Rich's vegan pizza. (We split the dough into two, thus it looks like half a pizza..which it kind of is!) |
Who needs a pizza cutter? Just use a knife, pffft! |
My pizza |
..with everything on it.. |
Check out that crust! So crispy and thin. <3 |
A little Caesar dressing for dipping. Yum! |
It's been a long, long, long time since I've made pizza. When I make pizza, the crust has to be from scratch. HAS TO BE. I'm not being a crust snob or anything, I just don't want to pay $2 for a single portion of pre-made raw dough. Ha! I used a single packet of yeast ($1), flour ($1), salt/sugar/olive oil (50¢), a couple cloves of garlic (20¢) and water to make four large dough balls. Each ball of dough makes a large sized pizza, enough for two adults. Do the math, the answer is simple; make your own pizza dough! It's super easy. So much so, that I don't even use a recipe. There are many recipes out there and they are all similar. Google that shit! "Best pizza dough recipe" works. Adding "best" before any recipe search will result in goodness...most of the time. ;)
All I can tell you is, for a nice flavourful dough, make it a couple days in advance and let it chill in the fridge to develop goodness. You could use it the day of, but it's not the same. Take it out 2 hours before using it to let it rise! That's all, really. Oh and crank your oven to it's highest temperature. A pizza stone works, but I don't have one. A pizza pan (with holes all over the bottom) is great and if you don't have that, a cookie sheet. Though it's harder to get a crispy bottom this way. Solution! As soon as the dough on the bottom is dry, slide it off of the cookie sheet and bake it just like that on the oven rack. Make sure the heat is coming from the bottom element, not the top. Perfection!
Toppings I used: Spinach, pineapple (which something I'm making myself enjoy on pizza. It's working!), ham, vegan peperoni (lol), zucchini, red bell pepper, onions, mushrooms and mozzarella cheese. I was going got a...Hawiian and more kind of thing.
Toppings Rich used: Vegan pepperoni, red bell peppers, zucchini, mushrooms, like 3 pieces of onion and Peproncini Piccanti from Terroni's.
If you're not a "make it at home" person or you just want good pie and now that I've mentioned Terroni, I must say they make some of the best pizza. Like...real pizza. I haven't eaten there in awhile, but if you get the chance, go. Sure it might cost you $13.95 for dough slathered in tomato sauce with a couple of basil leaves on top (no cheese, it's vegan)...but the way it's cooked that makes it!
My favourites are the Li Pecuri with
tomato, mozzarella, goat cheese, sun dried tomatoes, arugola, parmigiano for $16.95. Or the Santo Spirito with tomato, fior di latte, anchovies, cherry tomatoes, capers for $15.95. I like strong flavours. Enjoy!