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Vegan Walnut Meat for Pizza Topping

This is enough walnut meat to top 1 large pizza.
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Ingredients
  

  • 1/2 Cup Walnuts
  • 1/8 Cup Onion, diced (or 1/2 teaspoon onion powder)
  • 1 Clove Garlic, diced (or 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder)
  • 3/4 teaspoon Simply Organic "Pepper & More" (or 1/2 teaspoon black pepper + 1/8 teaspoon crushed red pepper)
  • 1/4 teaspoon Salt (or to taste)

Instructions
 

Prep 30 minutes to up to 1-2 days before:

  • Soak the walnuts (see notes about soaking).

When ready to prepare walnut meat:

  • Drain the walnuts in a colander & rinse well (discard the water the walnuts were soaked in).
  • In a small food processor or blender, pulse the walnuts until you have meat like crumbles (do not over process).
  • Cut a couple slices of an onion & dice small.
  • In a small skillet, over medium heat, sauté the onion in a few tablespoons of water until soft & translucent.
  • Add the diced garlic, and cook 1 minute until fragrant.
  • Add in the crumbled walnuts and remaining spices; stir well. Cook & stir for 4-5 minutes.
  • Add 2-3 more Tablespoons of water, turn down the heat to low, cover pan, and simmer for 5-10 minutes, stirring occasionally. (the walnut mixture does not really need to be cooked so this step could be skipped; however, I like the texture that steaming it covered for a few minutes gives the walnut meat).
  • Remove from stove & add to top of pizza; bake your pizza per normal instructions for the pizza recipe you are using. (I used my Pizza Dough recipe- link in post above)

Notes

Soaking & Prepping the walnuts:
  1. If you need the walnuts same day: place the walnuts in a bowl, cover with hot water, and leave it on the counter to soak for at least 30 minutes.
  2. To prep overnight or longer: place the walnuts in a bowl or glass jar, cover with cold water, cover with a lid, and place in refrigerator overnight or up to 2 days. (My personal preference is to limit the soaking to 1 day max).  
  3. When ready to use the soaked walnuts: 
    1. Drain the water & rinse the walnuts in a colander.  (Discard the soaking water; do not use it as cooking water).
    2. Pulse the walnuts in a food processor until you have meat like crumbles.
    3. Do not over process the walnuts or you will end up with walnut butter. 
 
For the Onion & Garlic: 
  1.  I tend to make small amounts of my recipes, so I rarely use a full onion.  
  2.  Once you slice off what you need for this recipe, the remaining onion can be stored in the refrigerator in a sealed container for up to 5 days. 
  3. Plastic will absorb the scent of the onion, so I usually use a glass-lock container to store my leftover onion once cut. 
  4. You can also chop the extra onion, add to a ziplock bag or glass-lock container & freeze it for longer storage.
  5. If you don't want to use fresh onion & garlic (or don't have it on hand)- you can also use 1/2 teaspoon of onion powder & 1/2 teaspoon of garlic powder in place of the fresh.