Vegan pizza night at the Smiths is a weekly occurrence. Melty, stretchy, gooey, cashew-based mozzarella on dough that has been rising during the day and fresh tomato sauce that bubbled on the stove prior, all homemade. And yet, with just a little prep ahead of time, this recipe comes together fast and is gobbled up even quicker. In our search for the best homemade pizza, this combo of recipes has won our tummies over and we are happy to share what we’ve learned over the years, so let’s dive into this dish!
The Dough (Prep ahead)
First off, we start with our dough. We typically write out a meal schedule for the week on Sundays and pizza night usually falls on Friday or Saturday. However, if no plan has been made until the day of for pizza, well you just need to mix the dough by noon to make pizza night come together. We use Elephantastic Vegan’s Basic Pizza Dough recipe because it is so simple! Add all the ingredients to our mixer, mix, and then put in a bowl to rise. Boom. Super simple so we can get on with our day. I am blessed with a magical oven that actually has a bread proofing setting, so I just pop our dough in the oven at 85 degrees Fahrenheit for 3-4 hours to make our happy dough.
In addition to the dough, soak your cashews when you start your dough (see mozzarella below).
The BEST Pizza Sauce Recipe
For the tomato sauce, I’ve created my own mixture of goodness with shallots, fresh minced garlic, coconut sugar, and fresh-picked oregano and thyme. However, what really sets it off is Penzey’s FROZEN Pizza Seasoning blend. This stuff is pure magic, folks. Click here for our recipe!
The Melty, Stretchy, Gooey Mozzarella (soak cashews ahead)
Start soaking cashews when you make your dough (I always double our cheese recipe because we devour this throughout the week). This recipe is phenomenal because you throw everything in a blender, then add to a pot on the stove and in just minutes of stirring, you have delicious cheese that we eat regularly. Here’s the recipe: It Doesn’t Taste Like Chicken’s Melty Stretchy Gooey Vegan Mozzarella
The Toppings:
Fresh basil, spinach, fresh minced garlic, steamed and sliced potatoes, broccoli, zucchini, the list goes on!! Depending on the season, we pull fresh ingredients from the garden to add to our weekly pizza.
Tempeh
We crumble tempeh and cook it with about 1/2 tsp liquid smoke, 1 tsp soy sauce, 1/2 tsp paprika, and a splash of water to let it all simmer. Once all of these ingredients absorb, we sprinkle about 1 tsp maple syrup for a sweet and salty crumble on our pizza.
Mushrooms
We simply slice up some mushrooms and add to a pan with a splash of water, 1 tbsp soy sauce, and about 5-7 drops liquid smoke. Let them cook down and add as a smoky topping.
There you have it! Vegan pizza night at the Smiths is a highlight for us, and a go-to dish when having friends over as both vegans and non-vegans alike love this pizza! We hope you enjoy and let us know any questions or comments below.
Smiles,
Melissa Smith
Oh and Pro-Tip – Buffalo sauce. Add buffalo sauce for a heavenly slice. Enjoy <3!
