This vegan pizza will require 2 days to make. The crust is made of bread dough and 24 hours is needed for the alcohol from the yeast to dissipate. I use a 4 small loaf recipe for the bread dough and use a large pizza pan and a large tray for deep dish. The crust is cooked before adding toppings and cooked again after they are added. I make a tomato sauce for the top of the crust. Then I make a vegan cheese made from cashews for a cheese sauce layer. The pizza is decorated with onion slices, bell pepper slices, and olives.
One Hour Whole Wheat Bread (From Eat For Strength)
YEAST MIXTURE:
1 c. warm water
3 pkg. yeast or 3 T. dry yeast
1 T. honey or molasses
Mix and let stand 10 minutes.
SPONGE MIXTURE:
3 c. hot water, NOT from the tap
1/3 c. honey
1 1/2 c. flour
Mix and let stand while yeast is getting ready to be mixed in.
ADD LATER:
1 1/2 T. salt
Approximately 7 1/2 cups whole wheat or pastry flour or enough to make a soft dough consistency.
Everything must be measured warm and ready to go. Warm the flour as whole wheat is often kept in the refrigerator to keep the germ from becoming rancid. The sponge must be lukewarm before yeast is added. When 10 minutes are up, add yeast mixture. Let stand 15 minutes. Add salt and flour. Must be a soft dough–not too stiff. Knead if desired up to 10 minutes, but may knead only until smooth. Cut bread dough in half and you can either make two pizza pans or 1 pizza pan and one large tray for deep dish. The dough will need to be rolled out flat to fit the pans. Flour the rolling surface as needed so the dough won’t stick to the counter. Add dough to the pans. Prick with a fork like you would a pie crust. Put pans in a cold oven set at 250* for 15 minutes to let the dough rise. If it doesn’t rise enough, leave at that temperature another 5-10 minutes. Turn to 350* and bake until a fork comes out dry or light brown. When done, remove from the oven or the crust will get too hard.
You can let the crusts sit out covered with dish towels. The next day, you can make the tomato sauce and the cashew cheese recipes. For the tomato sauce, you can use premade tomato sauce, but I recommend you check the ingredients. You do not want vinegar and white sugar if you want it healthy.
TOMATO SAUCE
2 large can of chopped organic tomatoes
1 onion chopped 1-4 cloves of garlic chopped small
1 t salt or to taste
1 t Italian seasoning
1 t extra virgin olive oil
1 zucchini squash chopped (optional)
1 T honey
2 T thickener (wheat flour, cornstarch, arrowroot, or tapioca flour)
In a frying pan, saute the onion, garlic, and squash in the olive oil. Add the tomatoes, salt, Italian seasoning, and honey. The honey is added to cut the acid of the tomatoes and to prevent stomach ache in sensitive people like me. The thickener is added so the sauce won’t be runny on the pizza. Mix the thickener in a little water before adding or it will clump.
Cashew Red Bell Pepper Cheese
2 C cashews rinsed in a strainer
2 C water (NOT tap water)
1/2 C lemon juice
1 red bell pepper or a large jar of pimentos
1 1/2 to 2 t Himalayan salt (It can be salty for the pizza)
1/2 C yeast flakes
1 t onion powder of 1/4 fresh onion
2 cloves garlic
1/2 to 1 t cumin (This is optional but adds a great taste!)
if this recipe tastes too salty, it is good because it has to flavor a pizza crust. Do not use so much salt if you are using this as a spread. Experiment and you will learn to salt it to your taste.
Blend all the ingredients and then pour them into a saucepan. Stir while you bring it to a boil. Turn down the heat and keep stirring until it thickens.
PIZZA TOPPINGS
3 red or orange bell peppers sliced to make rounds
sliced olives
sliced onion rings
ASSEMBLE THE PIZZAS
Spread the tomato sauce to cover the deep dish pizza and for the round pizza, leave some crust showing. Next, add the cheese leaving an inch or so of the tomato not covered. Put the onion rings evenly over the pizza and remember that you are decorating the pizza as you add the bell pepper rounds. Finally, put your olives neatly in the spaces left by the onions and bell peppers. If you have children or teenagers, you can get them involved with the decorating.
Set your oven at 350 degrees and the timer for 15 min. Check the vegetables and if not done, bake another 15 minutes. The oven should be hot at 350 degrees before you put the pizzas in. The longer the pizza is in the oven, the harder the crust will get. I actually love the hard crust except for trying to cut it with a pizza cutter. If you are used to eating cheese pizza, don’t expect this to taste exactly like cheese. It will be delicious! Don’t overeat! Save leftovers for lunches. It won’t last long.
