Dining In - Grilled Pesto Pizza with Sweet Potatoes, Kale and Balsamic Reduction

Grilled Pesto Pizza with Sweet Potatoes, Kale
and Balsamic Reduction - Chloe's Kitchen

Vegan Pizza - Almost Done!

Before I discovered a vegan-friendly pizza chain in my area, I was craving this "junk food" and thought being vegan meant no more of this ooey, gooey goodness. Not true! I found Chloe's recipe for a pizza that sounded so gourmet, so fancy, and yet so easy to prepare. I had to try it. Wow! It's amazing. You don't even miss the cheese when you're eating this. There are so many other flavors to make your taste buds happy. You can buy prepared vegan dough at the store (try Whole Foods) or make it yourself, Chloe's Kitchen cookbook has a separate recipe for pizza dough. You assemble the pizza by layering it with healthy, wholesome ingredients that work very well together - walnut pesto sauce, sauteed kale, baked sweet potato, and a balsamic-maple syrup reduction. The original recipe calls for grilling the pizza, but I reached out to Chloe Coscarelli for an alternative method and she said you can simply set your oven to broil and get the job done. You can find this recipe and others in Chloe's Kitchen (buy your copy here). 



Balsamic Reduction: 
1 cup balsamic vinegar
1 tablespoon maple syrup

In a small saucepan heat balsamic vinegar over medium-high until it boils. Let simmer on low heat until it thickens, which should take about 20 minutes. Remove pan from heat and add in the maple syrup.

Pesto Sauce:
2 cups fresh basil leaves
1 1/4 cups toasted walnuts

Pesto Sauce Before Layering the Toppings

3 garlic cloves, chopped
2 tablespoons lemon juice
3/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper
2/3 cup olive oil

Put all ingredients listed for pesto sauce in a food processor, except the oil. Combine and slowly add in the oil as you go. 

Pizza Toppings:
1 large sweet potato (peel and cut into 1/2 inch cubes)
5 tablespoons olive oil
1/2 bunch of kale, remove stems and rip into bite size pieces
Sea salt
Ground black pepper

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Coat the sweet potato cubes with 3 (out of the 5) tablespoons of olive oil and a pinch of sea salt. Bake for about 25 minutes on a baking sheet until lightly browned, flip the cubes midway. 

In a large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Add the kale, sprinkle sea salt and pepper on it, and saute for about 4 minutes until the leaves get a little tender and are a vibrant green. Put your potatoes and kale aside.

Pizza Dough:
1 1/2 pound pizza dough (you can find prepared vegan dough at Whole Foods)
Flour

On a floured surface, it can even be your countertop, split the dough into six equal parts and roll out into thin circles about 6 inches in diameter. Brush or use olive oil spray on each side of the circle, put them on a baking sheet. Broil for 2-3 minutes until bottom is lightly browned, flip to that slide and spread the pesto sauce on each pizza. Put a small handful of kale on each followed by sweet potato cubes. Return to oven on broil and let cook another 2 minuts. Drizzle the balsamic reduction on each pizza, serve, and enjoy!