Puff pastry pizzas

I used to make homemade pizza dough in my sleep. Not so much these days! So, for dinner tonight I used puff pastry and made two different kinds of pizza. The first is pear, potato, pesto and shallots. We used to get this pizza when we lived in Eugene, Oregon, from a restaurant called Pizza Research Institute. They have amazing, unique pizza. The second is more traditional with tomato sauce, roasted zucchini, red pepper, red onion, mushrooms and some vegan chorizo. Both were fantastic.

Sausage and Mushroom Pizza

I had such a craving for pizza today. When I was young, we would order pizza almost every week. I don't feel guilty about eating this pizza though! I used spelt flour for the crust and loaded a ton of veggies including yellow peppers, red onion, mushrooms, and sun dried tomatoes. I used a boxed tomato sauce and made a batch of Seitan Chorizo Crumbles. I also added black olives.

And finally, I added a few slices of this cheese alternative, broken up into bits and spread out over the crust. It melted and added a really nice, tangy flavor.

Thai Chick*n Pizza

Last time I was at Ganefryd, an organic grocery store here in Aarhus, I found frozen Sesame Chick*n nuggets. My original plan was to top a salad off with them but then decided to get a bit more creative. We are having a good friend stay with us this weekend (I think she is still a vegetarian too!!!!) and I wanted to have something easy and fun ready to eat when she arrived late in the evening. We also added two fantastic friends, David and Julia, to the mix. Julia helped prepare the pizza so I could take pictures!

Upon googling Sesame Chicken Pizza with no luck, I stumbled upon this Thai Chicken Pizza recipe. This "how to" video moves really quickly, but flashes the actual recipe for less than 5 seconds at the end, so be ready to pause it! The jist of the recipe is simple: crust, peanut sauce, chicken, veggies, peanuts, and cheese.

I made the crust from this recipe. It has a sweet flavor, is chewy on the inside and crisp on the outside. For the peanut sauce, I added equal parts of the following: agave, peanut butter, and soy sauce. Delish! Along with the Sesame Chick*n, I included red peppers, yellow squash, carrot, and green onion. I still had a ton of Black Sesame Parm leftover, so that was sprinkled on top.

To balance flavors out, and ensure enough pizza for all, I also prepared a second, more traditional pizza. I followed the same crust recipe mentioned above, minus the sugar, plus Italian seasonings. The sauce was a jar of spaghetti sauce and the pizza was topped with veggies, soy Chorizo, and black olives.

Veggie Lover's Pizza

This pizza was amazing!!! The crust was sweet because of the added sugar but spicy because I also added red pepper flakes. It was thick on the edges but thin in the middle. I pressed it out into a large, rectangular oven pan. I spread spaghetti sauce on the crust then spooned on the following chopped veggies: broccoli, cauliflower, onion, red, green, and yellow pepper, and mushrooms. I also added black olives. The veggies were seasoned with oregano, basil, thyme, red pepper flakes, salt and pepper, and a little olive oil. It baked at 425 for about 12 minutes. Here is the crust recipe that I followed. Instead of white flour, I used Durum.

Della Salute Cornmeal Crust Pizza

While living in Portland, John and I ordered pizza from Dove Vivi probably once per month. They have 2 vegan pizzas on the menu but will make their other pizzas vegan when requested. All pizzas are made with cornmeal crust. My mom visited us in Portland and we took her to Dove Vivi for dinner. Just a few weeks ago she asked me if I had ever tried to make the crust because she remembered how fantastic it was. The answer was no, until now!

I googled vegan cornmeal crust and found a ton of recipes. I chose the one with the least amount of oil and think that might have been a mistake! The crust had a nice flavor but was flat and a bit dry. I will not use this recipe again, but will keep searching for a balance of health and deliciousness!

I baked the pizza in a cast iron skillet, making it easy to shape. Unfortunately, I forgot the pan had been in the oven when I grabbed the handle. After tears and 5 minutes of soaking my hand in ice water, all was well!

Della Salute is the name of the pizza I copied. It has roasted eggplant, marinated green peppers, caramelized onions, mushrooms, tomato sauce, and herbed tofu ricotta.



For the eggplant, I sliced one eggplant and then cut the slices into four pieces. I let them sit in a sprinkle of salt for a while, then rinsed, mixed with a little olive oil, and roasted for about 20 minutes.

The green peppers were washed, sliced in half, seeds removed, and brushed with olive oil. They roasted until the skins were black and then they were put into a covered dish to "sweat" for a while. The skins then peeled off very easily, they were sliced into thin strips and marinated in olive oil, balsamic vinegar, salt and pepper.

I followed this recipe for caramelized onions.

The mushrooms were not pre-cooked, only sliced and added to the pizza before it was baked. I cheated on the pizza sauce and bought a box. The tofu ricotta is from the Vegan Home-style cookbook and a favorite for pizza, lasagna, pasta, anything!

Broccoli Chicken Alfredo Pizza

I had a ton of alfredo sauce left over from our gnocchi dinner and it is Friday night, so I thought it would be fun to rent movies, eat pizza, and make more milkshakes!

The pizza was not difficult. I made the dough early in the afternoon so it had time to rise and then sit in the refrigerator for a few hours. The recipe says to let it sit overnight but I did not have that kind of time! I only used half the dough for one large pizza.

When the dough was rolled out, I spread garlic butter over the entire surface. This garlic butter consisted of 4 garlic cloves sauteed in a few tablespoons of vegan margarine. Then, a layer of alfredo sauce, the broccoli and sliced chicken nuggets all lightly mixed together. Then a small additional layer of alfredo sauce mixed around and a sprinkle of fresh ground pepper.

Vegan Stromboli

I asked John what he wanted for dinner. He said something boring like roasted veggies, blah, blah. I asked him to challenge me so he requested Stromboli! First, I had to google it because I had no idea what it was. Secondly, it is not only an Italian dish, but a volcanic island. Good to know!
I made the pizza dough in the morning and let it sit in the fridge all day. I took it out while I was cooking the veggies to let it get room temp. The recipe that I followed is from a blog called Vegan Dad. It has become one of my favorites!
We ended up with 2 loafs of Stromboli but could have easily made 4. We overstuffed each one a bit making it more challenging to roll. Next time I will half the veggies and meat....or double the dough.
The only change I made to the recipe was substituting spinach for kale and vegan chicken nuggets for the seitan. I could not find vegan pepperoni or anything close but found a sausage-like product that sort of tasted like ham but was a perfect fit to the meal. I also forgot to put milk on before baking but it came out fine without it. We finished one of the loaves with ease and most of the second one! I can't believe I have lived 30 years without Stromboli in my life!

More Vegan Pizza!

We absolutely love the vegan cheese from Pizza Research Institute but our version never turns out quite the same. John called them to see if they would give up the secret....They said he would have to marry one of them first. I said I would keep trying to master it...and I think I have! Whew! This was a very hodge podge pizza but turned out very rich and hearty. I bought the crust from Capella and added a few tablespoons of fresh rosemary. The sauce was a recipe I veganized from allrecipes.com. Minus the anchovy paste, substituting homemade sesame Parmesan cheese and agave made it one of my favorite sauces to date! The toppings include Tofurky Italian Sausage, broccoli, mushrooms, red onions, all pre-sautéed in olive oil and balsamic vinegar. The cheese is Tofu Ricotta put through a blender and pureed.

P "cubed" Pizza

The "cubed" part refers to: Pears, Pesto, and roasted Potatoes. I was initially turned off by the concept of sweet pears on pizza. But my love of pesto, and because we had tried every other vegan pizza from Pizza Research Institute, gave me the urge to order it. And thank goodness I gave it a chance! The pears add so much to the pizza in a wonderful way. I was blown away at how amazing it all tasted together. Their vegan pesto and cheese make me know that becoming a vegan was such a fantastic choice for me! I miss out on nothing!

"Cheesy" Vegan Pizza

The dough was pre-made from Capella. It had rosemary mixed in so not only did it taste excellent, but the smell was wonderful while baking. The tomato sauce is a large can of diced tomatoes, onion and garlic powder, oregano, salt and pepper. The toppings include spinach and mushrooms sautéed in garlic, and artichoke hearts. The cheeses are homemade Tofu Ricotta and Creamy Mozzarella. We spread the dough out over an olive oil covered pizza pan with a sprinkle of corn meal, piled the sauce, cheese and toppings on and baked at 425 for about 20 minutes. It was as good as any vegan pizza we have ordered!

Creamy Mozzarella (from Vegan Homestyle)
2 c water
1 c cashews
1/2 c tahini
1/4 c nutritional yeast
1/4 t garlic powder
1 T arrowroot powder
1 T onion powder
1 T lemon juice
1 1/2 t salt
2 c water
Blend first 9 ingredients. Add remaining water. Place in saucepan and cook, stirring constantly until thickened.

Pizza Research Institute

This was actually our second vegan pizza from PRI. The first time we ordered the "Chef's Choice" which contained about 15 different fruits/veggies. John loved it. I did not care for the sweet flavor that the fruit contributed. This time, we ordered the olive, artichoke heart, and spinach pizza. When we got home from picking it up I dove right in and it only took one bite for me to taste the "never forgotten" flavor of cheese! There accidentally was mozzerella and feta on the pizza....I would have been suspicious if I had not heard John order it vegan over the phone! I think deep down he wanted me to say we could keep it "just this once!" But we took it back and returned it for an even more delicious vegan pizza! They make a smokey cheese sauce along with lots of veggies and a rich tomato sauce. I felt great not eating the cheese. John agreed it made him feel better also.