Last week I was craving pizza! Rather than go out and get some, I wanted to challenge myself to make it on my own and I also needed to use up some things in the fridge. I have purchased pre-made crusts in the past, but they’re never as good as homemade and they have all the extra pesky packaging. Trying to avoid purchasing pre-made things if I can make them from scratch at home and to get more on board with the low-waste vegan living, but some things you just have to buy at the store (ie. most vegan cheese – although, I can make a mean cashew cheese myself).
The dough is so easy to make and you have so many variations with toppings. Next time I think I’ll try a buffalo, pesto, or barbeque base! I split the dough into two portions, so I had one pizza one day and a different type the next – which explains the two different outfits haha.
Dough:
-1 package (2 ¼ tsp) active dry yeast
-1 cup warm water
-1 tbsp sugar
-2 tbsp olive oil
-2 cups all-purpose flour (plus more as needed)
Day 1 Pizza
-1/2 of dough
-2/3 cup tomato sauce
-3/4 cup vegan cheese shreds
-1/3 cup corn
-1/3 cup broccoli florets (steamed)
-3 cloves garlic (minced)
-Garlic salt to taste
Day 2 Pizza
-1/2 of dough
-2/3 cup tomato sauce
-3 slices vegan mozzarella
-1 vine tomato (diced)
-1/4 cup corn
-1/4 cup onion (diced)
-4 cloves garlic (minced)
-Handful of basil leaves
-Garlic salt to taste
Dough:
1. Combine the yeast, warm water, and sugar in a large mixing bowl and allow mixture to rest for about 5 minutes.
2. Add the olive oil, flour, and salt adding more flour as needed to make for soft pizza dough. The dough should be a little sticky but not overly gooey and you should be able to work with it with your hands. If it is too gooey, add more flour.
3. On a lightly floured surface, kneed the dough for 5-10 minutes. Once completed, put the dough into a greased bowl and let sit in a warm place for an hour. During this time, the dough should rise quite a bit.
4. Once the dough has risen, take out of bowl and kneed again on a floured surface. Cut dough in half and save half for later.
Pizza:
1. Preheat oven to 500 degrees. Sautee veggies and fix-ins in a lightly greased pan and add water as needed in 1 tsp -1 tbsp increments.
2. As toppings are cooking, prepare the base of your pizza. Roll and flatten half of dough into your desired shape on your pizza pan or tray. Add tomato sauce and sprinkle cheese evenly on top of pizza. You can add any toppings or seasonings that don’t need to be sautéed separately now (ie. basil)
3. Once toppings have been sufficiently cooked, spread over pizza and pop in the oven for 25-35 minutes or until crust is golden brown.
4. Add any additional seasonings you may want (ie. garlic salt, red pepper, vegan grated parmesan), slice, and enjoy!
