You'll see that this pizza was actually a combination of three recipes: pizza crust, veggie pizza and tofu ricotta. The best part? Three different sources. Let's get to the pizza!
First the dough. I scoured Allrecipes and finally decided on Pizza Dough III.
Pizza Dough III
from All Recipes
Ingredients:
1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
2 cups bread flour (I used all purpose)
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 teaspoons white sugar
Preparation:
In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.
In a large bowl, combine 2 cups bread flour, olive oil, salt, white sugar and the yeast mixture; stir well to combine. Beat well until a stiff dough has formed. Cover and rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes. Meanwhile, preheat oven to 350 degrees F (175 degrees C).
Turn dough out onto a well floured surface. Form dough into a round and roll out into a pizza crust shape. Cover with your favorite sauce and toppings and bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 20 minutes.
Tine's Notes: What I love about making your own crust is that you can flavor it yourself. I added 1 tsp of basil leaves and 1 1/2 tsp of oregano. Those are the flecks in my dough
So I wanted pizza and had no tomatoes or sauce in sight. And I wasn't going to the grocery store. I googled alternatives to pizza sauce and found this Tofu Basil Ricotta recipe. I adapted it for what I had on hand and I have to say, I am totally doing this from now on.
Tofu Ricotta
adapted from Food.com
Ingredients:
1/2 package firm tofu, drained and pressed
1 tbsp lemon juice (about 1/2 lemon)
2 tsp olive oil
1 tsp garlic salt
black pepper, to taste
Preparation:
Crumble tofu in a small bowl until consistency is of ricotta cheese. Add lemon juice, oil and salt. Add black pepper to taste. Mix well. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.
Tine's Notes: The original recipe called for basil leaves, garlic and nutritional yeast. I already had seasoned my dough so I decided not to add anything else. I didn't have nutritional yeast available either. I used the entire serving to top my pizza dough. Turns out, I should have pressed my tofu a little more as it was just a tad runny.
I have made vegetable pizza before, but with some different vegetables. And finally the actually toppings for my veggie pizza: celery, bell pepper, red bell pepper, onion, broccoli, mushrooms and spinach. I also did a sprinkling of Italian cheese blend. I added the spinach about 8 minutes before I took the pizza out of the oven. You want them to be just wilted.
What I love the most is that homemade pizzas are never drowning in oil thus my stomach does not get upset at me. And I definitely don't feel guilty for indulging in this veggie goodness.
