Vegan Chickn Pot Pie Pizza

I used to love chicken pot pie when I was growing up. Marie Calendar's especially. Savory pies are a huge passion of mine, I really love to make vegan shepherd's pie, pot pies, "meat" pies, handhelds and minis, heart-shaped pies, specialty pies, and even dessert pies when the mood strikes me. Pizzas are easy and my guy seems to enjoy them a bit more than the pot pies. Also, since everything I make is gluten-free, a pizza is also a bit healthier than a pot pie. So, I thought it would be fitting to make a pot pie pizza, vegan gluten-free.

Upon discovering Beyond Meat's chicken strips and Quorn's new vegan chik'n cutlets, I knew I could make a chickn pot pie pizza that would satisfy my cravings.

The Build:

Gluten-free pizza crust, topped with a creamy chickn pot pie filling, topped with vegan chickn pieces, and herbs.

The Ingredients:

1 1/2 cups and 2 tablespoons Namaste Foods Pizza Crust Flour Mix

1 teaspoon oil (I like Safflower)

1 1/2 cups water

1/2 onion, chopped

1/4 carrot, peeled and chopped

1/4 cup celery, chopped

kosher salt and freshly ground black pepper (to taste)

6 sprigs of fresh thyme, leaves only, chopped finely

2 cups plain soy or plain almond milk (unsweetened)

2 tablespoons of Better Than Boullion vegetable base

1/4 cup frozen peas

2 Quorn Vegan Chik'n Cutlets, diced up (or Beyond Meat's Lightly Seasoned Chicken Strips)

1 tablespoon Braggs liquid aminos

1/4 cup The Original Almond Garlic Herb Style Cheese, finely sliced

1 small handful of parsley, chopped finely (for finishing)

The Instructions:

Preheat the oven to 450, and begin making the pizza dough. Grab a pizza pan or any lipped baking pan/sheet (make sure it has a tiny lipped edge), and spray with non-stick spray. I like Spectrum Naturals Coconut Spray. Combine 1 1/2 cups of the gluten-free flour with 1 tsp oil and 1 1/4 cups of water, and beat with either an electric mixer or with a whisk (using your strong arms). Beat until it resembles cake batter, and there are no lumps. Scrape the batter onto the pan, about 14 inches wide/long and no more than about 1/4" thick. Bake for 20 minutes on lowest rack in oven. Then, take pizza crust out of oven.

In a medium sized skillet, saute onion, carrot and celery for about 5 minutes or until vegetables begin to soften. Season with salt and pepper, and 1 teaspoon of thyme. Add in your non-dairy milk and whisk in the remaining two tablespoons of pizza dough flour until flour is incoporated and sauce begins to thicken. Add in the 2 tablespoons of Better Than Boullion veggie base, stir until mixed in. Add in peas, and turn heat off. You want the thickness of this sauce to be like gravy.

In a separate pan, saute the diced Quorn cutlets with Braggs and maybe a tiny bit of water. Cook until Quorn starts to turn golden brown in pan. Remove from pan, and set aside.

When pizza crust is done, pull out of oven, and spoon the pot pie sauce onto pizza crust until all of crust is thoroughly coated with stuff, but not overflowing. We don't want soup pizza (you may have leftovers). Note: If your crust bubbles up in the oven, just poke holes in it, and smoosh it down as you spoon your pot pie filling onto the crust. After your filling is evenly distributed, place an evenly distributed amount of the Quorn cutlet pieces all over the pizza, and the thinly sliced pieces of almond cheese. Pop back into the oven for another 15 minutes or so. Remove from oven and garnish with parsley and remaining thyme. Enjoy!