Vegan Caramelized Onion and Fennel Pizza
Sweet, savory, complicated, and appealing, this fennel pizza with caramelized onions and soft vegan cheese is a delightful way to transform the fennel bulb. The mushrooms, caramelized onions, and fennel together are almost reminiscent of a sausage pizza in flavor, although much less greasy, way better tasting, and much better for the earth.
Skip the Post, Jump to the Recipe!
The Challenges of a CSA (Community Supported Agriculture)
My sister is given access through her work to a CSA’s leftover veggies, and gives me the vegetables since she is less a fan of cooking than I am (I always make sure to cook her food in return). The wonderful yet challenging part of a CSA, is that vegetables often come in large quantities as they come into season, leaving you to try and think of as many ways to eat a particular piece of produce as possible. This week, springing into season, was the green, spikey fennel.
Fennel is one of those vegetables I am never quite sure how to handle. It has a strong and sort of bitter licorice flavor- and since I’ve never been a fan of licorice in candy form, its even harder to be into it in a vegetable format. The fact that I tend to associate the licorice/fennel flavor with sweet foods presents an even bigger challenge. But as is the style of the CSA, you need to be quick on your feet- if you’re in a similar situation, you can also check out my apple and fennel appetizers!
What is Fennel?
In some ill-lit corner of your grocery store produce section, you may run into the spikey, bulbus, light green and while bulk with feathery fronds that is fennel. Sometimes called anise (although this is not accurate), it contains anethole, an essential oil reminiscent of black licorice. It is low in calories, high in fiber, potassium, calcium, and vitamin A (find more detailed nutritional information here). It has been used medicinally throughout history, as well as a protective factor against evil, and an appetite suppressant. I’m not sure about that last one though- this fennel pizza sure didn’t help to suppress my appetite!
Looking for Fennel Recipes? Try one of these!
- Spring Salad: Fennel and Dandelion Leaf Recipe
- Vegan Mung Bean Dal Fennel Frond Recipe
- Fennel and Apple Salad in Belgian Endive Cups
- Turmeric Ginger Yuba Noodles Soup
- Seitan-Based Vegan Zucchini Meatballs
Looking for Pizza? Try one of these recipes!
- Bouquet of Roses Beet & Radish Salad Pizza
- Simple Buckwheat Pizza Dough
- Crispy Kale White Vegan Pizza with Mushrooms
- Arugula Topped Mushroom Flatbreads
- Vegan Black Trumpet Mushroom and Leek Pizza
- Vegan Pumpkin Pizza with Kale
- The Best Vegan Mac and Cheese Pizza Recipe
How to Make Vegan Fennel Pizza
I decided to try and use fennel on a pizza, with other foods that toe the line between sweet and savory. After thinking about the ingredients, I had, and those I thought would go well, I decided on a mild cashew cheese, golden caramelized onions, and mushrooms sautéed in white wine. A quick note on pizza dough- I have sometimes used a premade one from Trader Joe’s, just because it’s fairly cheap and saves me a few minutes of cleaning flour off the counters. Feel free to do the same or make your own- there are many recipes on the internet, most of which are vegan (Including my Buckwheat Pizza Crust!).
The key to making this pizza great is in pre-cooking the ingredients. Roast the fennel to soften it’s flavor, caramelize the onions to get the most sweetness out of them, and sauté the mushrooms in wine to elevate their mushroomy goodness. To get a good cashew cream, make sure to boil your cashews for at least 10 minutes (although longer won’t hurt!) before blending.
Vegan Caramelized Onion and Fennel Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 batch of pizza dough, homemade or store bought
- 2 small onions, sliced into half moons
- 1 large fennel bulb, cut into thin slices
- 5 cloves of garlic, gently crushed
- 5 cremini mushrooms, sliced
- ¼ cup white wine
- 1 tsp of thyme, divided
- 1 cup cashews
- 1/2 lemon, juiced
- 1 tbsp. nutritional yeast
- Salt, pepper and oil as needed
Instructions
- Place the cashews in a pot of water and bring to a boil. Boil for at least 10 minutes, at set aside.
- Preheat the oven to 400 degrees. On a baking pan, toss the fennel in a little olive oil, some salt, the 5 cloves of garlic, and ½ tsp. of dried thyme. Roast the fennel for 20 minutes until they have started to brown. Set the fennel aside, and remove the garlic (this will go in the cashew cheese). Set the oven to 425.
- In the meantime, begin to caramelize onions by cooking with a little oil on medium-high heat, stirring every couple minutes. Cook for around 30 minutes, lowering the heat and adding a little salt so they become caramelized and not burnt. Cook until they are soft, golden and slightly sweet tasting. Set aside.
- In a small sauce pan, heat 1 tsp of oil on high and add the mushrooms along with ½ tsp. of thyme. Cook for about 2 minutes before pouring in ¼ cup of white wine cook, stirring often, until all the wine has been evaporated. Season with salt and pepper, and set aside.
- Drain the cashews and place in a blender with the 5 cloves of roasted garlic, lemon juice, ¼ cup water, and salt and pepper, to taste. Blend until smooth- you might have to stop and scrape down the sides a few times as the mixture will be quite thick.
- Stretch the pizza dough onto a pan- you might need a little oil on the bottom. Assemble the pizza by first adding a thin layer of cashew cheese, next the onions and mushrooms. Top it off with the crispy fennel and add spots of the remaining cheese
- Bake the pizza at 425 degrees for 15-20 min, until the bottom of the crust is hard and slightly golden.
Like this post? Pin it!
2 thoughts on “Vegan Caramelized Onion and Fennel Pizza”