Zucchini Crust Pizza

What’s your favorite color? Green
What’s your favorite book? “Lonesome Dove”

What’s your favorite song?  “Life Song” (Casting Crowns)

What’s your favorite vegetable? Lettuce (I’m serious)

What’s your favorite place? The lounge chair on my deck

What’s your favorite food? Pizza. Pizza. Pizza. Pizza. Pizza. Pizza. And more pizza.

Here’s what you need:

2 medium zucchinis

½ C chickpea flour

1 T ground flaxseed

1 T vegetable oil

1 t oregano

Here’s what you do:

Grate the zucchinis by hand or in a food processor on the finest setting. Put the shredded zucchini in a large sieve and sprinkle with salt. Use your hands to mush the salt into the veg and allow it all to set over a bowl for about 20 minutes. Stir it once in a while and squeeze the liquid out. After 20 minutes, really get in there with your hands and remove as much liquid as possible.

While the zucchini is doing its thing, make a flax ‘egg’ by mixing 1 T ground flaxseed and 3 T water. Whisk the mixture and allow to sit in the fridge for about 15 minutes.

 

I flipped the crust over to show you how nice and golden it became. 

Mix the ‘dry’ zucchini (really, squeeze it a lot), the flaxseed ‘egg’, the chickpea flour, oil, and oregano and mix it all well with your hands. Spread it into a circle on a parchment lined baking sheet. Bake for about 20 minutes in a 400 degree oven The bottom of the crust will be nice and golden.

Top with your favorite pizza toppings and heat through for another 5-10 minutes. 

Classic Pizza dough – Neapolitan Style

Neapolitan style pizza is made from simple and fresh ingredients like tomatoes, basil and olive oil and it often has more sauce than cheese. The dough is also very simple: flour, yeast, salt and olive oil. Neapolitan pizzas are thin and traditionally baked at a very high heat; I bake mine 450, but I know they can stand 500 degrees! A pizza stone is a must to create the chewy, toasty crust. Make sure to preheat your pizza stone all the way to 450 degrees. I recently purchased a pizza peel and that has helped to transfer the pizza onto the hot stone. You can also use the bottom of a baking sheet which is covered in flour or cornmeal and ‘slide’ the raw pizza onto the stone, using metal spatulas to coax it along. Either way, getting the uncooked pizza onto the scorching hot stone is the most difficult thing about making Neapolitan style pizza at home.   It really helps if the pizzas are very small – usually only 10-12 inches in diameter.

An important trick about making a thin crust pizza is to stretch it out using only your fingers from the center out to the edge. Never mess around with the edge and never use a rolling pin. By leaving the edge of the dough alone, you create a glorious chewy crust and a perfect round ‘crown’ known as the ‘cornicione.’ And by crown, I’m not talking about the huge lump of tasteless dough you might find at a fast food pizza place. A true cornicione is a culinary delight. To get a true cornicione, the dough must be sufficiently wet so it really puffs in the oven.

I found this recipe on the internet and have simplified the method here. It makes about five 10 inch pizzas. It also freezes very well w

Here’s what you need:

5 ¼ C unbleached flour

2 t kosher salt

1 ¼ t instant yeast OR 1 ½ t active dry yeast dissolved in the water

2 T olive oil (optional)

1 T sugar or honey

2 ¼ C room temperature water (less if you are using honey)

Here’s what you do:

Mix all the ingredients in the bowl of a standing mixer. Use the paddle – not the dough hook. Mix for one minute to form a coarse, sticky dough ball.

Let the dough rest for five minutes, then mix again for one minute to make a smooth, very tacky ball of dough.

Transfer the dough to a lightly oiled work surface, rub a little oil on your hands, and fold the dough into a smooth ball. Let it rest on the work surface for five minutes and then stretch and fold the dough into a tight ball. Repeat this again, two more times, and 5 minute intervals.

Place the dough in a lightly oiled bowl, cover with plastic wrap, and immediately place in the refrigerator. The dough can be used anywhere from 6 hours to 3 days after it goes in the fridge.

Pull the dough from the refrigerator about two hours prior to when you plan to bake it to bring it to room temperature. Divide the dough into five 8-ounce pieces. With a little flour on your hands, form each piece into a tight dough ball and place on a lightly oiled pan. Mist the dough balls with oil and cover loosely with plastic wrap. (At this point you can freeze the dough balls in oiled plastic bags.) Give the dough at least 90 minutes to rest before making the pizzas. Remember – don’t over knead it or use a rolling pin. Just ease the dough into a circle with your fingers.

 (printable recipe) 

Potato Crust Pizza

V is for Variety and Y is for Yes, those are potatoes in that thar pizza!

Welcome to the Vegan Month of Food (VeganMoFo)  I intend to post 20 times during the month of September – all about vegan food. Check out the gals who organize the project here, and search out other fantastic vegan bloggers. I decided on the theme of “V is for Variety” because, honestly, once I quit the chicken breast – my food choices exploded! Join me!

Really exciting news for me last week! My Mexican Hot Chocolate Snickerdoodle Cookie post made the VeganMoFo Round-up! BAM!  I couldn’t believe my eyes! Check it out right ….HERE…. I am pretty geeked about this! So fun! And such a great recipe from Post Punk Kitchen, so you know it’s a winner!

These guys are really good.....but only consider making them if you like a hit of spice!

I also messed around with a potato crust pizza twice last week – topped it once with roasted tomatoes and onions and the next night with fresh tomatoes and summer squash from my garden.

Check out the size of those beets!

Shred some Yukon potatoes and onions. Sprinkle with salt and allow to sit for about 10 minutes. 

Wring out every bit of water from the potatoes, add some grated garlic, salt,  pepper, a drizzle of olive oil and some vegan parmesan cheese.

Bake for about 20 minutes in a cast iron skillet and carefully flip over! It took lots of patience and some fiddling with a metal spatula. Oh, so worth it. 

 Slide the crust back into the hot skillet and voila! Put on your toppings and bake for another 10 minutes or so. I do not recommend any kind of sauce because you want to keep that nice crispy crust. 

The inspiration for this excellent pizza came from The Not So Cheesy Kitchen. Thanks Beate!

A Modge Podge of Stuff

Just a few tidbits today – all in the delicious category….well, except one.

This delicious sandwich – Marinated and grilled portabella mushrooms, garlicky spinach, sweet sautéed onions. Served with roasted beets and fries. The bun was garlicy and toasted. (Thanks to Dawn for this excellent sandwich idea)

These delicious carrots – coconut oil, miso, maple syrup. Bake. Sprinkle with sea salt before serving. Sweet and sticky and salty. Oh my. Don’t forget to eat the humble carrot.

 These delicious ‘restaurant style’ enchiladas – truly, these three ingredients made a fantastic enchilada sauce.  (Thanks, Lisa, for suggesting this to me – a new standard in our house.)

 This weird, but tasty, cauliflower crust pizza – tasted great, but it stayed soggy in the center. We ate it like a casserole with forks and spoons. Recipes abound all over the internet. Take your pick. 

This even weirder and not tasty cauliflower crust pizza – first meal I served my hubby after his return from Japan. A dud.  (the pizza, not the husband….) 

Pink Food for your Valentine’s Menu

What is it? I’ll give you three guesses……

Raspberry sorbet with raisins (that’s what it looks like to me)

Whipped frosting with candied cherries (this is the ‘throw-away’  option)

Roasted beet hummus with roasted beets (you guessed correctly!)

So, I’m sitting peacefully at home a few weeks ago, scrolling through my email and I came across this recipe. It was posted on a fellow Michigan blogger’s page…..well, she no longer lives in Michigan, but that’s another story. (click here to see Noelle’s blog).  I love hummus in a big way and I love beets in a huge way, so I knew this was for me. I actually jumped up from my chair and made it that morning!

Luckily, I had these gorgeous beets in the garage. I was literally eating this by the spoonful. No time for a dainty chip. The added benefit for me was the extra roasted beets to put on as a garnish….they were as sweet as candy…. And that’s no exaggeration!

I ate a HUGE amount for lunch and then slathered it on a pizza crust with a little feta cheese for dinner. HEAVEN!!

Here’s what you need: (I changed the original recipe quite a bit; my changes are reflected here.)

1 C roasted beets

About ¼ C olive oil

Sea salt

2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed

2 T tahini

3 cloves garlic, minced

¼ C lemon juice

¼ C water (or more as needed)

Here’s what you do:

Roast the beets: peel and cube them. Drizzle olive oil and sprinkle salt. Roast in 375  degree oven until soft. Mine took about 30 minutes. Allow them to cool for a bit.

Place all ingredients in a high powdered blender or Cuisinart and blend until smooth and creamy. (Do you know the trick of dropping a whole clove of garlic in the Cuisinart while it is going? Do it before you add any other ingredient. This produces great minced garlic!) 

A Pisa Pizza: Best Pizza Dough

The very best slice of pizza I ever ate was in Pisa, Italy. It was about 25 years ago and I still remember it.

My girlfriend and I were wandering around town after climbing to the top of the leaning tower and we stumbled upon a tiny family style restaurant.

The pizza was being sold by the slice and we both ordered garlic. It was handed to us wrapped up in a napkin and it was thin. It was not loaded with tons of cheese, but it did have plenty of freshly sliced garlic and tomatoes on it.

What I remember most is that it was chewy – a perfectly baked dough, not too thick, crispy on the bottom. Probably baked in a 500-year-old stone oven! We folded it in half and experienced one of life’s best culinary events – PIZZA.

I can’t even begin to count the number of slices I have had since then. Thin, New York style. Stuffed, Chicago style. Pizza from every type of pizza shop - both national chains and local dives. Cottage Inn in Ann Arbor makes an excellent pie.

There’s a place in Mt. Pleasant I used to love when I was in college in the late 70’s – Pisanallos, maybe? My East Lansing days found me eating at Bell’s Greek Pizza. I crave the salty taste of feta cheese on pizza – try it! I love mushroom pizza and I love veggie pizza. I love meat pizza, too. But it’s the crust that has me in love with pizza.

You won’t be surprised to learn that I make pizza all the time at home. But the perfect crust still eludes me- all because of one slice of garlic pizza.

Pizza Dough

¾ C water warmed to 100 -110 degrees

1 package dry yeast (this equals 2 ¼ t)

1 t sugar

1 T olive oil

Whisk the above ingredients together and allow to sit for a few minutes.

1 ¼ C all-purpose flour

½ wheat flour

1 t salt

Add the liquid mixture to the dry mixture and mix well with a wooden spoon. The mixture will remain wet and sticky. Pour out onto a floured board and knead for a few minutes until smooth and not ‘craggy.’

Place dough in an oiled bowl, turn dough over in the bowl until all sides of the dough ball are covered in oil.

Cover and allow to rest in a warm place for two hours or until doubled in size. I placed mine in the warming drawer of my oven.

When dough is doubled in size, turn out on a floured board and roll out to desired size. Top with your favorite pizza toppings and bake in a hot oven (400 degrees) for about 15 minutes or until golden on the bottom.

(printable recipe) 
(In full disclosure, I will tell you that I first published these words and this recipe on my other, now defunct, blog. See the original post here, if interested.) 

Meatless Monday Link Up - White Pizza with Zucchini

Be sure to link up your favorite meatless meal! 

I'd love if you shared this post with other like-minded food lovers! 

Well, Christmas decorations are finally all down and put away for another year. I do keep the lights up in the front yard during the dark months though– so cheery and romantic to come home to a brightly lit front door. Every time we pull in the driveway I say, “Honey, look how pretty our house looks!” I never get tired of coming home. sigh. 

Hopefully Santa and the elves were good to you? I was fortunate to see lots of family over the holidays, my kids, my sister and her family, and even my parents from far away Florida. (Hi Mom and Dad!) We ate. We opened gifts. We sang carols around the piano. We ate some more. We laughed. And we played games….. and by ‘played games’  I mean marathon hours of Yahtzee, Dominoes, and Farkel.

My mom is trying to tell me an interesting story, but you can see I just want to play  more games. 

I got a professional knife sharpener and have already cut my fingers twice. Typical me.  I also received a lovely scarf and some books (“Chronicles of Downton Abbey” being a favorite.) My daughter gave me two copies of “Chickpea Magazine” and I must say it is a beautiful publication! This pizza comes from the Summer 2012 edition of the magazine.

Here’s what you need:

Your favorite pizza dough 

2 medium zucchini – one green, one yellow

16 oz tofu

Salt, pepper

3 T toasted pine nuts

¼ + 2 T Tofutti Cream Cheese

2-3 T olive oil

Here’s what you do:

Slice your veg super thin. Set aside. Make the cheese by blending the tofu, seasonings, pine nuts and cream cheese in a blender or food processor. Drizzle in the olive oil till smooth and beautiful. Spread the white cheese over the pizza dough in a very thin layer. Keep it thin or your dough will be soggy. I think there is plenty for three or four pizzas. Place the zucchinis in a pretty pattern over the white cheese and bake! You could sprinkle salt and pepper and herbs over the zucchini too. (450 degrees for 10 minutes….it really depends on how thick your pizza dough is.We like ours very, very thin.) EXCELLENT! 

(printable recipe)

Maple Syrup Roasted Tomatoes

Check out this beautiful meal I made my family over the holidays. I am pretty proud of these, I must admit. Four different vegan pizzas, all completely delicious. Try one today and fall in love with some new flavor combinations. I used this recipe for two of the pizzas. This is my favorite pizza dough recipe. (If you are interested in the pizza dough recipe, then you must know that there is a typo in the recipe.... leave a comment  here and I can clarify....other than the glaring error,  it's a perfect dough recipe! )  I'll share the recipe for the other two pizzas next Monday, so stay tuned! 

You could serve these lusciously sweet tomatoes over pasta, in salads and burritos, on garlic toast, with rice or just as a side dish to whatever else is on your plate.... they are EXCELLENT! (this recipe comes from Pam's Midwest Kitchen....thanks Pam!! ) 

Here’s what you need:

Grape or cherry tomatoes, halved

2 T maple syrup (no cheating …use the real stuff)

2 T olive oil

2 cloves garlic, minced

Salt, pepper, thyme

Here’s what you do:

Mix everything well in a bowl and pour out onto a foil lined baking sheet. Roast for about 20 minutes or longer  in a 400 degree oven. 

Tuscan White Bean Pizza with Roasted Tomato Aioli - Vegan

(recipe  based on Vegan on the Cheap, by Robin Robertson, Wiley, 2010)

Garlic. Canned beans. Store bought thin crust. Roasted tomatoes. Pesto. Beer. Friday night. Happiness.

Here’s what you need for the pizza:

One good quality store bought thin pizza crust. (I swear by Boboli brand.)

I actually have two homemade pizza crusts that I also swear by, one of them is on my other blog……

did you know I used to write another blog?

That’s ancient history, now, but there’s some great stuff over there.

Click here and here to see my favorite homemade pizza crusts.

Olive oil

Fresh garlic

15 ounce can of cannellini beans, drained and rinsed

Salt, pepper

1/3 vegetable stock

2 T nutritional yeast

Roasted tomatoes (mine came from the freezer)

Pesto (mine came from the freezer)

    (Olives, artichokes, spinach, fresh basil - the sky’s the limit when it comes to pizza toppings, right?)

Here’s what you need for the aioli:

1 pound Roma tomatoes

1 C water

½ C raw cashews

1 clove fresh garlic

Lemon juice

Salt, pepper and ¼ t liquid smoke

Here’s what you do for the aioli:

Quarter the tomatoes, remove the seeds, place cut sides up, drizzle with olive oil. Roast under the broiler until soft, but not too charred. Place all aioli ingredients in a high speed blender and watch what happens! Heat it over low heat.

I had my doubts before I put this in the oven,
 but now this pizza is in my regular dinner rotation. Try it! 

Here’s what you do for the pizza:

Mince and sauté the garlic until tender but not brown, over a very low heat. Add the drained and rinsed beans and stir around a bit. Season with salt and pepper. Add the vegetable broth and nutritional yeast. Smash the beans with a potato masher or fork.

Spread the bean layer on the crust. Top with the beautiful tomatoes and pesto. Bake. Spoon the Roasted Tomato Aioli over the slices. Eat. Drink beer. Enjoy Friday evening.

zucchini-crust pizza

Zucchini Crust Pizza
From the Moosewood Cookbook, 1992 edition, this is a most delicious and gourmet meal. I think even zucchini haters will love this one..... It is a little fussy to make and it takes some 'babysitting' while baking, but the end result is worth it. I've been making this for years and each time I do, it is more and more beautiful - practice makes perfect!

Here's what you need:
olive oil
2 C packed, grated zucchini
2 eggs, beaten
1/4 C flour
1/2 C grated mozzarella
1/2 grated Parmesan
1/2 t basil

extra cheese for topping the pizza crust and any other toppings you like - today we used just a bit more Parmesan, some crumbled Feta and fresh tomatoes.

Here's what you do:
Preheat oven 400 degrees
generously oil a baking sheet
Mix the crust ingredients well and with your fingers, shape the mixture into a 10 inch circle. It will seem very wet...
Bake for about 20 minutes.
Remove from oven and brush with a bit of olive oil - this will help brown the top. At this point, it's a good idea to use a metal spatula and loosen it a bit from the bottom.

Bake for about 20 more minutes - this is the 'babysitting' part. You want it nice and brown, but not burned - remember, you will bake it again with the toppings.

Keep using the metal spatula to keep it from sticking. 

When the crust is done, top is with a few simple toppings. It really doesn't need much because the crust is very flavorful. 

I usually make lots of these at one time and gently freeze them on wax paper lined baking sheets for a few hours. They then can be gently layered between wax paper and wrapped in plastic to go back to the freezer. 

pizza dough

Pizza Dough

I don't know about you, but I have tried almost every pizza dough known to man-kind! When I was first learning to cook, I preferred using the frozen bread dough. I have also used every kind of dough found in those tubes in the dairy section of the grocery store. Many people have shared their recipes with me.

Last night though, I think I found the PERFECT PIZZA DOUGH! My husband bought me a pizza cookbook for Christmas and I must admit that I have not really cracked it open much..... very intimidating.....

Well, he wanted to try pizza on the grill, so we jumped in! So, so glad we did - I will never use any other type of dough.

Make this on a day when you have plenty of time to be patient while the dough is rising and resting.

In food processor mix the following:

3 1/3 C all purpose flour

1/4 C whole-wheat flour (this must be the secret ingredient....)

1 pkg. quick-rise yeast

1 T sugar

1 T salt

Slowly add 1 1/4 C lukewarm water and 2 t olive oil.

Pulse until it all comes together in a 'mass.' I found that I had to add a few more tablespoons of water, but if you do this, add them in small amounts so the dough doesn't get too wet.

Let the dough rest for 10 minutes - I actually set a timer so I didn't rush it!

Then process the dough again for 30 seconds. It should be 'tacky' but not 'sticky.'

Put the dough in an oiled bowl, turning it all around so the entire mass is covered in oil.

Cover with plastic and let it rise for 1 1/2 hours.

Turn dough onto floured board, punch down, shape into 2 balls, cover and let them rest for 10 minutes. I suppose at this point you could put one of the doughs in a zipper bag and freeze it for later - each of these balls made two lovely pizzas.

Cut each ball in half, start in the middle and use your fingers to spread and coax the dough into your desired shape. Be patient. If it wants to 'shrink' back into itself, it needs more resting time. I actually got mine rather thin, which was so exciting!

Cover it again and let it rest for another 15 minutes. Brush with oil, season with salt and pepper and proceed to top it with your favorite goodies.

We put the oiled side down on a clean grill, flipped it over and topped it with sauce, fresh mozzarella and veggies. When the grill was closed it acted like an oven and melted the cheese. The result was a thin, chewy, toasty and perfectly satisfying pizza.

Many thanks to "Pizza and Other Savory Pies" by Brigit Binns for this great recipe!