Pizza is no doubt one of my favorite foods on the planet. I love every aspect of pizza including the crispy crust, tangy tomato sauce, creamy cheese, and endless toppings. I could eat pizza any time of the day and in any form. A classic New York style pizza pie is my usual go-to, but I would never turn down pizza bagels, pizza pockets, or deep-dish pizza. I attribute my love for pizza to my family. Growing up, Friday nights in the Pan household typically meant pizza nights. My dad usually picked up a large cheese pie from the local pizzeria in Brooklyn and we would just eat and bond over good food. Just reminiscing about my childhood makes me crave pizza. This week, I’ve been especially craving pizza. Whenever I crave pizza, I usually go for New York style pizza (mostly because I grew up eating New York style pizza). In my early twenties, I lived and worked in Chicago and became exposed to the most delightful deep dish pizza. Deep dish pizza was substantially different from New York style pizza, but tasted just as good. I continued the tradition of Friday night pizza at Giordano’s on Halsted during the time I lived in Chicago. I would meet up with friends to catch up on life while eating the most splendid Chicago style pizza. Recently, I’ve been experimenting with a vegan version of pizza. Ever since I started on a plant-based nutrition certificate program earlier this month, I’ve committed myself to sticking with a plant-based diet for at least the duration of the certificate program. Throughout this process, I’ve been recreating vegan versions of my absolute favorite foods such as my coconut chocolate chunk scones. I didn’t think I could create yet another version of pizza which hasn’t already been created somewhere out in the world, but over the weekend, I made the most crave worthy vegan tomato pesto pizza using absolutely zero dairy products. My vegan tomato pesto pizza featured pesto, dairy-free cheese, and tomatoes. To my absolute surprise, the vegan tomato pesto pizza turned out even better than I expected. The base for my vegan pesto had whole almonds, kosher salt, freshly cracked black pepper, fresh basil, olive oil, and nutritional yeast. I threw all of the ingredients into a food processor and blended everything together until it resembled the pesto I remember eating growing up. I generously spread the pesto onto my pizza dough, topped the pizza with some vegan cheese and grape tomatoes, popped the pizza into the oven, and waited anxiously for the oven to work its magic. Ten minutes later, the pizza was ready for devouring. The biggest test was to see if Kevin (an absolute meat lover) would consider the vegan pizza comparable to non-vegan pizza. I could tell Kevin was skeptical based on the look on his face when I served the pizza. Despite his reservations, he tried the pizza and actually enjoyed it. He described the vegan tomato pesto pizza as different, but surprisingly good. I did make a back up pizza featuring Italian sausage, mozzarella cheese, and tomato sauce just in case he didn’t like the vegan pesto pizza. We were both pleasantly surprised by the complexity of flavors in the vegan tomato pesto pizza and almost ate the entire pie in one sitting.
For the dough:
· 2½ cups all-purpose flour, plus additional for kneading the dough
· 1 teaspoon active dry yeast
· 1 teaspoon kosher salt
· 1 teaspoon fine sugar
· ¾-1 cup water
· 2 teaspoons olive oil
· 1 tablespoon olive oil
For the vegan pesto:
· ¼ cup whole almonds
· 3 cloves garlic
· ¼ teaspoon kosher salt
· ¼ teaspoon freshly cracked black pepper
· 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
· 8 sprigs fresh basil
· 2-3 tablespoons olive oil
For the rest of the pizza:
· 6-8 grape tomatoes, halved
· 2-3 ounces dairy free mozzarella style shreds
Directions:
1) Prepare the pizza dough the evening before. In a large bowl, combine the flour, yeast, salt, and sugar. Stir to combine all ingredients. Gradually add in ¾ cup of water to the mixture. Begin kneading the dough. Gradually add more water if needed. Add the two teaspoons of olive oil. Knead the dough for 5-10 minutes directly in the large bowl or on a lightly floured surface. Drizzle the tablespoon of olive oil into the large bowl. Coat the dough in the olive oil and let it rest in the bowl. Place a sheet of plastic wrap over the bowl. Let the dough rise undisturbed overnight.
2) In the morning, preheat oven to 500°F. Place a sheet of parchment paper over a pizza peel. Divide the dough in half. Reshape both halves into a ball. Place one of the balls of dough onto the parchment lined pizza peel. Save the other ball of dough to use later (or right after). Using a rolling pin, roll out the dough on the pizza peel.
3) In a food processor, blend together the almonds, garlic, salt, black pepper, nutritional yeast, fresh basil, and two tablespoons of olive oil. Pulse the ingredients together until the pesto begins to form, about a minute. Scrap down the sides of the food processor. Add the remaining tablespoon of olive oil. Blend for another 30 seconds.
4) Add the pesto and spread all over the pizza dough in circles starting from the center. Distribute the halved grape tomatoes evenly over the pizza. Top the pizza with the dairy free mozzarella style shreds. Gently glide the pizza and parchment paper onto the pizza stone and cook for 10-12 minutes.
5) Remove the pizza from the oven once the cheese begins to melt and the crust begins to puff and crisp up. Top with some freshly cracked black pepper and serve.
Takeaways: I had some leftover pesto after making my tomato pesto pizza. I saved the remaining pesto to make stuffed mushrooms the next day. The pesto is also great for a making quick pasta. As pizza is a very versatile dish, feel free to swap in any toppings of your choosing (such as mushrooms).