Recipe: Artichoke lover's pizza! Or: my new favorite pizza!

For the Zesty ricotta:

1/2 cup raw cashews

juice from 1 1/2 lemons

2 garlic cloves

2 tablespoons olive oil

1 lb tofu

10 leaves of basil (or more if you want it really basil-y)

1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes

1 1/2 teaspoons salt

Other ingredients:

whole wheat pizza dough (you could use any type, but the whole wheat really compliments this pie; I use Trader Joe's)

Wildwood aioli (you could probably use a homemade aioli or even Veganaise, but if you can use Wildwood's I'd recommend it)

Artichoke Antipasto (Trader Joe's)

marinated artichoke hearts (again, I used Trader Joe's)

onion (one or two slices, chopped)

black olives (sliced)

1 strip Yves Canadian Bacon, chopped into little pieces

olive oil for pan

flour for rolling out dough

Preheat oven to 450. Spread a THIN coat of oil over your pan. Roll out dough on floured surface. Move dough to pan, and set it aside to rise while you make the ricotta.

In a food processor, blend the cashew, lemon juice, garlic, and oil until it is smooth. Add tofu, and blend again. Add basil, flakes, and salt, and blend a final time. OMG, so good already! (You will probably have a bit left over which can be used on baked ziti or any other pasta dish, toast, or as a sandwich spread.)

Spread a THIN layer of aioli on the dough (I used under 1/4 of a cup). Next spread another thin layer of Artichoke Antipasto on top. Gently spread about 1/4 to 1/2 of the ricotta on top (careful, it gets kinda tricky!) and sprinkle on remaining ingredients to desired amount. Less is more with toppings, because the sauce and cheese have a very rich savory flavor on their own, plus, too many toppings will weigh down your pizza and effect how it cooks. Bake for about 20 minutes, checking after 12 or 15 (it will vary on your dough, amount of toppings, and oven; the dough I used said 8-10 minutes, but I needed 20).

Slice, and enjoy!