Homemade Vegan Pizza

I am a downright pizza FIEND! It is one of my favorite foods, hands down.  So, as much as I adore pizza, it just makes sense to know that I indeed know how to make it vegan... from scratch!

Vegan Mozzarella & Tomato Pizza

How to make the dough:

Ingredients:

-3 Cups of All-purpose Flour
-1 1/2 - 2 Cups of warm (not hot) water
-2 Tablespoons of Olive Oil
-1/2 teaspoon Salt
-2 teaspoons Sugar
-1/4 teaspoon Garlic Salt
-1 Teaspoon Italian Seasoning
-1/4 teaspoon Onion Powder
-1 package of instant active yeast (about 1 & 1/2 teaspoons of yeast)


Directions:

Pre-heat the oven to 425 F.  In a large bowl, put all the dry ingredients in a mix around.  Make a little funnel in the middle of the dry ingredients and slowly pour in 1 Cup of the warm water.  Pour the yeast into the water.  Mix it around with a spatula for now.  (We will get our hands in there soon enough!)  The dough should still be be crumbly at this point.  Add 1 tablespoon of olive oil (set aside the other tablespoon for later).  Mix in the olive oil with the spatula or spoon.  Slowly add in a little more water until the dough is no longer crumbly and becomes a little more sticky.

Now its time to get your hands in there.  Make sure they're clean first.  lol  Start kneading the dough, roughly.  Work out some aggression here!  Smack it around, punch it, pinch it, squeeze it.  Do this for only 3 minutes.  Roll the dough into a little round ball. Spray some plastic wrap with non-stick cooking spray.  Put the dough ball in the bowl and cover with the plastic wrap spray-side down.  Place the bowl near the stove so it can get some warmth from the oven.  Let dough rest for 10-15 minutes while you prepare the toppings.

Vegan Mozzarella and Tomato Pizza:


Prepare all of your toppings, making sure to slice very thinly, especially the tomatoes.

Get your dough ball and start gently stretching and pulling at it until it forms a round thin disc to your liking.  Using the pizza pan you plan to cook it on helps in stretching out the dough if you press the dough with your hands onto it and get the shape and size right.  I don't use rolling pins on my pizza dough, just my hands.

Spread a very thin layer of vegan pizza sauce or marinara onto the pizza to 1/2 inch from the edge.  Place veggies in a thin layer.  Place shredded Daiya mozzarella on top. Take the olive oil we set aside and brush the outer crust with it.  Put pizza in the oven and cook for 15-18 minutes.  Remove pizza from oven.  Allow it to cool for a few minutes!  That is important as we don't want the ingredients to slide off while we try to slice it.  5 minutes should be long enough to cool.  Slice pizza and serve.  Enjoy!

Easy Peasy Vegan Pasta Salad

It's summer time and boy has it been a scorcher out there! Here is a refreshing, light and easy recipe I made up for pasta salad.

Renny's Easy Peasy Vegan Pasta Salad

Ingredients:

-A Bag of assorted pasta (shells, wheels, swirlies... the more fun it is the better)
-A Bottle of you favorite Vegan Italian Dressing
-A Small can of Sliced Black Olives (Drained)
-Vegan Pepperoni or Salami (optional)
-1 Med. Tomato, chopped
-1 Med. Sweet Onion, chopped
-A handful of Sugar Peas (optional)
-1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil
-1 teaspoon of Salt

Directions:

Fill a large pot with water about 3/4 of the way to the top. Pour in the olive oil and salt and bring it just to a boil. Pour in the pasta, being careful not to splash yourself! Boil until the pasta is tender (about 5-7 mins. of rapid boiling). Cut the vegan pepperoni or salami into little strips. The best way to do this is use the pre-sliced, stack up several and slice them in strips.

Remove pasta from heat and drain. In a large bowl pour in pasta, tomatoes, onions, peas, and black olives. Pour the whole bottle of Italian Dressing over everything and mix it well. Cover with plastic wrap and place it in the refrigerator to chill for at least an hour or two.

To be quite honest, it smells so good that I never can wait for it to chill before having some! It doesn't last long around my house.

Let me know if you try my recipe and what you think about it. How did you modify it and what worked for you or didn't.

Thanks for reading my blog! Until next time... Eat, Live, and Be Happy!