For some time now, the great British chef, famous for masterful meat dishes, has been saying that he wants to give the vegan diet, which has been gaining popularity in London, a shot in the arm. A chance that, in his Street Pizza, turned into a vegan recipe with eggplant and herb pesto.
The pizza
Sir Gordon Ramsay has made his fortune as a great chef of classic French cuisine, handling lamb loin and Wellington-style filets. For some time, however, he has been open about vegetarianism, even claiming to be a member of PETA. In the meantime, he has diversified his business in every direction, even catering to the growing segment of so-called “meat reducers,” those who, without adopting strict dietary regimens, simply cut down on animal protein.
This resulted in, among other things, a vegan pizza recipe served in his Street Pizza, which caused no small amount of discussion. Embedded in a bottomless formula (sort of all-you-can-eat including a fixed-price tasting, with side dish of salad, olives and dried fruit), it is prepared with eggplant practically burned in the Josper, a charcoal oven, and topped with a cheese-free pesto.
GORDON RAMSAY'S VEGAN PIZZA
Ingredients
- The type of dough you prefer to make at home or 1 package of pizza dough
- 118 ml of tomato sauce
- 10 g of toasted pine nuts
- 10 g of flour
- 10 g of semolina
- 10 ml olive oil
To make the pesto
- 10 g basil
- 10 g of wild garlic
- 10 g parsley
- 10 g toasted pine nuts
- 30 ml extra virgin olive oil
- 10 ml cooking oil
- Salt and pepper
For the roasted eggplant
- 2 large eggplants
- 5 g basil
- 5 g mint
- 5 g parsley
- ¼ lemon (the juice)
- 20 ml olive oil
- Salt and pepper
Preheat the oven to 240 °C. Meanwhile, chop all the eggplant herbs and mix them with extra virgin olive oil and lemon juice.
Prick the eggplants and place them on a baking sheet in the oven. Bake them for 20 minutes, turning every 5 minutes so they are evenly toasted, then remove and transfer to a bowl. Cover with plastic wrap so that the heat will distribute.
After 20 minutes, remove from the bowl, being careful of the heat, and cube. Season with herbs and olive oil, season with salt and pepper, and let cool.
For the pesto, leaf the herbs. Combine all ingredients except salt and pepper in blender and blend until a uniform paste is obtained. Season.
Roll out the pizza base with your hands on a surface dusted with flour and semolina, then transfer it to the 30-cm baking pan.
Spread tomato sauce and 100 g of diced eggplant. Place in the oven heated to 220 °C for 8-12 minutes, until golden brown. Scatter toasted pine nuts and 20 g pesto on top. Brush the edges with oil and serve.
Gordon Ramsay's recipe website
