Pizza is something most people love, but for vegans pizza needs to be made with vegan cheese, which sometimes leaves a lot to be desired. The alternative is easy, simply make a pizza without cheese and let the choice of toppings create such a taste sensation that nobody will miss the cheese.
I make my pizza dough once or twice a month and the recipe makes 3 bases. So, I freeze 2, which means that I’ve always got bases in the freezer to produce a quick dinner. The recipe for the base is here on Hive, so just follow the link so that you can make a really easy base that takes no time at all to do.
If you’re preparing the base from frozen, you need to thaw it overnight in the fridge, then roll or stretch it onto a grease baking pan and allow it to rise, covered, in a warm place for about 20 minutes.
For this vegan pizza I’ve selected ripe tomatoes, olives, onion, basil and lashings of garlic. The combination works very well, but you’re free to add anything you like that roasts up well in the oven, such as eggplant, mushrooms or, perhaps even, baby marrow - the thing is to use fresh herbs and garlic to bring out the flavor.
Basically, the vegetables roast on top of the base, which is such a treat, because roasting adds a unique extra burst of “spectacular” to the “pizza”. It’s super important to use good quality, ripe tomatoes for this, so it’s preferable to use home grown. I grow my tomatoes and basil hydroponically in used soda bottles, which is a great way to ensure a steady supply of summer veggies. If you’d like to know more about this method of growing, you can read my post on Hive on the subject here.
Unfortunately, I had to use store bought tomatoes to make this pizza, because as you can see from the pictures below, my tomatoes and basil are just seedlings right now.
Vegan tomato, olive and basil pizza
Ingredients
_pizza base 🍕
_3 to four ripe tomatoes 🍅
_Handful of pitted olives
_Half a large onion
_Handful of fresh 🌿 basil
_4 cloves of garlic
Salt and freshly ground black pepper to taste.
Makes one large pizza
Preparation time 30 minutes
Method
Slice the tomatoes into chunky slices, slice the onion and halve the slices, halve or quarter the olives. Dice the garlic and tear up the basil. Sprinkle the veggies onto the base, reserving half the basil to add just before serving. Season with salt and pepper and pop the pizza into the oven to bake at 180 degrees Celsius for around 20-25 minutes (until the base is browned and the tomatoes are beautifully roasted in their juices). Add the balance of the basil to the top of the “pizza” while it’s still in the oven, about a minute before serving.
Enjoy with a green salad and a glass of vegan cabernet🤗
All pictures are mine, shot using my iPad and manipulated using PicCollage
The recipe was developed by me
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