning, if you smell any burning than your heat is too high, immediately turn down the heat and stir onions to prevent further burning. When done, the onions are browned and slightly crispy. Remove from the pans and set aside.

Assemble the pizza:

Now all the components are made, it’s time for the final step. Once the crust is baked and cooling, add about 2 Tbs of the tomato sauce and spread into an even layer. Next add a layer of corn (I used white corn cut from the cob), add slices of Serrano or Jalapeno pepper and sliced peaches.

Next, scoop out small spoonfuls of sunflower seed butter and sprinkle randomly onto the pizza.

Place the pizza back into the oven and broil at 400 F for 8-10 minutes. Take out of the oven and add the caramelized onions on top. Slice the pizza and serve immediately. Enjoy!

Thank you so much for reading! I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as we do.

-Julia