Vegetarian/Vegan Pizza (No Cheese)

WI Cheesehead's Note:

This is from my dad, who developed some vegan recipes after my sister became a vegan. This doesn't have any cheese, and you don't miss it.

• Total Time: 1 hrs 32 mins
• Prep Time: 1 hrs 15 mins
• Cook Time: 17 mins

Ingredients:

Yield: 8 slices

Crust

• 1 (¼ ounce) package active dry yeast
• 1 teaspoon sugar
• 1 cup warm water (110-120 deg. F)
• 2 ½ cups white flour

Pizza Toppings

• 1 ounce fresh basil
• 4 tablespoons olive oil
• 3 garlic cloves , crushed
• 3 tablespoons ketchup
• 2 tablespoons pine nuts
• 1 tablespoon lemon juice
• 3 Italian plum tomatoes , sliced
• 2 cups mushrooms , thick sliced
• 1 medium onion , cut in half and sliced

Directions:

1. Mix water, yeast and sugar and let stand 10 minutes to start bubbling.
2. Add flour to yeast mix and blend well.
3. Place in a greased or oiled bowl, and cover with a warm damp cloth.
4. Allow to rise in a warm place until double in bulk, around 1 hour.
5. Punch down dough and pat out onto an oiled (or cornmeal dusted) pizza pan to form the crust.
6. Bake in a preheated 450° F oven for 7 minutes. Crust may be refrigerated or frozen at this point. If using right away, turn oven down to 350°F.
7. Place olive oil, basil, garlic, ketchup, pine nuts, and lemon juice in blender and process until smooth.
8. Spread mixture onto baked pizza crust evenly.
9. Add tomatoes, mushrooms and onions (or whatever you like, really) and bake at 350° for 10 minutes.

Reviews

[White Rose Child]

This is a tasty, very different kind of pizza. I used our usual whole-wheat crust and added a little green pepper with the other toppings. I liked it, but felt that the ketchup (which doesn't seem to belong on a pizza) really overpowered the more delicate flavors of basil and pine nuts. Kind of a shame, when basil is so expensive to buy for us. Still a good recipe- thanks for posting!

[Kumquat the Cat's friend]

Right, I didn't even miss the cheese! The best thing about this recipe was that my BF liked it too, and he hates basil:D All ground up in a pesto, and maybe its not being green either, he ate it up. Silly! Instead of mushrooms, which I don't eat, I added olives and artichoke hearts, our favorite pizza toppings. I substituted 3 tablespoons water for 3 of the tablespoons olive oil with no apparent ill effect. Everything else was the same. This was the first time I ever made pizza crust myself! It came out nicely, but next time I'll buy the crust, it's faster for a weekday night:D