Yes, I did go there. I could not help myself. I was not going to stop until I had a man worthy vegan pizza. This is the recipe to pull out if you are getting the vegan blues.
Ingredients:
- 1 pizza shell (you can wimp out and buy one or make your own, see below)
- 1 can of plain tomato sauce
- 1/2 package vegan protein crumbles (you can cheat and use Morningstar if required)
- 1/2 package vegan sausage crumbles (same as above)
- 1 tsb liquid smoke
- 3 slices vegan cheese
- 2 tbsp soy milk
- 1 package vegan/soy shredded cheese
- 1 jar of sliced jalapeno peppers
- 4 garlic cloves minced
- 1 medium onion
- 1/2 cup water
To make the “meet” topping (yes, I am intentionally spelling it that way):
Heat two tablespoons of oil and get it HOT. Add the onions and garlic. Cook for 1 minute until brown. Add the protein and saus’ge crumbles. Cook the mixture on high heat for 2 minutes. Add the water and liquid smoke (add more smoke if desired for more man taste). Reduce heat to medium. Dice the slices of vegan cheese and place them in a microwave safe bowl with the soy milk. Heat for 45 seconds. Pull the bowl out of the microwave and mix with a fork until you have a sauce. Add the sauce to the “meet” mixture. Cook the mixture for a few more minutes at low heat until most of the moisture is gone. Remove the mixture from the heat.
Place your pizza shell on a pan. Coat it with the plain tomato sauce. Liberally (and I mean liberal) sprinkle oregano, onion powder, garlic powder, and cracked pepper on the tomato sauce. Spread the “meet” mixture over the pizza. Spread the vegan mozarella over the pizza.
Place the pizza in the oven and bake at 425. If this is a prefab pizza shell, you need to bake it for 8 – 10 minutes until golden brown. Pull the pizza out of the oven and add the peppers. Place back in the oven for 1 minute to get the peppers hot. Remove from the oven and cool on a rack for 10 minutes.
If you are using a real pizza dough shell, then bake it for 12 – 15 minutes.
Slice the pizza up, grab a beer (if you are of age), and scoff at the people who say eating vegan is eating salad.
Homemade Pizza Shell
- 2 3/4 cups bread flour
- 1 tbsp yeast
- 1 1/2 cups warm water
- 1 tsp sugar
- 1/8 tsp citric acid (vitamin C)
Put the sugar and yeast in a small cup. Add 1 cup of really hot to the touch water. Stir the mixture and let it sit for 5 minutes. After 5 minutes, it will be frothy and foamy like a head on a Guinness.
Mix all the other ingredients in a bowl. Pour the water in the bottom of your Kitchen Aid mixer with dough hook (best $100 kitchen investment). Turn the mixer on low and gradually add the dry ingredients. Pour the remaining 1/2 cup of water in a shot at a time until all ingredients are mixed. The dough should incorporate all ingredients and not stick to the bottom of the bowl. Add some flour or water to adjust until you reach this. The dough should spin 6 minutes start to finish. Pull the dough off the hook. Spray the bottom of the mixing bowl with PAM. Throw the dough back in the bowl, cover it with plastic wrap, and let it rise for 30 minutes. As always, you can help speed this process by putting the bowl on a warm stove-top by the oven vents. I preheat my oven to 200 degrees just to let the heat warm the stove.
After 30 minutes, roll the dough out onto a pizza pan and add your toppings.
Tags: pizza, vegan dinner