DH and I looooooooove pizza. We love it so much that we dedicate every Friday evening to homemade pizza. Since I am a foodsnob slightly picky eater, we challenged ourselves to come up with a new combination of toppings each Friday. This challenge began in September and I can happily report that we have NOT repeated a combination yet.
There have been mighty triumphs that we cannot wait to try again and some monumental failures that we cannot wait to forget.
Our latest creation was Vegan Artichoke Pizza with Cheesy Sauce. We started with a Whole Wheat Thin Crust Pizza dough (recipe included; adapted from a recipe that an awesome friend passed along to me); used Vegan Alfredo Sauce for the base; and baby spinach, tomatoes, red onion and artichokes for the topping. The recipe that I used for the sauce was okay, but I think I will keep experimenting.
If you try it out, let me know what worked and what didn't for you!
Vegan Artichoke Pizza with Cheesy Sauce
1 jar marinated artichokes, drained and coarsely chopped
1 small red onion, chopped
1 medium tomato, chopped
1/2 cup baby spinach, washed
1/4 cup vegan cheese sauce (I used this recipe, substituting half the water for soy milk, and adding cumin)
sprinkling of oregano
sprinkling of cayenne pepper
1 Whole Wheat Thin Crust Pizza (recipe below) or pizza crust of your choice
Preheat oven to 200 C (390 F). Spread sauce evenly over prepared pizza crust. Add oregano and cayenne pepper, as desired. Place layer of baby spinach, top with artichoke, tomato and red onion. Bake in oven for 20 minutes or until crust is a golden brown.
Whole Wheat Thin Crust Pizza (makes two crusts)
4 cups whole wheat flour
1 packet dry yeast
1 tsp oregano
1 tsp basil
1 tsp garlic powder
1-1 1/2 cups warm water
2 TBSP Extra Virgin Olive Oil
Combine all dry ingredients in bowl of electric mixer. Using dough hook attachment, set mixer on low, slowly add water until dough forms a soft ball (dough should be slightly sticky). Continue to knead for 10 minutes in mixer. Pour 1 Tbsp of olive oil over dough and coat all surfaces. Put bowl in warm spot, covered with clean towel for one hour.
After one hour.... remove dough from bowl and place on lightly oiled pizza pan. Cut dough in half. Leave one half on the pan and spread out over pan surface using lightly oiled fingertips. Dough should be 1-1.3 cm thick. Drizzle remaining 1 tbsp Olive Oil over pizza dough surface. Place in preheated oven (200 C) for 10 minutes. DO NOT OVERBAKE! Remove and add toppings as desired.
What to do with the second half of dough:
If you don't need two pizzas then take the extra dough, wrap it tightly in a layer of plastic wrap, THEN a layer of tin foil and place it in the freezer. The dough will store in the freezer for up to 6 months. When you want to use it thaw it in the fridge the night before and then follow baking directions.
***TIP: Put your wrapped dough on the counter 1-2 hours before you intend to bake it. This will make your dough a little easier to work with.
Happy baking!...and eating.
Cheers.
-Laura
