Pizza with Grilled Vegetables

Vegan pizza is spectacular. So easy to make, delicious and healthy. Make a couple and freeze one for later. Perfect for dinner and the leftovers are yummy too!

For many people the one thing that holds them back from going completely vegan is dairy cheese, and specifically pizza with dairy cheese. I was the same. One of my last non vegan meals was pizza with extra cheese. This was in 2008, and at the time, vegan cheese was not that easily available and didn’t really taste like cheese. Today it’s a different story, with many delicious vegan cheese options, and if you want homemade cheese, there is that option too and it is as delicious as any non vegan cheese.

I’ve been wanting to make home made vegan pizza for a while, and I’m so glad I did. It tastes just the same as the pizza I remember from my non vegan days and because its all homemade and has alot of vegetable toppings, it’s very healthy as well.

How to make vegan pizza

It does take a bit of time and preparation. I used a sourdough starter for my crust. This takes five days to make so plan ahead if you want to make a sourdough crust. I also made my own sauce and preroasted the vegetables. I used tomato, red onion, zucchinni, hot adole and mini sweet peppers as topping. You can use any topping but if using vegetables, I would recommend marinating and roasting them first. It brings out alot of their flavour.

The crust is twice baked, once with just the toppings and then with the cheese added. The cheese tastes very cheesy, is made of cashews and is easy to make. If you have nut allegies or are short on time you can use storebought vegan cheese shreds instead.

This recipe makes enough for two pizzas. I ended up only baking one, and froze the remaining pizza dough, sauce, cheese and toppings for later use. They all freeze well. If you have a large freezer you can bake both and freeze one pizza for later.

The results were amazing and I’m definitely going to be making this again. The crust has a wonderful crusty, yeasty taste and the cheese is as melty and good as any other I’ve tasted. You can top your pizza with any topping you like. Mushrooms, bbq soy curls, vegan sausage or other vegan meats would be great. I usually add pineapple as I’m Canadian, but sadly forget to buy some. Even without it, it really was a delicious pizza. Enjoy!

Vegan Pizza with Roast Peppers

Course: Entrees

Cuisine: American, Comfort food

Keyword: sourdough, vegan pizza

Prep Time: 5 days days 1 hour hour

Cook Time: 40 minutes minutes

Total Time: 5 days days 1 hour hour 45 minutes minutes

Servings: 2 8 inch pizzas

Author: Una Rose

Print Recipe

Ingredients

Dough:

• 1 cup sourdough starter
• 2 cups all purpose flour
• 1 cup ground oat flour or wholewheat flour
• 1 cup cornmeal
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1-1/2 cups water

Vegan cheese:

• 1 cup cashews
• 1 carrot chopped
• 1-1/4 cups cashew water from cooking
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
• 1/4 cup plus 1 tablespoon tapioca starch
• 2 tablespoons lemon juice
• 1/2 teaspoon stevia seasoning or commercial salt free seasoning

Pizza Sauce:

• 1 cup canned diced tomatoes
• 4 tablespoons tomato paste
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar
• 2 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning
• 1 teaspoon stevia seasoning
• 1 teaspoon onion powder
• 1 teaspoon garlic powder

Toppings:

• 2 Roma tomatoes thinly sliced
• 1/2 small red onion sliced
• 1/3 large zucchinni thinly sliced and halved
• 4 small sweet peppers deseeded and sliced
• 1 adole or banana hot peppers sliced

Marinade:

• 4 tablespoons olive oil extra virgin
• 1 large lemon juiced
• 1/2 teaspoon stevia seasoning or commercial salt free spice mix
• 1 teaspoon Italian seasoning

Instructions

• Make sourdough starter according to recipe in link. This is a five day process. You can use your starter for this recipe on day five.
• Make pizza sauce: Put all ingredients in a food processor. Process until smooth. Taste test and adjust seasonings if desired. Keep refrigerated until using.
• Make cheese: if your making your own cheese you need to make it the day before.
• In a medium pot, bring 4 cups of water to a boil. Add the cashews and carrot and boil for 10 minutes, or until the carrot is well cooked.
• Pour cashews and carrot through sieve over a medium size bowl. Transfer the cashews and carrot to a high-speed blender. Do not discard the cooking water.
• Combine the nutritional yeast, tapioca starch, lemon juice, and 1 cup plus 2 tablespoons of the reserved cooking water in a blender. Blend sauce for 2-3 minutes on high speed, until completely smooth. Add more water if needed to create a thick, creamy sauce.
• Pour the mixture back into the pot and heat, stirring over medium heat. Clumps should immediately begin to form. Continue stirring for 10- 15 minutes, or until the sauce is thickened and stretchy. Remove the pot from the heat and set aside.
• Let cool and pour into a flat container. Let cool completely.
• Once cooled, place in the freezer and freeze overnight.
• Once frozen, cut so it will fit into a food processor chute. Shred and return to the freezer. Keep frozen until ready for use.
• Make pizza: Preheat over to 400 degrees Fahrenheit.
• Well grease and flour a pizza stone or pan. Set aside.
• Combine the starter, all purpose and oat flour and cornmeal in a large mixing bowl. Stir until combined.
• Add the olive oil and stir in. Add 1 cup of water. Stir it in and add more water by 1/2 cupfuls until a firm, slightly moist, sticky dough is formed. 
• Cut dough in half and place half in a food processor. Knead for 2 minutes at high speed. If using a stand mixer or by hand, knead for four minutes.
• Once kneaded, place dough on the prepared pizza pan. Flatten with hands and press out until the dough reaches the edges of the pan. Make sure dough is of even thickness. Coat with olive oil and set aside.
• Repeat the kneading process with other half of the dough. Prepare as with the other half or set aside for freezing.
• Cover pizza pan with a clean tea towel and let rise at room temperature for at least 1 hour.
• Prepare vegetables by slicely thinly and placing them in a large mixing bowl. Place tomatoes and shredded kale in separate bowls.
• Marinade all with olive oil, lemon juice, italian seasoning, and stevia seasoning marinade. Mix gently until all vegetables are well coated.
• Place vegetables on two baking sheets, mixed vegetables on one, tomato and kale on the other. Bake each for 15 minutes. Remove and set aside.
• Turn oven heat up to 450 degrees F.
• Spread pizza sauce evenly and liberally over pizza crust.
• Layer tomatoes on top, then kale and then the mixed vegetables.
• Bake  pizza for 15 minutes. Remove from heat.
• Add cheese and bake for 10-15 minutes more until cheese is melted and slightly browned.
• Remove from heat and slice into 8 pieces with a pizza cutter or knife and kitchen scizzors.

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