Post by quincy on Apr 25, 2006 2:55:23 GMT
I can't help but share this one...
I made my first vegan pizza a week or so ago and I thought that that one was good...well, I managed to create something that at least I thought was VERY delicious!
Introduction; Creating the pizza crust:
I mixed one tablespoon of yeast, with 1/2 cup lukewarm water, until all of the yeast was dissolved. I then let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes.
Next, I added 3/4 teaspoon of salt and about two tablespoons of vegan margarine. (it may have been slightly less)
After mixing that for a while, I added 1 1/4 cup unbleached flour and the mixture soon became tougher and more doughy.
I removed the dough from the bowl and began to knead it (if that's the right terminology) on a lightly floured sheet pizza pan. I had to add a little bit more flour to the dough, so the total amount in the end was probably 1 1/2 to maybe 1 2/3 cup of flour.
Last, I began forming the dough into a pizza shape, trying to spread out the dough as much as possible. (my first attempt was a little thick)
I transferred this to a pizza pan, covered with aluminum foil, with non-stick spray. I formed the dough out a little more and made the crust/outside edges a little higher than the rest.
Preparing the pizza:
I preheated the oven to 425 degrees F. Next, I opened a can of chickpeas, drained and poured half of them into a bowl. I proceeded to crush up the chickpeas and then mix them all up, to get a quasi-mashed chickpea mixture. I added one capfull of soymilk and remixed.
Then, I took a small can of mushrooms and sliced them up. I diced about half of them up and then added them to a small can of pizza sauce.
Topping and cooking the pizza:
I put the dough into the oven for about 5 minutes.
After that, I removed the crust and poured a good amount of pizza sauce (with diced mushrooms) on top of it and spread it out. (1/4 inch or so of sauce on top of the pizza - hopefully I can estimate thicknesses well!)
Then, I took the crushed/mashed chickpea mixture and dropped little bits of it all over the pizza.
After that, I took the mushroom slices and spread them out across the pizza.
-
The pizza went back into the oven for about 15 minutes and once the crust was just right, I turned off the heat and removed the pizza.
---
I would have liked to add some additional seasonings and possibly toppings, but since I'm back at school, I was only able to pick up a few ingredients at the supermarket this morning. The sauce was something like garlic-oregano-basil and the pizza had PLENTY of flavor!
The first bite was like WOW...my first pizza was pretty good, but this one was really great! I put more emphasis on the chickpea mixture, because I had a feeling that it might work very well as a cheese substitute. Well, maybe I'm a chickpea-fanatic, but that mixture was EXCELLENT! It's really hard to describe, but it also reminded me of a cheesy pizza...I'm going to definitely offer this to some friends and family, once I go home. I want to see if other people like it as well. (you know how some people might be like, "chickpeas instead of cheese? You're crazy! - but I really thought it worked out great)
The crust was a little bit thinner than last time, but it was perfect! The mushrooms added even more to the pizza and I was very pleased with how it came out!
For variations, if interested, definitely toy around with toppings and methods. Maybe you want to give the chickpea idea a shot, or maybe you have your own special "cheese" mixture! I was wrong with my estimations from last time...this pizza finished out around 10 1/2 inches and my last one was probably closer to 9 inches. I ate half of the pizza and am saving the second half for another day! I'm definitely going to make another pizza with the remaining ingredients, within the next week.
Final summary:
What a pizza...LOW-FAT...the only real source of fat was the margarine and since I had some Earth Balance Light margarine, it only added 5g of fat per half of the pizza. Everything else was close to, if not fat-free.
I still can't get over how good it was...maybe I'm just so thrilled about it, because I made it from scratch and pizza was one of my all-time (still is) favorite foods, as an omni and then a vegetarian. I thought that I would be seeing a lot less of pizza as a vegan, but boy was I wrong! This will definitely be a recipe to keep and make lots of times in the future!
PS: I never would have imagined that being vegan could be so fun, delicious and exciting!!!
I made my first vegan pizza a week or so ago and I thought that that one was good...well, I managed to create something that at least I thought was VERY delicious!
Introduction; Creating the pizza crust:
I mixed one tablespoon of yeast, with 1/2 cup lukewarm water, until all of the yeast was dissolved. I then let the mixture sit for a couple of minutes.
Next, I added 3/4 teaspoon of salt and about two tablespoons of vegan margarine. (it may have been slightly less)
After mixing that for a while, I added 1 1/4 cup unbleached flour and the mixture soon became tougher and more doughy.
I removed the dough from the bowl and began to knead it (if that's the right terminology) on a lightly floured sheet pizza pan. I had to add a little bit more flour to the dough, so the total amount in the end was probably 1 1/2 to maybe 1 2/3 cup of flour.
Last, I began forming the dough into a pizza shape, trying to spread out the dough as much as possible. (my first attempt was a little thick)
I transferred this to a pizza pan, covered with aluminum foil, with non-stick spray. I formed the dough out a little more and made the crust/outside edges a little higher than the rest.
Preparing the pizza:
I preheated the oven to 425 degrees F. Next, I opened a can of chickpeas, drained and poured half of them into a bowl. I proceeded to crush up the chickpeas and then mix them all up, to get a quasi-mashed chickpea mixture. I added one capfull of soymilk and remixed.
Then, I took a small can of mushrooms and sliced them up. I diced about half of them up and then added them to a small can of pizza sauce.
Topping and cooking the pizza:
I put the dough into the oven for about 5 minutes.
After that, I removed the crust and poured a good amount of pizza sauce (with diced mushrooms) on top of it and spread it out. (1/4 inch or so of sauce on top of the pizza - hopefully I can estimate thicknesses well!)
Then, I took the crushed/mashed chickpea mixture and dropped little bits of it all over the pizza.
After that, I took the mushroom slices and spread them out across the pizza.
-
The pizza went back into the oven for about 15 minutes and once the crust was just right, I turned off the heat and removed the pizza.
---
I would have liked to add some additional seasonings and possibly toppings, but since I'm back at school, I was only able to pick up a few ingredients at the supermarket this morning. The sauce was something like garlic-oregano-basil and the pizza had PLENTY of flavor!
The first bite was like WOW...my first pizza was pretty good, but this one was really great! I put more emphasis on the chickpea mixture, because I had a feeling that it might work very well as a cheese substitute. Well, maybe I'm a chickpea-fanatic, but that mixture was EXCELLENT! It's really hard to describe, but it also reminded me of a cheesy pizza...I'm going to definitely offer this to some friends and family, once I go home. I want to see if other people like it as well. (you know how some people might be like, "chickpeas instead of cheese? You're crazy! - but I really thought it worked out great)
The crust was a little bit thinner than last time, but it was perfect! The mushrooms added even more to the pizza and I was very pleased with how it came out!
For variations, if interested, definitely toy around with toppings and methods. Maybe you want to give the chickpea idea a shot, or maybe you have your own special "cheese" mixture! I was wrong with my estimations from last time...this pizza finished out around 10 1/2 inches and my last one was probably closer to 9 inches. I ate half of the pizza and am saving the second half for another day! I'm definitely going to make another pizza with the remaining ingredients, within the next week.
Final summary:
What a pizza...LOW-FAT...the only real source of fat was the margarine and since I had some Earth Balance Light margarine, it only added 5g of fat per half of the pizza. Everything else was close to, if not fat-free.
I still can't get over how good it was...maybe I'm just so thrilled about it, because I made it from scratch and pizza was one of my all-time (still is) favorite foods, as an omni and then a vegetarian. I thought that I would be seeing a lot less of pizza as a vegan, but boy was I wrong! This will definitely be a recipe to keep and make lots of times in the future!
PS: I never would have imagined that being vegan could be so fun, delicious and exciting!!!