My husband has been in the doghouse lately so he looked extremely surprised last night when I announced I was going to make him a pepperoni pizza for dinner. He gave me a quiet “thanks”, head down.

I said I had to run to the store to buy an onion. “I can do that” he said enthusiastically keeping his eye on the television screen. I noticed he was watching his beloved Cardinals play the Dodgers so I said “that's ok – I'll go.”

Again, he looked grateful. Funny how men respond to being in the doghouse. You can pretty much get them to do anything. Yesterday, I mentioned to my husband that it would be nice to sit on the deck if it was cleaned off. Came home and the deck was clean. It is one miracle after another. Maybe the doghouse isn't a lousy place after all… at least not for me.

Yesterday, I decided to make my famous pizza pie “vegan style” for the first time. A lot of people can't believe that I devote so much time to make my own pizzas but trust me, they are far superior to anything you can buy. Also, it is relatively easy once you get the hang of it.

Lets start with the dough. I changed up my dough for this new recipe substituting half of the white flour with whole-wheat flour. The dough still came out exceptionally crispy with the perfect amount of air. I always tap my crust with a fork before taking it out of the oven and if it sounds hollow, it is perfectly cooked. I also substituted my secret ingredient, honey, for agave nectar. I cook a basic tomato sauce with onion and basil.

I topped my pizza off with three varieties of mushrooms, red onion and vegan mozzarella. Next time I would forgo the processed vegan cheese.

Hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did. By the way, I did make my husband a pizza with meat pepperoni and felt no temptation to have a slice. He enjoyed it and he was grateful.

Mushroom Pizza

 

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Author: Ordinary Vegan

Ingredients

Dough

• 1 cup of wheat flour
• 1 cup of white flour
• 1 tbsp agave nectar
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• ¾ cup cold water
• 1 packet dry active yeast in ¼ cup warm water (105-115 degrees F) - let foam and get bubbly (10 minutes)
• Corn meal for wood pizza peel (always use a pizza peel when using a pizza stone and a hot oven - cover the peel with a thin layer of cornmeal -

Tomato Sauce

• 1 can 28 oz crushed tomatoes (I like Pastene kitchen ready)
• ½ onion chopped
• 1-2 tbsp dried basil
• 1-2 cloves garlic, chopped
• 1 tsp sugar
• salt & pepper to taste
• a sprinkle of red pepper flakes

Toppings

• Any toppings you want -
• I used approximately 10 sliced mushrooms - 3 varieties
• ¼ sliced red onion
• ¼ to ½ cup of vegan mozzarella cheese (depending on how much cheese you like)
• olive oil

Instructions

1. I recommend using a pizza stone. They are not expensive and worth every penny. Heat the oven to 505 degrees - place the pizza stone on the middle rack in the oven and leave in oven approximately one hour before you cook your first pizza. The hotter the stone - the better the crust.

Dough

1. In a small bowl, dissolve the yeast in ¼ cup of the warm warm water. In a measuring cup - add the cold water, olive oil and agave nectar - mix together. In a mixer fitted with a dough hook, combine the flour.
2. Add the oil/honey/water mixture, yeast mixture and and mix on low speed until the dough comes cleanly away from the sides of the bowl (approx 5 minutes) Don't be afraid to add more flour if the dough is too wet.
3. Turn the dough out onto a clean lightly floured work surface and knead by hand 2 or 3 minutes longer. The dough should be smooth and firm in a ball.
4. Place the dough in a lightly greased bowl and cover with a damp towel. Let it rise in a warm spot for about 30 minutes.
5. After 30 minutes, divide the dough into 3 balls. Work each ball by pulling down the sides and tucking under the bottom of the ball. Repeat 4 or 5 times. Cover the dough balls with a damp towel and let them rest for another 15 minutes. If you don't want to use all the dough, the balls cans be wrapped in plastic and refrigerated for up to two days.
6. (The pizza dough can also be made in a food processor. Dissolve the yeast as above. Combine the flour in a bowl of a food processor fitted with a steel blade. Pulse once or twice, add the remaining ingredients, and process until the dough begins to form a ball. )

Tomato Sauce

1. Saute onions, garlic until translucent - add dried basil, crushed tomatoes, crushed red pepper flakes, salt, pepper and sugar. Simmer for 15-30 minutes. Let it cool down. You don't want to put hot sauce on the uncooked pizza dough.
2. Serrano, mushroom and basil

To prepare each pizza,

1. Place the dough on a clean, lightly floured surface and start to stretch the dough. Press down on the center, spreading the dough into and 8 inch circle, with outer border a little thicker than the inner circle. If this is difficult to do, use a rolling pin to roll out the dough.
2. Lay dough on pizza peel.
3. Add tomato sauce (as much as you personally like) It can be ¼ to ½ cup. I like a lot.
4. Top with veggies - top with Daiya vegan mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle some olive oil on top and put in oven.
5. Cook for approximately 10 to 14 minutes or until crust is brown and hollow, sauce and cheese bubbling.
6. Have fun with the toppings - you can't go wrong. lay the dough on the peel before you top with ingredients and it the pizza will easily slide off on to the stone and into the oven

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