Pizza is sort of a touchy subject with me lately.
Ordering a vegan pizza at a restaurant can prove to be a bit interesting at times.
Chefs come to the table and try to sweet talk me, pleading with their delicious Italian accent for just a sprinkle of cheese. One time, a chef flat out refused to make his pie without cheese, throwing his hands up in dismay and washing himself clean of impure, cheeseless thoughts.
And this is how a Pizza Complex develops.
And I’m worn down.
When I found out that the next Project Food Blog challenge was to put a unique spin on pizza, I was scared.
I wanted to run away and never look back. Bye bye, Foodbuzz, it has truly been a slice.
Running away to the woods allowed me to clear my head. Over the course of a few days minutes- and a lot of Pizza Complex Rumination– I felt like myself again. I shouted, “I will show the world that a vegan pizza is not just ‘a worse-tasting pizza without cheese’, but a beautiful work of art!”
And then I screamed like a baby after seeing a creepy man in the bushes with a camera.
Wait. Is that my husband?
Anyways. I found myself in the kitchen once again, ready to conquer my Pizza Complex once and for all…
Roasted Tomato, Onion, and Basil Pesto Pizza with Vegan Parmesan Cheese
Here’s What You’ll Need to prepare:
- Herb-infused Pizza Dough
- Vegan Parmesan Cheese
- Vegan Pesto
- Garlic-infused oil
- Roasted Tomato, Onion, Garlic, and Basil topping
For instructions, start to finish, see the attached PDF. The dough, cheese, and pesto can be made ahead.
Despite my newfound conviction to rock a vegan pizza, there was one small catch…
I’ve had a few traumatic pizza dough flops in the past.
Making pizza dough that turns into a tough ball of gluten is not something one forgets easily. It haunts you in your sleep until you convince yourself that you can actually live a fairly happy life without ever trying to make pizza dough again.
That is, until this challenge threw me for a loop.
Pizza doh, indeed.
For 6 hours on Friday night I was a student again.
I studied, I practiced, and I vowed to become a Master of Pizza Dough. It turns out making pizza dough is incredibly easy, but my glowing pride was no less. I can also tell you that cocoa powder, chili powder, or nutritional yeast infused pizza dough all taste horrible. Bad, bad things happened.
I would not be here today without my You Tube Pizza Mentor, Albert.
He rules.
Also, to the red wine for making the 10 dough trials seem like I was at an all night rave.
I tested 5 different pizza dough recipes and the one that worked best for me involved no fancy machine or special dough hooks, just some old-fashioned elbow grease!
Kneading the dough was hypnotic and calming as I tested batch, after batch.
With each trial, I felt a bit more comfortable with the dough and it actually became fun!
When the dough is ready it will be soft, smooth, and no longer tacky to touch.
Now, make the sauce and toppings.
I had some CSA tomatoes, onion, garlic, and basil to use up and I figured they would work well together.
and chop.
Coat the chopped veggies with a homemade olive oil sauce and roast for about 35-40 minutes at 400F.
Inhale deeply.
Now whip up the Vegan pesto!
and then the Vegan parmesan cheese.
The house smells like a dream right about now.
When your dough is ready, punch the air out one final time.
I tested three popular pizza baking methods:
1) Pizza pan –> Soft crust, soft interior
2) Back of a baking sheet –> Soft crust, soft interior
3) Pizza Stone –> Authentic, crunchy crust, with soft interior
The pizza stone won by a landslide!
Sprinkle cornmeal over your Pizza Peel to prevent sticking.
Now for the part that I was terrified of….shaping the dough!
I found that the best way to work with the dough was to just let gravity do most of the work.
Gently hold and rotate the dough allowing gravity to pull the sides down ever so slightly.
When you have something that resembles a circle, place it on your Peel.
Gently spread it out.
Now pinch the sides to form a crust.
Excitement builds.
Spread on the sautéed garlic infused oil to keep the crust moist and flavourful.
Don’t be shy with the pesto. This is the best part!
Now spread on the Roasted Onion, Tomato, Garlic, and Basil mixture.
and finally, a generous dusting of the vegan Parmesan Cheese to finish it off!
Slide the pizza onto your stone which has been pre-heating at 500F for 1 hour.
Magic happens.
I liked what I saw. A lot.
After 15 minutes, your crust will be golden and crisp and your veggies will begin to blacken around the edges.
It’s time.
Your husband, who has been installing hardwood flooring all morning, will magically appear at the right moment.
He salivates and inhales 3 slices of pizza.
The pesto makes a wonderful dip for the thick, crunchy crust.
Pizza Complex Defeated.
Enjoy your delicious pizza while discussing dessert…
I tend to get a little carried away at times.
This is my official entry for Project Food Blog Challenge #5. Voting begins at 9am EST on Monday October 18th. If you enjoyed this post I would greatly appreciate your votes in carrying me into the next round! Click here to vote. Thank you!
Your pizza looks amazing! Who needs cheese when food is that good? :) This lactose intolerant girl most certainly does not.
FABULOUS!! i have only made kraft pizza dough from scratch and now i think i will give it a shot…you explain it so well…thank you…it looks absolutely delicious!!! the fruit pizza looks awesome as well. you have my vote!
I never was much of a pizza person, looks like things may be changing…especially if dessert pizza is included in the deal ;)
This looks SO fresh and colorful!! I’m not a huge huge fan of pizza, but I’d gobblie this up in a heart beat- yum!!
That is the best looking pizza I have seen in a long time. You have my vote. Now I must try to recreate your master piece. :)
OMG! That looks insanely delicious. You are so amazing with your patience to create these wonderful, delicious recipes that are vegan but still absolutely wonderful tasting. It is really obvious in your posts that you are doing what you love, and that is so great!
Oh my gosh that pizza looks amazing! I am definitly going to make it soon :D You are truly such an amazing cook, Angela. You inspire me every day to create vegan dishes like your own.
Thanks for sharing this recipe and you have my vote!
Oh my goodness Angela!! This looks beyond amazing!!!!! Wow, not only the most beautiful pizza I’ve ever seen, but it looks out of this world delicious! You are too much girl. Good luck!!!
What a beautiful pizza! Congrats on conquering your fear o’ dough. :)
Absolutely beautiful! My mom, grandmother, and I love making pizza together, but since I’m vegan, and my mom just cut cheese out of her diet, and my grandmother loves the stuff, pizza making can be a bit hard. However, I think this recipe would satisfy us all. Your pizza looks like a work of art!
Have a lovely day!
xox
Yum, your pizza looks delicious! I haven’t yet conquered my own fear of making homemade pizza- and I’m not vegan. Thanks for taking on the challenge-for all our sakes!
That looks so good! I agree that working dough is very therapeutic and fun. I love the pics of the process – my favorite one is of all the veggies lined up before going to the chopping block:) So vivid.
That looks incredible!
The photos are making me salivate :)
Wow Angela!
It looks perfect.
I can tell by the shots of the dough that you mastered it for sure!
Yummers!
Gorgeous pizza and LOL at the crazy man in the woods. Cute and too funny!
Vegan or not, this looks like the TASTIEST pizza I’ve ever seen. I have a feeling another readers choice award is coming your way!
You are incredible! I wish I had the baking/cooking stamina that you do. You never get defeated and aren’t scared to be honest about your failures. That’s why I love your site! You prove that sometimes it takes a few tries to get things right. Wish you could package up that pizza and send it to me! :)
I would give anything to have your cooking patience! That dessert pizza looks absolutely amazing!
Oh my gosh, taste aside, that may be the most BEAUTIFUL pizza I’ve seen in my life. Holy colors!
That looks like it was a lot of work, but so worth it. Great job!!!
Holy cooking mojo! Ange, you REALLY rocked this one :D I am in awe of you baking skills these days. What a beautifully fluffy pizza dough. … and the toppings you used. WOW! Brian and I ordered pizza for dinner last night… Do you deliver ? ;P HEHE!
I need one of those wooden paddles to ‘toss’ my pizza in the oven. I would love to see a demo video of you making the dough!
Hope you and Eric had a lovely weekend, -m
Plain and simple, your pizza looks divine. I am actually salivating. :-)
I’m salilvating too! THANK YOU for putting this into a PDF file. It’s been saved to my OSG Recipe File :) You’ll be getting my one and only vote on foodbuzz….of course you are the only one deserving of it. Way to pull through! Any pics of the new floor?!
Thank you!
Pics of new floor coming soon once he has the baseboards installed. :) Its coming together!
That looks so good, I admire your resolve, I don’t know that I could test five different dough recipes. Any tips for a gluten free crust? I have tried a number of recipes and I am not happy with any of them and my poor Italian daughter is craving a good dough…I will definitely use the topping recipe, that looks delicious!
That looks amazing, you have my vote!!! I probably would have quit after the 2nd dough so congrats! :) Loved all the pics!!
That (or those, I guess) look so great! Just as pretty and colorful after baking as before. I’ll definitely be trying them. :)
You have outdone yourself once again!
You.Are.Amazing!!
Your pizza looks absolutely amazing!! Congratulations on conquering your pizza complex. I wish I could order your pizza right about now! :)
you are absolutely amazing! that pizza looks soooo yummy!
Who says a pizza has to have real cheese on it? This looks fantastic!
This pizza has me drooling! And I agree, there’s nothing better than an authentic pizza, cooked on a stone.
Haha, looks like after your little struggle with the pizza dough, you definitely won!
Enjoy all of them, although I really didn’t need to say that because you obviously will – or, if you’re like me, you already have :D
Hehee what a cute/funny post – LOL at Eric in the trees
And that looks amazing – cheeseless or not!!!
I am so glad you succeeded in this because it looks amazing – the colors of this pizza are incredible!!
Brilliant! The pizza looks delicious…yay!
Thanks guys!
Angela. Oh my. I WANT! Now to make a gluten-free version of that crust, and I will be in heaven… :)
You’ve done it again! Looks so tasty I could jump through screen. Cheese? Who needs cheese?
Well done!
Angela… No matter what anyone else posts, talks about, presents, cooks or shows how its done, YOU WIN hands down. Your the best, your blogs have so much heart, soul & passion. No one can top you … No joke!!! :) That pizza looks absolutely devine!!!!!
OMG Ange that is a thing of beauty!!!! I wish I could have been in your house just to smell all of this pizza making going on. It looks delicious!! And the fruit one… WOW. Freaking phenomenal job once again!! :D
That is so beautiful, you kill me! I want some!
I love the colors of the veggies. I think pesto is a great idea for those scared of mock-cheese. Plus it’s more from-scratch. Well done.
This looks amazing! I’ll be voting. ;)
I feel like reading this post was like falling into a fabulous novel…I got lost in the photos and the narration! Excellent!
And this is definitely going into my “to try soon” folder : )
Oh my goodness that pizza looks amazing! I love the story too. You’re such a good writer! I enjoy every one of your posts.
Gosh, that pizza looks off the hook! Bummer you had to work so hard on the dough- but I’m sure it’ll pay off in the end!
Congratulations on Readers Choice AGAIN!!
I made the chili pumpkin bowls tonight – delicious!! my chili was sweet bell peppers, sweet potato, roasted corn, fire roasted tomatoes and lentils – turned out great—
While I loooove your old-fashioned pizza with cheese, that looks fabulous!!! I’d definitely give it a shot!
I really admire your patience in the kitchen – that is how true masterpieces are created!