Homemade Pizza
Pizza has long been one of my favorite foods. Since going vegan,ordering pizza out has been less satisfying. Sure I can order it without cheese and there’s even one pizza place that offers vegan cheese, but here’s the truth: I like my own homemade pizza better. It’s a lot less expensive to make too.
Kale, mushroom and onion pizza
Depending on your perspective, homemade pizza may sound like a difficult undertaking, but I assure you it’s not, and the more often you make it the easier it becomes. I don’t even have to look at my crust recipe anymore; I’ve memorized it.
Fresh tomato, cubanel pepper and mushroom pizza.
So let’s get started. For the crust you can buy pre-made dough, and there’s no shame in this, but once again, I like my homemade version better. I use this recipe: 12-inch Pizza Crust Recipe. Recently I’ve been cutting calories so I’ve omitted the tablespoon of oil, and it comes out fine. The only oil I add is a little drizzle of extra virgin olive oil to cover the dough before I set it aside to rise. That’s another thing: the recipe says vegetable oil, and you can use that if that’s all you have, but I recommend using extra virgin olive oil. It only makes a slight difference, but a tasty one.
Field Roast sausage and green pepper pizza
Although the recipe calls for all-purpose flour you can substitute whole wheat *pastry* flour. If you use whole wheat bread flour, the crust will be chewier and heftier, and you might want to reduce the baking time by a few minutes.. I’m very partial to using whole wheat pastry flour for my pizza crusts.
Mushroom, sun-dried tomato and cilantro pizza
You can be creative with the topping. For a more traditional pizza I used diced tomatoes (from a can) drained, mixed with a few cloves of crushed garlic. If you have some other kind of tomato sauce you enjoy (even from a jar) go ahead and use it. Then you can sprinkle on some cheese. Since I’m all about ease and convenience I’m partial to Daiya shreds. I buy bags of them when they’re on sale and store them in my freezer.
Artichoke and broccoli pizza
You can top with just about whatever vegetables you like. In the summertime it’s fun to top the pizza with whatever is new at the farmers’ market that week. I’ve made pizza with asparagus, broccoli, kale, mushrooms, caramelized onions, peppers and let’s not forget, fresh from the farmers’ market tomatoes. I’ve also used canned artichokes hearts, Field Roast sausage, and marinated sundried tomatoes. (Tip: add sun-dried tomatoes for only the last five minutes of baking so they don’t char.)
Mushroom and onion pizza with fresh and sundried tomatoes, sprinkled with some parsley
Bake at 400-425 degrees for about 20 minutes. Enjoy your pizza.
Fresh tomato pizza
This is a fabulous post that salutes the pizza. I made a one last weekend, unfortunately I did not take a picture and scoffed it down with my husband. It was vegetarian but topped off with home-made vegan chorizo. It was dleicious and hubby asked why I don’t make them often. I love all your variations, but the broc and artichoke wins. I will have to try out your pizza base recipe. Thanks for sharing.