veganmofo - sharing is caring + thin-crust obama pizza

Day 14 #vgnmf15 begs us to share food with non-vegan friends. We are getting all friendly up in this year's mofo!

As much as I'd love to really dig in and invite people over for meals (and believe me, I've had really good intentions on doing just that!), my kids always trump me. I suppose that's just the way I want it for right now; one is out of the house away at college, another is in community college and the third is right behind her. It is definitely their time to get out, make friends and show just how normal vegan young people are. 

So, instead of me sharing some vegan food, it was my daughter who shared. Very coincidentally, the young lady that shared our meal last week was a vegetarian, looking into becoming vegan. 

My knowledge base of what young ladies at that age like to eat is vast and I knew that the mysterious foods of that age are pizza, pasta, nuggets and burgers. 

Seeing as she was thinking of going vegan (and I only found out after my food plans were deeply rooted), the most natural choice was to make pizza. After all,  pizza (at any age, really) and cheese are one food group, no? Hit them where it counts! 

My girls and I were searching for foods that Obama likes (for tomorrow's post) and we discovered that the POTUS digs his thin crust pizza (not deep dish?!?) topped with veggies. As sweet as that is, he should really be cutting his other meat-eating habits by a ton, but that's a post for another day, like the morrow. 

Back to the sharing story (I do go off on tangents quite a bit), we had great thin-crust vegan pizza topped with all of Obama's faves. She loved it and asked me for more vegan info. I handed her my cookbook, Everyday Vegan Eats (I keep a few copies around for just such emergencies!) and told her that all she’ll need for now is right in there.

The young lady obviously has a great head on her shoulders and compassion in her heart. Like most of you out there doing your very best to do all you can for the animals, I’ll be here to help her when she needs it. A lifelong vegan in the making, for sure!

A note about making vegan cheese pizzas, and I say this every single time – the best cheese to use is a mixture of brands. Each brand has its own advantage – some melt better, others taste better – and when you mix them you are capitalizing on all the different positive aspects. 

We use Follow Your Heart mozzarella and Daiya mozzarella. We finely grate the FYH because it has a higher melting point and we use it to cut the sharp flavor of the Daiya. Cook your pizza on a high temp on a pizza stone (the cost ($20) was worth it for us because we have pizza night twice a month).

Form your pizza on a cutting board on top of a parchment paper, then slide the parchment with the pizza onto the stone. Cook for 4 minutes and then pull out the parchment, which will have detached from the pizza. Continue to cook until the cheese is bubbly and the crust is crisp.

Last call for entering to win Vegan Bowls! Contest ends midnight tonight, September 14. Enter HERE.

Margherita Thin Crust Pizza
Makes 3 large pizzas


Crust:
¾ cup warm water
2 teaspoons dry active yeast
1 teaspoon sugar

2 cups bread flour or all-purpose flour (you can use up to half spelt flour)
¾ teaspoon sea salt
1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more for oiling the bowl

Toppings:
Pizza Sauce
Shredded vegan cheese (mixture of brands is best)
Black olives
Thin slices red onion
Basil

1. Crust: Combine the water, yeast and sugar in a small bowl. Mix well and set aside 5 minutes to bloom. 
2. Combine the flour, salt and oil in a food processor. Pulse to combine. Add the yeast mixture and process until dough comes together in a ball. Oil a large bowl and place the dough in the bowl. Cover the bowl and set aside to rise in a warm place until doubled, about an hour and a half. 
3. Preheat the oven to 475-degrees F with a pizza stone. Deflate the dough and divide into 3 pieces. Press the dough into a thin disk (as thin as you can without puncturing the dough) on a parchment paper set on a board.
4.  Add your sauce and toppings (except the basil). Slide the parchment and pizza onto the stone and bake for 4 minutes. Slide the parchment out from under the pizza and continue to bake until the cheese is bubbly, about 6 to 7 more minutes. Remove the pizza, add the basil, slice and serve.


 © 2015 Copyright Zsu Dever. All rights reserved.