Tag: vegan pizza

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Food Blog Vegan MoFo

#VeganMoFo Day 21: Fancy Ingredients 4 Less!

At the market this week, a mushroom vendor was selling bags of “discolored” (but actually terribly perfect and photogenic, tbh) trumpet mushrooms, 2 lbs for $12.

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Okay, great, but what the hell am I gonna do with two fucking pounds of mushrooms?!

Well, one idea was to make them into faux bacon strips with olive oil, soy sauce, and liquid smoke, then roasted for like 40 minutes until dark brown and a bit crispy.

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That was PRETTY GREAT, if I do say so. But something that salty and smoky needs to be contrasted with equally string flavors.

So. Pizza. Pizza with… Umm… Peaches! And to round that out, fresh thyme, almond ricotta, and a quick sauce of plum tomato and minced shallot.

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That’s bright and sharp looking, yeah?

Bakes for just 10 minutes at 500°F on a stone.

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The crust and ricotta browned a bit, and the peaches just started to caramelize. The crust was crisp without being cracker-like (I would make a bad Italian) so I could fold a slice and get salty, sweet, creamy, smoky, and crunchy all in one bite. Mmmmm.

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Food Blog Vegan MoFo

#VeganMoFo Day 5: I Don’t Believe in an Interventionist Veganism

But I know, darling, that you do.

Seriously, though – making a lifestyle change based on one meal is a bit much to ask. So maybe let’s focus on that thin pie slice of maybe-could-be-vegan-but… sorts. You know, the ones who say things like “But I love cheese too much.” Yes, I realize that’s tomorrow’s prompt. So let’s refocus on the pie metaphor and make a goddamn delicious vegan pizza.

I’ve made a lot of vegan pizzas over the years, trying to find what works, because I cannot with the options available at pizza restaurants. (How sad! I really did eat a lot of omni pizza in my youth…) The key thing is getting used to pizza without the chewy, melty layer of cheese–DAIYA DOES NOT COUNT, ICK–and somehow giving it that rich, salty, yummy thing that omni pizza has in spades. The key, I’ve found, is that things must be pre-cooked–spinach sauteed, especially–and olive oil generously applied. Seasoning is critical. Best toppings include mushrooms, spinach, well-spiced crumbled tempeh, artichoke hearts, and cherry tomatoes. But, if I’m honest, my version of a deep-dish pie piled with vegan staples isn’t going to calm the culinary nerves of a soy-phobic non-vegan.

This might.

America’s Test Kitchen, bastion of omnivorous home cooking, came out with a brilliant vegan cookbook this year, Vegan for Everybody. They applied their nigh-scientific methodology to a full slate of vegan cooking techniques, including ricotta subs (cashew, tofu, cauliflower, etc.). And one of its applications is this gorgeous mushroom pizza: sauteed cremini AND shiitake mushrooms, garlic, a really good homemade whole wheat crust, cashew ricotta, and parsley. Simple, but delicious and substantial. It feels fancy. And it might help change a mind or two: Hey, maybe this could be OK.

Served with salad. Because vegans gotta vegan.

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Food Blog Vegan MoFo

#VeganMoFo Day 6: There, There, Have Some Pizza

Since going vegan, I’ve taken time to develop my own take on pizza that doesn’t require cheese. I miss real, melted, pizza cheese – Daiya and its ilk DO NOT work for me – so I had to re-work what makes pizza “yummy” to me altogether.

A few things I’ve figured out:

Need a protein. Faux sausage/seitan is good, but seasoned tempeh crumbles are often even better: I dice up a package of tempeh, simmer it in a shallow bath of broth, soy sauce, wine or wine vinegar, red pepper flakes, oregano, fennel seeds, and lemon zest, then mash it and let it brown a bit with olive oil.

Sauce is simple. Usually I just put a little bit of tomato puree directly on the rolled-out crust – a tablespoon or two, it should be a thin layer – plus microplaned garlic. I’ll add herbs/spices if they aren’t in whatever layer goes on top, but with tempeh, I don’t think it’s necessary.

Greens are a must, but they should be sauteed first.

Nooch is good; nooch ground up with nuts/needs (almonds, hemp) is better.

Homemade pizza dough isn’t nearly as hard as it used to be. But if you haven’t gotten the hang of it, TJ’s and Whole Foods sell dough in baggies that works great.

Anyway, for today’s prompt, I made pizza with homemade whole wheat sourdough crust, tempeh sausage crumbles, wilted arugula, chopped artichoke hearts, and a generous sprinkling of nooch-hemp-almond “parmesan.” Lord, it was delicious. I honestly do not miss the cheese.

Good homemade pizza makes me so pleased. And I can be extra happy that it’s thanks to my own effort, and not something I can get in a restaurant.

“I don’t know about you, but I take comfort in that.”

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Food Blog

Homemade whole wheat sourdough pizza with tomatoes, pepitas, baby chard, cremini mushrooms, and shallots.

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Food Blog

Baby kale, delicata squash, thinly sliced beets, hemp seeds, tomato sauce with lemon zest and garlic

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Food Blog

Anatomy of a vegan pizza

1 part whole wheat pizza dough

1 part roasted cauliflower pesto spread*

1 part pan-roasted chickpeas**

1 part chopped wilted spinach

4 asparagus spears, cut into 1″ pieces

sprinkling of hemp seeds and nutritional yeast

Bake for 15 minutes at 475 degrees F.

* Roasted cauliflower pesto spread: Rough chop about two cups of cauliflower florets (I had five little ones) and toss with olive oil and a pinch of salt. Roast for 20 minutes at 400 degrees (toaster oven is perfect for this). Pour into a Vitamix with garlic (used the bulb from a stalk of green garlic), handful of torn basil leaves, some nutritional yeast, a few splashes of white wine vinegar, and water to get things moving and blend until bright green and creamy.

** Pan-roasted chickpeas: Minced green garlic stalk, diced tomato, and a little bit of red pepper flakes get cozy in a shallow pool of olive oil in a saute pan until the tomatoes start to disintegrate. Then dump in a can of chickpeas (drained, of course) and stir to coat. Try to get the chickpeas to toast a bit. Eventually add a splash of vinegar and some nutritional yeast, stir again, and spread out over pesto-covered pizza dough.

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Food Blog

Smokehouse chickpeas and greens from Salad Samurai as pizza

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Food Blog None Vegan MoFo

Fresh San Marzano tomato sauce, tempeh sausage crumble, wilted kale, and cherry tomatoes pizza. Needs a fork. Yum yum.

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Food Blog None Vegan MoFo

Tempeh sausage pizza with fresh heirloom tomato sauce and onions and peppers with a simple side salad

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Food Blog None Vegan MoFo

Super-green pesto pizza and rainbow salad

I’ve been meaning to make Isa’s green lasagna for a while now, but I’m short on lasagna noodles today. I do, however, have a bag of whole wheat pizza dough–for everything I’ll make from scratch like it’s no big deal, I can’t be bothered with anything yeasty–and figured the same ingredients would do well in that format. I am not convinced I’m wrong.

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Of course, that’s a bit rich–needs something crisp, cool, and tangy to accompany it. Like a salad. Easy peasy. No magic here, just a julienne peeler and stuff from the market.

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And put it all together…I’m a happy camper.

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