Living in the Italian-region of Switzerland for majority of the year, I am constantly around pizza that I cannot eat! I see myself staring at other people's large pizzas while I am walking by restaurants and it has recently sparked my interest in creating a pizza I can eat! I have been in search for a mind-blowing vegan pizza and guys, I finally did it. I have been looking online and decided to create my own crust recipe tailoring pairs of vegan pizzas that I have tried in California or really great ideas from other vegans.
Another exciting thing about pizza is that you can customize it completely to your tastes! Choose your favorite sauce, vegan cheese from the grocery store, or find new and exciting toppings. Pizza can really be varied in so many ways and I have been wanting to get together with my girl friends and we all make our personal vegan pizzas.
The hardest part of vegan pizza, is the cheese and crust, right? Many people say they "can't cook", which really deters them from trying to make a cuisine in the first place. But, honestly it really was not as difficult as I thought it would be. It may be a little more time-consuming, but making the dough is a surprisingly simple process and is it worth every bit of work!
Sweet Potato Crust
Ingredients:
-one medium-sized sweet potato
-1 cup of red lentil flour (other substitutions: oat flour, chickpea flour, etc)
-1 tablespoon finely chopped fresh basil
-1 teaspoon garlic powder
-1 1/2 teaspoon onion powder
-1/2 teaspoon salt
-1 teaspoon grinded black pepper
-1 teaspoon chia seeds
-1 teaspoon flax seeds
-1 teaspoon maple syrup
Instructions:
1. Boil sweet potato for 8 min (til soft) and place rest of ingredients in a bowl— once sweet potatoes are done, mash them up as best as possible. I found that the dough works best if you allow the sweet potatoes to cool down before you begin the rest of the process. (about 30 minutes before you prepare the rest of the ingredients)
2. Preheat oven for 205•C or 400•F
3. Prepare a "chia egg", which is around 3 tablespoons of water with the chia seeds and mix. Allow this to sit for 10 minutes.
4. Place all the rest of the ingredients into a large bowl and mix with the sweet potato. Knead dough in hands and place on a greased pan in the oven, spreading the dough out into a circle
5. Spread out pizza sauce of your choosing --> Pesto, marinara, Alfredo, oil, balsamic, etc., leaving some room on the edges as crust. I’m a huge fan of homemade pesto sauce, which is what I usually put on my pizza, though store bought is also okay.
Homemade Pesto
Ingredients: -Bunch of basil -2 garlic cloves -1 juiced lemon -1 cup of cashews -1 cup of pine nuts -Salt to taste -Pepper to taste Instructions:
1. Soak cashews in warm water for 10 minutes or so to soften up
2. Add ingredients into food processor or mixer and bam!
WHAAT ABOUT THE CHEESE?
Many people have a certain go-to vegan cheese that they already buy. Do that if you would like to, but otherwise here is a recipe I found from another health blogger that I have been following.
Easy Cheese Via @elavegan.com
Ingredients:
-1 cup coconut milk
-3/4 cup nutritional yeast
-2 tablespoons tapioca flour
-1 1/2 teaspoons onion powder
-1 teaspoon garlic powder
-pinch of salt
-pepper to taste
Instructions:
1. Throw all ingredients into a sauce pan and mix on low to medium heat. This is more like fondue cheese, so it is quite liquidy, which also makes it yummy with pasta. If you want a thicker cheese, put less coconut milk into the sauce pan.
Put together the Pizza:
1. Spread out vegan cheese of your choice on top of the sauced part of the pizza
2. And lastly, toppings!! Design it however you please! I chose chickpeas, tomatoes, garlic, basil, and avocado on top (not pictured)-- I also tried one with that combination with bell peppers! I think my next move is a pizza with broccoli, spinach, kale, and mushrooms! That combination sounds divine to me.
Something that really struck me about this meal is how delicious it actually was-- this was my first time making pizza and it actually worked-- so I have high hopes for the rest of you! Also, I felt great after eating it, I was not too full or felt all the after-effects that real cheese gave my body, which was the real goal of creating this pizza!
Bon Appetit!
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