I've been a busy lady lately, even though technically I am on summer vacation... I have been cooking a lot, baking for a soup kitchen in my neighborhood once a week, and took a cake decorating class (more on that in a bit). AND I dropped my computer and it died, so I had to buy a new one, which I should have soon... I hope. I know. I'm a genius. Last night, my fabulous friend Tommy came over for dinner. I made my trademark pizza...
And a flour-less chocolate tart, from my newest cookbook, The Vegan Table.
Pizza was yum, as always, and the chocolate tart was yum but very rich. So rich I didn't even have a second piece, which is unheard of for me! I had so much fun with Tommy, and he brought me beautiful flowers- what a doll! I felt just like Ina Garten with Jeffery out of town!!!
Last Sunday, we made Mushroom Risotto, also from The Vegan Table. I've only attempted to make risotto twice, and both times I have given up and Phil has taken over and stood over the pot stirring constantly for a looong time. It was pretty yummy and filling, and would probably be even more delish on a cold winter day (instead of a miserable muggy summer one!).
I have been on the look out for a great pizza dough recipe, and I think I have found one! Not only is this dough super easy to make, it tastes as good as the crust you would find in any respectable NYC pizza parlor. The pictures featured are of a "salad pizza" I made last night via the Delicious TV's Totally Vegetarian podcast. Thanks so much to Phil's wonderful mom, Anita, for this recipe!
Pizza Dough (for the food processor or mixer)
- 1 package active dry yeast
- 1 cup warm water (105-115 degrees)
- 1 tsp. sugar
- 2 2/3 cups flour
- 1 tsp. salt
- 1/2 tbs. olive oil (plus more to oil the bowl)
Mix yeast with warm water and sugar in a 2 cup measure. Let stand in a warm place for up to 10 mins. With metal blade in place in food processor (or dough hook in mixer), mix flour salt and oil together. With the food processor or mixer running, pour yeast mixture in a steady stream, but only as fast as the flour absorbs it. Scrape down sides of bowl as necessary. Let processor or mixer run for 40-50 seconds until dough is kneaded, smooth and elastic. It will be sticky!
Transfer dough to a well oiled bowl. Rotate so entire surface is oiled. Cover with plastic wrap or damp towel and let rise in a warm place (80-85 degrees) until doubled in bulk, about 1-1 1/2 hours. Roll out dough on a floured board. Place on greased pan and top as desired. Bake at 400 degrees for 20-30 minutes, or until bottom of crust is browned.
Who doesn't love vegan pizza?! I have only made it twice now, both times it was very tasty. The first time, we purchased the dough already made from Whole Foods. This time, I made it from scratch from this recipe. I used half whole wheat and half all purpose flour, and although it was tasted OK, did not rise as much as I would have liked. I am willing to give it another try though. This recipe makes enough dough to make two medium sized pizzas, in case you are cooking with a non-vegan friend (ah hem, Mom, Phil!) who wants to add a little cheese to their pizza.
So, I made the dough, then got to work on some pesto to use instead of regular tomato sauce.
Here's my pesto recipe:
First, combine the following in the food processor
1/4 cup pine nuts2 cloves garlic
Juice of 1/2 lemon
Large pinch salt
Small pinch pepper
Then add
Two heaping cups of fresh basil leaves
Keep the food processor running, and pour olive oil in through the feed tube until it is the consistency you want.
We brushed the pesto on to the pizzas, leaving room for a crust. To mine I then added some tofu-ricotta, basically pressed and crumbled tofu mixed with garlic, basil, lemon juice and nutritional yeast. I also thew some olives on top, and sun dried tomatoes in the last five minutes of cooking (they burn otherwise, I found out the first time).
The final product was quite a tasty pizza, that had a good amount of protein but not the fat of the usual cheese-laden kind. In the words of Oprah, "love that!"
OK, this is kinda cheating- I made this soup on Monday. But we ate leftovers all day and are about to head out for some brick oven (vegan) pizza and olives... Will hopefully be back to cooking tomorrow after work!
