Vegan Pesto and Cream Cheese Pizza Recipe (Quick, Easy and Frugal)

A delicious vegan pizza awaits!

Tonight's Meal:  A delicious vegan pesto cream cheese pizza with pineapple and olives. 

Since I live a short walk from Trader Joes, many of my scrumptious recipes are made with ingredients from TJ's.  However, that does not mean that you can not make these recipes without setting hoof into Trader Joe's.  For example, the pizza dough can be from any store, or it can be your very own recipe.  There are a lot of good recipes for vegan pizza dough on the internet, but before you leave my site, take a look at this amazingly simple and delicious recipe.

What I really like about this one is that it's insanely quick and it's big enough to share with one or two people.  You do not need to spend hours making a great pizza, and you can create something tasty for a fraction of what delivery costs.  So, let's get our hands dirty in the kitchen.

Ingredients:

• Pizza dough.  I use Trader Joe's whole wheat, but you can use what you want.
• Pesto.  It's hard to find vegan pesto, but it exists.  Grocery outlet sells the stuff I get, and there's no cheese or fish in it.
• Crushed tomatoes
• Toppings (I used olives and pineapple, mushrooms are great too)
• Trader Joe's vegan cream cheese spread (or any other brand)

Vegan pesto!

Trader Joe's vegan cream cheese spread.

A truly delicious pizza.

To make this pizza, just roll out the dough and put it in the oven at the temperature specified.  I like to cook mine for about 5 minutes before adding the toppings so that the dough does not become wet.  When I take the dough out of the oven I spread some cream cheese alternative all over the dough and then add the pesto.  On top of the pesto goes the sauce, and then the toppings.  This pizza is more like a Chicago style deep dish.  There is no cheese on top, but you can add some if you wish. 

Finish baking in the oven and take out.  Let sit for a couple of minutes to cool, cut and serve.  The pizza goes great with a glass of sparking water mixed with a small amount of the left over juice from the pineapple.  Enjoy!

Cost: Under $6, serves 2-3 or 4 with a side salad.