Dad’s Favorite Vegetarian Pesto, Squash, and Sunflower Seed Pizza

This pizza is absolutely packed with flavor from the pesto and fresh summer vegetables, and the crunchy texture from the sunflower seeds takes it over the top! If I was lucky enough to get a slice of this pizza I’d gobble it up in a mere minute!

Since my dad was diabetic he couldn’t always eat the foods we ate. This pizza was his substitution for the normal pizzas we ate but oh man it tastes so much better than a basic cheese and pep pizza! Since it was filled with summer vegetables it was more filling than most pizzas and with it’s outrageous flavor, you didn’t need to eat too many slices to feel truly satisfied.

I absolutely abhorred cooked vegetables as a kid so this was the rare cooked veggie recipe that I actually looked forward to. In my childhood naivety I thought that cooked vegetables were only for adults. Raw vegetables were an entirely different matter, I ate summer tomatoes like apples, just adding a bit of salt to that beautiful ruby fruit.

I think the pesto is the killer here (just like any other recipe with pesto), it is just the best combo of ingredients: basil for that herby flavor, parmesan for that briny saltiness, and pine nuts for that buttery-but-not-butter creaminess you can only get from nuts! Jarred is the way to go for this one because dang pine nuts are expensive!

Although the pesto is such a star here, what really sets this apart from other pesto and veggie pizzas is the addition of sunflower seeds. It adds such a crunch to the pizza and the texture just really makes this whole pizza come together in a different way! Do not skimp out on the sunflower seeds! Also, they are cheap so there is not excuse not to get them. I get mine from a bulk store which makes them even cheaper since I only get what I need instead of buying for a larger pre-packaged bag.

Since I’m not bold enough to make my own pizza dough, I use a store bought one. It makes it easier to whip this up and I’m 100% okay with that short cut. I included mozzarella in the ingredient list because sometimes I like pizza with a bit of gooey cheesiness but you could totally “forget” to add it in and this pizza would still be delicious. Mozzarella adds that classic cheese pull, but the real flavor comes from all the other ingredients.

As an adult I serve a simple salad on the side and some white wine to make this into a utterly perfect summer time meal. If you wanna go super Romanian, just serve it next to a simple but delicious tomato salad (think tomatoes, a lil’ oil, splash of vinegar, and lots of salt and pepper). I really hope you take time to try out this pizza because it might just become your favorite as well!