Vegan Pizza, PBNAF

The music from the movie, "Under the Tuscan Sun" by Christopher Beck is cheerful and perfect for this occasion.  Don't you just love cooking to great music?

If you don't already have a pizza stone, get one! Another option is clay tile from your nearest home improvement store. I was able to get a pizza stone from our local kitchen shop, Ariel's for under $20.00.

For the crust:
Preheat oven to 500 degrees with the baking stone on the bottom rack.  Someday I will build a pizza oven off the patio in the backyard, but until then, this works.  I just thought you would want to know about my future plans.   Another blog, another time.

Ingredients:
5/8 cup warm water, not over 110 degrees F, it should feel like really warm bath water. If it is too hot to stick your finger in, then it will kill the yeast.
1 tsp. Yeast
1 tsp. Balsamic vinegar
1 cup whole wheat flour
1 cup better for bread flour, OR another 7/8 cup of whole wheat flour with the addition of 1/8 cup vital wheat gluten
1/2 tsp salt
Optional herbs:
1/2 tsp. Each Rosemary, thyme, oregano and garlic powder

Combine ingredients in medium sized bowl in order, stir until it forms a mass and knead 10 turns in the same bowl, and set aside for 20 minutes while covered with a warm, damp clean towel.
While that is resting on your nice warm stove top, make a tofu garlic sauce for the pizza.

Ingredients for tofu garlic sauce to be placed in blender:

1 package soft silken tofu
1/2 cup low-fat almond milk or non-fat soy milk
1/4 cup Tofutti Sour Supreme, vegan sour cream
2 Tbsp Tofutti Better Than Cream Cheese, vegan cream cheese
1/4 cup nutritional yeast flakes
2 tsp non-dairy parmesan cheese, such as Galaxy Nutritional Foods Soy Grated Topping Parmesan Flavor
1 tsp miso paste
1 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp hot sauce, or to taste
1/4 tsp dry mustard powder
1/4 tsp each salt and pepper, or to taste


After the dough has rested, place it on a floured work surface.  I am old-school and prefer to work on a pastry cloth but a cutting board or even waxed paper will work.  Roll out to match the size of your pizza stone or about 14" round.  Poke all over with a fork and say what my niece Jenny used to say when she was about 4 years old while pointing a fork at me and giving me the evil eye to her mom's embarrassment, "FORK YOU!"
Slide your pizza crust onto a paddle or cookie sheet.  If you toss a layer of cornmeal onto the surface first it will make it easier to slide it onto the pizza stone in the hot oven while your face is getting blasted with hot air.  Really, you don't want to be standing there trying to get this to slide off gracefully while the cameras are rolling.  Your foundation will melt.
So now the dough is rolled, forked and put onto a portable sliding surface.  Be sure to not forget the toppings.  I start with a nice thick puddle of Tofu Sauce (about 1/3 cup), then add vegetables.


For the pizza toppings, I use handfuls of spinach, sliced mushrooms, sliced zucchini, fresh chopped herbs like basil and oregano and fresh thinly sliced tomatoes.  You should use your favorites.
You could of course use marinara sauce instead of tofu garlic sauce.
But it won't be as good.
If you are a really strict PBNAF person, don't put non-dairy cheese over the top.  For the rest of us, I like to use just enough to look at, not enough to smother.  About 1/4 cup or so.  Also, a sprinkle of Soy Grated Parmesan is a nice finish.
Slide this beautiful creation into the oven and onto your now-hot pizza stone.  It will cook amazingly fast, in about 10 minutes.  Remove from the oven when it smells heavenly and looks golden brown but before it turns black.  Black is beautiful but you know, not for the bottom of my pizza.


Eat away, guilt free!