In normal circumstances, we’ll pass on a pizza that’s topped with pineapple—it’s just not our thing. But we’ll make an exception for this recipe for flatbread pizza with pineapple (from Tabitha Brown’s cookbook, Cooking from the Spirit), which hits all the right savory-sweet notes and happens to be vegan-friendly.
“I love pizza,” Brown writes, “and when I was pregnant with my son, I loved it even more. Then, when Quest was maybe about 2 or 3 years old, I realized his love for pizza was almost like mine had been. And then one day he asked for pineapple on his pizza, and I got super excited about it because that’s something I love, and you know most kids only just want plain cheese. Ever since that day, whenever I make his cheese pizza, I add pineapple.”
FYI, Brown abides by the measure-with-your-heart rule of cooking, so you won’t find measurements in her recipe. Never fear: You really don’t need ’em.
From Cooking from the Spirit by Tabitha Brown. Copyright © 2022 by Tabitha Brown. Reprinted by permission of William Morrow, an imprint of HarperCollins Publishers.
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Ingredients
Flatbread (use whatever looks good at the store, but read the label to confirm it’s vegan)
Your favorite vegan pasta sauce or pizza sauce
Vegan mozzarella cheese shreds
Sliced black olives
Sliced white mushrooms
Chopped fresh pineapple or canned pineapple packed in 100% juice, drained very well
Chopped red bell pepper
Sliced red onion
Fresh baby spinach
Garlic powder
Everything bagel seasoning (see note)
Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 450°F. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil or parchment paper.
2. Place the flatbread on the lined baking sheet and spread some sauce on top. I use a pastry brush because I like a thin layer of sauce, but put as much as you want because that’s your business. If you like a lot of sauce, you can use a spoon and spread more on top; there is no right or wrong.
3. Sprinkle a lot of or a little cheese on top. Add the olives, mushrooms, pineapple, bell pepper, onion and spinach, spreading the ingredients all across the surface of the pizza. Sprinkle the garlic powder and everything bagel seasoning on top, then add a few pinches of salt. If you want to, you can add a few more shreds of cheese on top to hold it all together.
4. Bake for about 10 minutes, then turn the broiler on high and broil for about 2 minutes to brown the veggies on top.
5. Take it out of the oven carefully—it’s hot! Use clean kitchen shears or scissors to cut into slices.
Note: Remember when using any seasoning that contains salt, don’t be heavy-handed!