Vegan Pizza

Pizza night is one of my favorites. We make everything from scratch, so it can be labor-intensive, but you could buy pre-made crust and sauce to cut down on steps. We've got our routine down-pat: I make the dough and sauce in the late afternoon, let it rise & simmer, and then Jason rolls it out and puts it all together in the evening. It took us about a year of experimenting, now this is the most delicious pizza I've ever tasted!

two-toned delicious vegan pizza
left: tomatoes, peppers, basil, onion
right: tomatoes, onions, capers, olives, vegan cheese

Pizza Dough:
1tbsp dry active yeast
1tsp sugar
1 1/3 cups warm water
3 1/4 cups flour (I use organic white flour)
1tsp salt (I like sea salt)
pepper
3 tsp olive oil

Combine yeast and sugar in a measuring cup, add warm water (I use hot tap water), set aside until it bubbles, 10 minutes.

Stir together flour, salt & pepper. Add 2 tsp of olive oil. Pour in yeast mixture. Mix well, adding extra flour if necessary, until the dough forms a ball. You might want to put oil on your hands before mixing, so that the dough doesn't stick to your fingers. Knead the dough for 10 minutes, folding it and pressing it down again.

Place the ball of kneaded dough in a lightly oiled bowl, coat dough with olive oil, cover with a towel. Set aside in a warm area (if you've got something baking in the oven, you can place it on top of the stove), until its doubled in size (approximately one hour).

Punch down dough, knead for a couple minutes, adding flour to keep from sticking. Cut dough in half to make two crusts. If you'd like to freeze one, put it in a large baggie and put it in the freezer for next time (when you're ready to use it, you'll need to let it thaw for a couple of hours).

Roll dough to fit baking sheet (to your desired thickness), rolling from center out to the sides. Place the dough on a lightly oiled pan and let it rise for 10 minutes. Add your favorite toppings.
Recipe adapted from Moosewood Restaurant New Classics

Tomato Sauce:
1 can tomatoes
1 can tomato paste
garlic
herbs (rosemary, oregano, basil)

Combine ingredients in a large pot. Simmer 10-60 minutes (the longer you simmer the thicker the sauce).

Toppings:
tomatoes
fresh basil
peppers
onion
vegan cheese (Jason likes 'daiya' mozzarella style shreds)
capers
olives
etc...