Vegan Pizza
Wow, it's been a long time since I've posted anything. And no, we haven't been fasting for a week. Just a little busy. And more than a little tired of blogging. Today, I'm going to attempt to catch up. And may even post about my awful apple pie from last night. Ugh.
Anyway, Friday, we made pizza. I'd been wanting to use my italian sausage crumbles on pizza for months. Finally got around to it. And, to be honest, I was a little disappointed - they lost a little flavor (I guess 20 minutes at 450 degrees and 5+ minutes under the broiler will do that.) Anyway, the pizza turned out otherwise-ok.
Crumbles on the stove-top:
Follow Your Heart (FYH) / Vegan Gourmet Mozzarella Cheese - see, it shreds just fine, straight out of the package. I'm a little miffed, lately, on behalf of this vegan cheese. When it first came out, people were crazy for it. Now there's a few newer vegan cheeses and FYH seems to get dumped on all the time. I haven't tried Daiya but I tried Teese - I went all the way to MD, paid more than for FYH, and to be honest, it was very plasticy and processed. These new vegan cheeses contain palm oil, too. FYH doesn't. (Edit: Just looked up Daiya and they currently do not list palm oil in their ingredient list, online at least.) Anyway, we eat maybe 1 block of FYH every 2 months. I'll continue to pick it up right down the road and pay a reasonable price for it.
Shredded cheese:
Pizza sauce - we like this brand from Don Pepino. Mostly because the ingredients are tomatoes, corn oil, salt, spices and powdered garlic.
Sauce, going onto crust:
Toppings - onions, bell peppers and mushrooms:
Sausages join the party:
And finally, FYH cheese. I don't know what other vegans do with their FYH, but it does melt. For pizza, it helps if it goes on last. This time, I also brushed with a little canola oil. FYH is much lower in fat than dairy cheese, so this may play a factor in its melt-ability. (Next time, I'll coat with a touch of oil BEFORE putting the shredded cheese on the pizza!)
Pizzas in the oven:
See, I told you the cheese melts:
