Here we are – I’ve been meaning to try out these recipes for awhile and so decided Christmas Day was  the perfect occasion.  The Raw Pizza and Cheesecake recipe are from Christine Bailey’s book: The Raw Food Diet  and the Banana Bread recipe is from:  www.nouveauraw.com

RAW PIZZA

You will need to make the crust in advance.

• 1 cup sunflower seeds (soaked 4 hours, rinsed and drained)
• 1 cup ground flaxseed
• 2 carrots, chopped
• 1 TB dried oregano
• 1TB olive oil

Place the sunflower seeds in a food processor and process to form a fine flour.  Place in a bowl with the flaxseeds.

Place the remaining ingredients and 1/2 cup of water in the food processor and process until smooth.

Pour the puree into the seeds, mix well and rest for 15 minutes before using.

Spread the dough into a thin circle on a non-stick sheet placed on a baking tray, or dehydrator tray.  Place in the dehydrator at 115 F (or oven on its lowest setting with door ajar) for 4-6 hours.

Remove and add toppings: spread a layer of sun-dried tomato paste over the base.  Top with your favourite vegeatables, nut cheese and drizzle with pesto.  Place back into the dehydrator, or cool oven for 2-3 hours before serving.  Scatter with rocket leaves to serve.

Sun-Dried Tomato Sauce : 3 ripe tomatoes, 1/2 red onion (chopped), 1/3 cup sun-dried tomatoes (chopped), 1/2 cup pitted dates, 1 TB apple cider vinegar, 2 TB tamari soy sauce.

Blitz all the ingredients in a blender until smooth.

Basil Pesto: 1 cup basil leaves, 1/2 cup soaked & drained sunflower seeds, 4-6 TB extra virgin olive oil, 1/4 tsp sea salt, 1 minced garlic clove, 2 tsp lemon juice

Blitz all the ingredients in a blender until smooth.

RASPBERRY CHEESECAKE

Crust: 

• heaped 3/4 cup cashew nuts
• 1 cup shredded coconut
• pinch sea salt
• 2 TB agave syrup
• 3 TB lemon juice
• 1 TB melted coconut butter

Make the crust by grinding the nuts and coconut in a blender until finely chopped. Stir in the remaining ingredients – adding a little water if needed to bind it into a dough.  Press into an 8 inch springform cake tin.  Freeze while you make the filling.

Filling:

• 1 & 2/3 cup soaked & drained cashew nuts
• 1/2 cup coconut butter
• juice of 1/2 lemon
• zest of 2 oranges
• juice of 4 oranges
• pinch sea salt
• 1 tsp vanilla extract
• 3 TB coconut sugar
• 2 punnets fresh raspberries

Blend one punnet of raspberries with all the other ingredients in a blender until smooth.  Pour half the filling over your crust.  Dot with half the raspberries from your second punnet and then top with remaining filling.  Freeze at least 2 hours.  Move to fridge to thaw 1 hour before serving – top with remaining raspberries and grated chocolate.

RAW BANANA BREAD TOAST STICKS

From: http://www.nouveauraw.com  This website is great with lots of inspiring ideas…

• 2 cups moist almond pulp (I soaked the almonds overnight and ground them moist and that worked fine)
• 3 large mashed bananas
• 2 TB ground flax seeds
• 1/2 cup water
• 1/4 cup agave syrup
• 1 tsp ground cinnamon
• 1/4 tsp sea salt
• 1 cup raisins (I used cranberries)
• 1 cup crushed walnuts or pecans

Combine the almond pulp, bananas, water, agave, cinnamon, salt, ground flax and raisins.  Mix well with 1/2 crushed walnuts.

Spread the batter 1/4 inch thick on the teflex sheets that come with the dehydrator (or used baking paper).  Square off the edges and score into squares, or sticks.  Sprinkle the remaining walnuts on top.  Dehydrate @ 115 F for 4-6 hours – flip over and continue for another 4 hours, or until you’ve reached the dryness you want.

Store in an airtight container for 5-7 days.  This is delicious straight out of the dehydrator, or oven if you are using that method.

Enjoy 🙂