Tag: pizza

Samosa Pizza

I have declared my love for pizza on here before. But I have never professed my loved for samosas. Delicious little fried pastries filled with veggies and spices then dipped in flavorful chutneys. What’s not to love? I am not a big fan of fried foods, but these are something special. I always order them at Indian restaurants and am heartbroken when I have share. So why would I not combine two of my culinary favorites?

This recipe makes 1 pizza.

Samosa Pizza

2 russet potatoes, peeled and chopped
1 tsb vegan butter, divided
1 large carrot, peeled and chopped
1/2 cup frozen peas
1/2 tsp cumin seeds
1/2 tsp fennel seeds
1 tsp coriander powder
1/4 tsp garam masala
1 tsp mango powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
1 ball of pizza dough, homemade or store bought is fine (try my recipe)
2 cloves of garlic, minced
1/4 tbs ginger, peeled and minced
4 tbs tamarind chutney (if you don’t happen to have a mother-in-law who makes some, it’s pretty easy to find in stores nowadays
Cilantro chutney (try my recipe)

Fill a large pot with cold water and add the potatoes.

Cover and bring to boil. Cook until the potatoes are soft enough for a fork to be easily inserted.

While that boils, in large skillet melt a little butter.

Add the chopped carrots. Cook until they begin to soften.

Add the frozen peas. Season with a little salt and pepper. Cook until heated through, then set aside.

When the potatoes are soft, drain well and set aside for the sec.

Return pot the potatoes boiled in the stove over medium heat, add the remaining butter and let it melt.

Add the cumin seeds and fennel seeds. Toast them for one minute.

Turn off the heat.

Add the potatoes back in and mash/mix in with the butter. Don’t mash until totally smooth, leave some chunks.

Mix in the coriander powder, garam masala, and mango powder.

Stir in the peas and carrots.

Preheat the oven to 500 degrees.

Roll out your pizza dough into your desired shaped. Place it in a pizza pan.

Pre-bake the pizza crust into the oven 7-10 minutes, just until they are lightly golden.

Remove the crust from the oven and let it cool a bit.

Spread on the tamarind sauce.

Now glob on potato mixture. Spread it in an even, thick layer.

Next sprinkle on the minced ginger and garlic.

Bake for another 5-7 minutes, until the crust is golden.

Top with the cilantro chutney, and some extra cilantro if desired.

This was soooo good. We devoured the whole pizza pretty quickly. I just realized I need to make this for my soon-to-be son one day because it incorporates two of his heritages–Indian and Italian.

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Deep Dish Pizza

Do you know how to make a food blogger very happy? Buy her a new stove!!!!

As you can see from the rust ring, the old
stove hadn’t been moved in over 60 years.

As I mentioned before, we moved into Michael’s grandparent’s old house and inherited all the old stuff that came with it. Including the original stove from the the 50s. It’s a nice stove and still works, but as Michael put it, “People have landed on the moon since this stove was made.” There was a good sale on end of the year clearance stuff at a local appliance store so we checked it out.

We got a GE 30″ Free-Standing Gas Convection Range, for around 45% off. It was delivered Friday and I was so excited! Finally burners that don’t need a lighter to light! A stove with a digital display and a working timer!

So for our inaugural meal, I decided to make a vegan deep dish pizza. I used a lot Daiya mozzarella, Tofurky Italian sausage, and lot of veggies. I made it in a 9×9 casserole pan since I don’t have a deep dish pan (and couldn’t find my cake pan). I like the square shape, the corner pieces had a crunchier crust.

Deep Dish Pizza
1 red onion, diced
1 cup white mushrooms, diced
1 yellow bell pepper, diced
1 meatless Italian sausage, diced (I used Tofurky)
1 ball of pizza dough (try my recipe)
1 cup of pizza sauce
1/4 cup cilantro leafs optional
1 cup fresh Spinach
1 cup dairy-free mozzarella cheese ( I used Daiya)
Red pepper flakes, optional

Pre-heat the oven to 375 degree.

Saute the red onions in a little olive oil until they soften.

Add the mushrooms and cook until they start to release their water.

Add the bell peppers. Cook until all the veggies are soft and slightly golden. Set the veggies aside.

Lightly brown the diced Italian sausage, set aside when done.

Lightly oil your baking pan.

Roll the pizza dough the shape of our pan (big enough to have it go at least half way up the sides too) and about 1/8 inch thick.

Place the dough in the pan and work it in gentle so it covers the bottom and the sides.

Spoon half the pizza sauce on to the dough.

Sprinkle on the cilantro, if using (it’s Michael loves it on everything).

Place the spinach in an even layer on top.

Now evenly spread the veggie mixture.

Then the diced sausage.

Pour on the rest of the sauce.

Lastly, sprinkle on the cheese.

Bake for 20 minutes until the sauce starts to bubble.

Turn the oven to broil and bake for 5 more minutes or so, until the cheese starts to get slightly golden (remember that vegan cheese does not get all bubbly, it will just burn).

Let this cool for a few minutes before you cut, it will be so much easier and stay in one piece.

Sprinkle with a little more cilantro and red peppers flakes if desired.

It’s not quite like an authentic Chicago deep dish, but that is probably for the best. As good as they are, they are insanely unhealthy. Michael pretty much inhaled this pizza, didn’t care that it was vegan at all. He was sad when I told him we finished the whole pan!

This was a great inaugural dish for my new stove. Can’t wait to make more delicious vegan food with it!

Roti Pizza

You can make mini or personal pizzaz on anything you like—tortillas, english muffins, and even slices of bread. I wanted a crunchy, cheesy lunch the other day, but working in a Southwest cafe made me want anything but a tortilla. Luckily I had roti in the fridge and thought I would give them a try. I discussed my failed homemade roti attempts before so I buy pre-made dough now.

I topped mine with tomato sauce, Daiya cheese and cut up tofurky sausage. You can top with whatever pizza toppings you desire. This makes two small pizza, but can be easily multiplied.



Roti Pizza
2 uncooked roti
1/4 cup pasta sauce
1/4 cup Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds
1 Tofurky Italian Sausage, cut into slices
Dry parsley and basil

Pre-heat the oven 450 degrees.

Place the roti on a baking sheet, without them touching.

Spread the pasta sauce evenly between the two roti.

Sprinkle the cheese on evenly between the two roti.

Lastly, top each roti with sausage slices.

Bake for 5-10 minuntes, until the cheese is melted. Like I have said before, vegan cheese does not get bubbly, so do not bake it for too long or it will burn.

Remove from the oven and sprinkle with the dried parsley and basil.

Let it cool a little before you enjoy!

Thin, crispy and light but topped with plenty of cheesy goodness. I have made an Indian pizza before and I think I am going to make a new version on roti soon.

The Gilroy Pizza

We are slowly starting to get the house into shape! We have TV but no internet yet. We will hopefully have it soon and then I will get back to posting regularly.

The other day Michael’s boss bought them Jake’s Pizza for lunch and he brought the leftovers home. There was one called the Gilory Special and it looked amazing. Ranch, mushrooms, sausage, chives and tons of garlic! I just had to make a healthier vegan version. I took off a few ingredients and used Annie’s Lite Goddess Dressing instead of ranch—and of course used vegan cheese and sausage.

For those of you not from Northern California (oh, it hurts my little Oregonian heart to say that I live here!) Gilroy is a city in southern Santa Clara County that is famous for its garlic crop. It grows other produce like mushrooms, artichokes and tomatoes—hence the name and toppings of the pizza.

The Gilroy Pizza
1 pre-baked pizza crust (try my recipe)
1/4 cup of creamy salad dressing (try a ranch or I used Annie’s Lite Goddess)
2-4 cloves of garlic minced, depending on taste
1/2 cup vegan mozzarella (I used Follow Your Heart)
1/2 cup sliced mushrooms
1/4 cup marinated artichoke hearts, chopped
1/4 of marinated red pepper, sliced
1/4 ground vegan sausage (I used Lightlife Gimme Lean Sausage)
Chives, chopped

Pre-heat the oven to 500 degrees.

Place the pre-baked pizza crust on pizza pan.

Spread the dressing over the crust.

Sprinkle on the garlic.

Cover with mozzarella.

Add the mushrooms, artichokes, and red peppers.

Crumble on the sausage.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until the heated through and the mushrooms are cooked. Once again, this is vegan cheese, it lacks casein so it will not get all bubbly. It will melt a little bit but will quickly burn if you leave it in too long.

Like my nifty 50s linoleum floor?

It’s creamy, it’s garlicky, and it’s full of veggies. What’s not to love!

Indian Inspired Pizza

I have toyed with the idea of making an Indian style pizza for awhile. Should it be on naan bread? Should I try to make my own naan bread? Cheese or no cheese? Curry sauce? Tomato sauce? I could never make-up my mind so I never made it. This Friday, I really wanted some curry spice for dinner so decided to just give it a try and tweak is next time I make it. I decided to make it on normal pizza dough for now, no cheese, and both curry and tomato sauce. It came out pretty good but I think naan bread would be better for next time.

Indian Inspired Pizza
1 ball of pizza dough (try mine)
1/2 cup hummus (try mine)
1/2 cup diced tomatoes
1/2 cup curry sauce (try mine)
1/4 cup frozen spinach
1/4 cup frozen corn

Pre-heat the oven to as high as it will go .

Microwave the frozen veggies and then stir in the curry sauce.  Set aside.

Roll the dough out into desire shape and thickness.

Spread on the hummus.

Pour on the diced tomatoes.

Lastly top with the veggies.











Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the crust is golden and the toppings are hot. 

I love the contrast between the spicy veggies and the creamy hummus. Went lovely with a glass of rosé. Next time I will attempt to make my own naan. 

Sweet Potato and Squash Pizza

I was too lazy to go the store to get ingredients for my friday night pizza, so I decided to use the random veggies I had in the fridge and freezer. Some frozen yellow squash, purple sweet potatoes, onion, and olives. Bit of a random assortment, so I decided to first sauté everything (except the olives) in olive oil, garlic, and Italian seasoning.

Sweet Potato and Squash Veggie Pizza
1 ball of pizza dough (try mine)
1/2 cup pizza sauce (try my mushroom sauce)
1/2 cup frozen sliced yellow squash
1-2 purple sweet potatoes (normal potatoes if you cannot yet purples), peeled and sliced
1/2 medium onion, sliced
1 clove of garlic
1 tbs Italian seasoning
Handful kalamata olives
1/2 cup vegan cheese (I used Daiya)

Pre-heat the oven to as high as it will go.

Cut the sweet potatoes into fairly thin slices. Slice the onions and chop the garlic too.

Heat some olive oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and some red rappers flakes if you want some kick. Add the onions and cook until they start to brown slightly.

Next add the sweet potatoes and cook until they start to brown too.

Add the squash and cook until no longer frozen.

Add the Italian seasoning and mix together well, then remove from the heat.

Next, roll the pizza dough out and shape into desire pan.

Spread on the tomato sauce.

Then the vegan cheese.

Next add the sautéed veggies and top with the kalamata olives.

Cook for 10-15 minutes or so, until the crust is golden.

I love the texture contrast between the sweet potatoes and cheese. It paired nicely with a glass of merlot.

"Cheesy" Breadsticks and Mushroom Sauce

I had pizza night last night because I have plans for tonight (Bad Geology Movie Night for the geology club, geeky I know) but I still wanted my pizza night. When I was about what kind of pizza to make, I thought of Pizza Hut, which made me think of its breadsticks. So I decided to make some. But, a big pile of cheesy bread is not a healthy dinner, so I decided to add some more veggies to sauce to add some more nutrients. There was sale on mushrooms at the store (99 cents a pound!) so I went with a mushroom sauce with some fresh basil from patio garden.

Mushroom Sauce
1 cup button or white mushrooms, de-stemed and diced
1/2 cup onion, chopped
1 clove of garlic, chopped
1/4 cup red wine (I used Pinot Noir)
1 can tomato sauce
Handful fresh basil, chopped
Red pepper flakes
Salt and pepper

Wash, de-stem, and dice the mushrooms. Chop the onion and garlic too.

Heat some olive oil in a pot over medium heat.

Add the mushrooms and cook until they release most of their water.

Add the onions and garlic. Cook until the onions begin soften and the mushroom water evaporates.

Add the wine to deglaze the pan. Scrape up the stuff up from the bottom.

Add the tomato sauce and stir well.

Add the red pepper flakes, salt, and pepper to taste.

Cook for a minutes so all the flavors come together.

Take it off the heat and add the chopped basil.

This would be lovely over pasta, but it’s an even better dipping sauce for breadsticks…

“Cheesy” Breadsticks
1 pre-made pizza dough (try mine)
Italian Seasoning
Garlic salt
Vegan mozzarella cheese (I used Daiya)

Pre-heat the oven to as high as it will go and spray a pizza pan with cooking spray.

Roll your pizza dough into a rectangle. This dough I made last week and froze.


Cut into about 1 inch strips.

Arrange the strips on the pizza pan.

Sprinkle with desired amounts of Italian seasoning and garlic salt.

Top with desired amount of mozzarella.

If you want some extra flavor and crunch, you could brush on some olive oil before you put the toppings on.

Bake for about 10 minutes, until the dough is slightly golden. I like mine on the softer side but you can bake them longer if you want more crunch.


I had my breadsticks and mushroom sauce with a side of olives for bit more salt. And of course the rest of my Pinot Noir.

Warning, this dinner may attract your new 9-month old kitty.
Meet Penny, got her from an animal sanctuary on Tuesday. 

Kale Pesto Pizza

I haven’t done a pizza post in a while, just haven’t had the time. But the one I made last night was amazing. I used the Kale Pesto from my Halloween Taco Rice Bowl post as the sauce, with some caramelized onions.  And I used the always delicious Daiya cheese. I didn’t blind bake this one because I was lazy. I just made sure my oven was as hot as I could get it first. The key to a good crust is high heat and as little time in the oven as possible.

Kale Pesto Pizza
1 pizza crust (try mine)
1/2 cup kale pesto (try mine)
1/2 cup Daiya mozzarella
1/2 an onion, cut into slices and caramelized
1/4 cup Kalamata olives, chopped

Pre-heat the oven as high it will go, mine was set to 500 degrees.

Roll out and shape your pizza into a pizza pan.

Top with the pesto.

Sprinkle on the cheese.

Add the caramelized onions.

Top with the olives. I suggest buying pitted ones, it was a pain to pit these.

Bake for 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden. Once again, this a non-dairy cheese so it will not get bubble. But Daiya cheese does melt so don’t worry.

It went nicely with a glass pinot noir (thanks for the suggestion mom).

Parents’ 27th Anniversary Dinner, Part 2: Antipasto and Pizza

Sorry it took a couple days to post part two of my parents’ anniversary dinner, I got distracted spending time with my family. The dinner was delicious and my parents were very happy. My brother had to work, so it sadly was not a family dinner. I made an antipasto platter with some marinated veggies, and provolone and prosciutto. I didn’t eat the meat and cheese, that was for my parents. Like I’ve said before, if you are crazy oversensitive about veganism, no one will like you. If you don’t ever let others have meat or dairy near you, they just won’t have you around. I like eating meals with my family and friends, so I just let it go. Just because they are eating meat and cheese, doesn’t mean you have to.

Anyways, I also made them a pizza margarita with real fresh mozzarella and fresh basil from my mom’s garden.  For myself, I made two mini pizzas. One was a based on a recipe I saw in Cooking Light for a Summer Veggie Pizza with fresh grilled veggies. The second was a fake BBQ chicken pizza. There was small oven-transferring accident for the summer pizza so I do not have a final picture of pie, but I promise it was good.

I must confess, I did not make the pizza dough. I had so much stuff to make, the last thing I wanted to do was watch yeast proof. I also did not pre-bake the dough this time because my mom has a pizza stone so the oven gets hot enough to make a crunchy crust the first time.


Pizza Margarita (Non-Vegan)
1 ball of pizza dough
1 cup tomato sauce (I made my own, I’ll post the recipe sometime)
2 medium balls of fresh mozzarella
2 medium roma tomatoes
Handful of fresh basil

Pre-heat the oven as high it will go. If you have a pizza stone, pop it in too.

Roll the pizza dough out into desired shape and thickness.

Spread on the tomato sauce.

Cut the mozzarella balls and the tomatoes into semi-thin slices.

Place on the mozzarella slices, then top with the tomatoes.

Next lay on the basil leafs. I left them whole but you can chop them up too.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the crust is golden and the cheese is bubbly.

My parents said the pizza was delicious. They almost forgot to save my brother a few pieces!

Summer Pizza

1 red pepper
8 asparagus stalks 
1/4 of a small red onion
1 ear of corn 

1 ball of pizza dough
1 tbs olive oil
1 clove garlic, chopped
Salt
1/2 cup vegan mozzarella (I used Daiya)
Fresh basil

Roast the red pepper, either on the grill or under the broiler, until the skin blackens. Once it is cooled, peel off the brunt skin. Then remove the stem and seeds, then chop into strips. Add to a small bowl.

Roast the asparagus, once again either grill or broiler,  just until tender. Chop into 1/2 inch pieces.  Add to the bowl.

Remove the corn from the bowl. I suggest doing this in the bowl so the kernels do not fly everywhere.

Cut the onion into slices. Add to the bowl and mix together.

Pre-heat oven as high it will go. If you have a pizza stone, throw it in too.

Roll the dough out into desired shape and thickness.

Spread the olive oil and garlic on the dough, season with some salt.

Top with the veggie mixture.

Sprinkle on the cheese and top with the fresh basil.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the crust is golden and crunchy. Because it is non-dairy cheese, it will not get bubbly so do not leave it in too long.

Like I said, this pizza had a small accident but what remained was so good. I am so making this pizza again.

BBQ “Chicken” Pizza
1 ball of pizza dough (I use half since it was a mini pizza)
1 cup vegan chicken strips (I used MorningStar Farms)
1/4 white onion, sliced
1/2-3/4 cup BBQ sauce (depending on taste, I like mine saucy but my mom said it was bit much)
1/2 cup vegan mozzarella (I used Daiya)

Pre-heat oven as high as it can go. Once again, if you have pizza stone, throw it in.

In a large bowl, mix together the onion slices, chicken strips, and BBQ sauce together well.

Roll the dough out to desired shape and thickness.

Spread the BBQ mixture onto the dough and top with the cheese.

Bake for 10-15 minutes, until the crust is golden. Once again, the cheese is not dairy so it will not get bubbly.

I had been craving a BBQ pizza and this was exactly what I wanted. So simple but so good.

Love you mom and dad! May you have many many more anniversaries to come!

Beer Crust Hawaiian Pizza

After about a month of conflicting schedules, my friends Rick and Kyla finally made it over from Kona to come visit me. It was nice to seem them and nice to have someone to cook for for once.

Awhile ago I saw a recipe for a pizza beer pizza crust. I can’t remember where I found it, but it was called something like “lazy single guy pizza crust” and that is essentially what it is. Just dump a some beer into flour and there you go. I was curious and decided to give it a try. The recipe claimed it would rise a little bit after 10 minutes, but it lied. It was still good though. It tasted just like a normal dough recipe, yeasty favor and all. It was a a little denser and chewier, but no big deal if you like thick crust.  Overall I liked it and it was definitely easy to make. I used Long Board from Kona Brewing Company because it’s awesome and thought it would be nice to use something local.

I made one Hawaiian pizza, topped with fresh pineapple that Rick brought and vegan ham from Yves (the store was out of vegan Canadian bacon but it’s same thing really), and one veggie with my usual toppings so refer to my Veggie Pizza post for those.

Both were cheese-less but topped with hummus instead. And, I am finally including my hummus recipe in this post. And yeah, I know traditional hummus has tahini and other fancy stuff, but this basic recipe is still good and easy to make (how many people really keep tahini in the house on a regular basis, let alone a single college girl?) And, I used a store-bought sauce this time because I had some on hand.

Easy Hummus (makes enough for 2 pizzas plus extra):
2 cans garbanzo beans, drained and rinsed
2 tbs olive oil
1 tbs Ener-g Egg Replacer
Red pepper flakes, to taste
Pinch of salt and pepper
1/2-1 cup water, ass needed


Beer Pizza Crust (makes 2 pizzas):
4 cups all purpose flour
22 fl. oz. of bottle of beer
1 tbs olive oil
1 tbs salt

Hawaiian Pizza:
1 beer crust, unbaked
3/4 cup hummus
1/2 cup tomato sauce
Vegan Canadian bacon (Try Yves), chopped
1/2 cup pineapple, chopped

For the hummus, throw everything into the blender and blend until smooth. I suggest adding the water in slowly as needed to help it come together so it doesn’t get too runny.

It may not be traditional, but tastes just as good to me.

The crust is just as easy. Pre-heat the oven to 500 degree Fahrenheit.

In a large bowl, add the flour. Next add the oil and salt. Then pour in the beer slowly. Add a little bit at a time and mix well before adding more. Depending on climate, you may need more or less. I actually needed a little less then the whole bottle. It is ready when it’s slightly tacky but moist.

Since it doesn’t need to rise, it’s time to knead. Sprinkle some flour on a clean surface and knead gently. Don’t over work it, just till it’s smooth and workable. Roll the dough into the shape of pizza pan. Transfer to your pan and shape to fit. If it tears, just mold it back together.

Time to top. Spread the hummus on in an even thick layer.

Spread the tomato sauce on top.

Then finally top it with the Canadian bacon and pineapple.

Bake for 15-20 minutes, until the crust is all golden and crunchy.

It was so nice to share lovely vegan food with lovely friends! Thanks for coming guys!