Last night we made vegan pizza for the first time and we have to admit, we were skeptical at first. We decided to go the healthier route for pizza because we're trying to eat better since we have a very, um....select pallet. By select pallet we mean we love pasta and cookies waaaaay too much. Okay moving on.

We Googled some vegan pizza recipes and settled on one that we have to say, was absolutely delicious. It was from Minimilist Baker, a favorite food website of ours. Why don't we get right to it?

Ingredients

PIZZA

1/2 of one Trader Joe’s garlic-herb pizza crust (or half of this homemade recipe or this gluten-free recipe)
1/2 cup each red, green, and orange bell pepper, loosely chopped
1/3 cup red onion, chopped
1 cup button mushrooms, chopped
1/2 tsp each dried or fresh basil, oregano, and garlic powder
1/4 tsp sea salt

SAUCE

1 15-ounce can tomato sauce OR 6-ounce can tomato paste (organic when possible)
1/2 tsp each dried or fresh basil, oregano, garlic powder, granulated sugar
Sea salt to taste (~1/4 tsp)

TOPPINGS

1/2 cup vegan parmesan cheese
Red pepper flake + dried oregano

Instructions

Preheat oven to 425 degrees F (218 C) and position a rack in the middle of the oven.
Bring large skillet to medium heat. Once hot, add 1 Tbsp olive oil, onion and peppers. Season with salt, herbs and stir. Cook until soft and slightly charred – 10-15 minutes, adding the mushrooms in the last few minutes. Set aside.
Prepare sauce by adding tomato sauce to a mixing bowl and adding seasonings and salt to taste. Adjust seasonings as needed. Set aside. Note: If using tomato paste, add water to thin until desired consistency is reached.
Prepare vegan parmesan if you haven’t already by blitzing raw cashes, sea salt, nutritional yeast and garlic powder in a food processor until a fine meal is reached. Transfer to jar and refrigerate to keep fresh.
Roll out dough onto a floured surface and transfer to a parchment-lined round baking sheet. You’re going to add the pizza WITH the parchment directly to the oven to properly crisp the crust, so any round object will do as it’s not actually going into the oven (I use a wood board).
Top with desired amount of tomato sauce (you’ll have leftovers, which you can store in a jar for later use), a sprinkle of parmesan cheese and the sautéed veggies.
Use the baking sheet to gently slide the pizza directly onto the oven rack WITH the parchment underneath. Otherwise it will fall through.
Bake for 17-20 minutes or until crisp and golden brown.
Serve with remaining parmesan cheese, dried oregano and red pepper flake. Leftovers keep well – no need to reheat! Cold pizza is yum.

We used vegan mozzarella cheese from Publix (instead of parmesan cheese), the Daiya Foods brand, and it was so good. We couldn't tell that it wasn't really cheese and PJ commented that the pizza reminded him of cornbread (??). Not sure how he made that connection but he liked it, so it's a win in our book!

Also, it's best served with an entire bottle of wine (for two to share, of course) and Bossa Nova radio playing while you make it/eat it. Hope you enjoy it as much as we did. xoxo