Veggie Pizza

Pizza, together with spaghetti is the one of the most ubiquitous Italian dishes. They have become so popular that many have indigenized it. So you hear of Hawaiian pizza, New York pizza, etc. The most recent insult has come from Pizza Hut: the cheesy pop pizza! Yuck! They basically stuffed the crust with artificial cheese, then rolled up the crusts so you can pick the so-called cheesy-pops. This garbage came after they stuffed the crust with hotdog, then hotdog and cheese.

I know where they’re coming from – they only want people to eat and enjoy even the pizza crust. But this wouldn’t be a problem if the crust were edible in the first place! To top the pizza with all those artificial cheese (and yes, most of the cheese they put in is not the real parmesan and mozzarella) and meatballs is one thing, to stuff the crust with more garbage is, well more garbage.

So, wanting pizza for my birthday meal, you could guess that I would only use healthy and authentic ingredients. And guess what, the carnivores at home did not notice, or complain about my pizza. They did not notice the absence of any meat! My secret? Fresh mushrooms! Yes, mushrooms when sautéed lightly in some garlic takes on a meaty flavor, not to mention the interesting texture!

Dough
You can use any Focaccia recipe you like, but I keep using this simple one.

On a large bowl, pour in 1 ½ cups warm water. Dissolve one tablespoon yeast and one tablespoon sugar.

When yeast mixture has begun to bubble, add one teaspoon salt, three tablespoons olive oil, and around three cups of flour. You will be using a total of 4 to 4 ½ cups flour for this recipe, but I add in three cups all at one time during the first addition.

Mix. Turn dough over on to a kneading surface and knead for around 15 to 20 minutes, or until smooth and elastic. You will need to add more flour as you knead to prevent it from sticking. I usually add in increments of ¼ to ½ cup.

Roll dough into a ball and place on a greased bowl. Let rise until doubled in volume. For a really soft and fluffy dough, you can let it rise until 2 ½ to 3 times the original volume, not just doubled. This trick works well with this dough. Most other dough turn sour when over-risen due to the accumulation of lactic acid.

After the first rising, punch down dough and deflate. This will even out all the large air pockets. Roll on a floured surface and transfer on a greased tray. (I do not have a pizza stone in my oven, so I just use a tray. I line it with parchment instead of greasing it.) A 12 x 24 inch (approximate measurement) pan works best, but you can roll it as thin or as thick as you like.

Top with desired toppings.

Toppings
I start out by brushing the surface of my dough with a mixture of: ¼ cup tomato pesto (1/2 cup tomato sauce if you can’t find red pesto), one tablespoon each of fresh chopped basil and oregano (one teaspoon if dried), and one tablespoon olive oil. You can use whatever herbs you like: Italian parsley, rosemary, sage, thyme.

For the mushrooms, you would around two handfuls of sliced fresh mushrooms. I emphasize FRESH, because you will never get that meaty flavor if you use canned. And you will never get to chew it if you use dried, even after re-hydrating it. Use the meaty mushrooms: cremini or Portobello. But since they’re difficult to find locally, I usually use fresh button mushrooms or fresh shiitake.

Dump in the mushrooms on a pan with one tablespoon heated olive oil, and three cloves garlic and one sliced onion. Sauté until tender. Cool mixture before pouring over dough.

Other toppings include sliced tomatoes (RIPE! About 4), some sliced black olives and one zucchini.

Top with freshly grated parmesan and mozzarella. If you can’t find these, cheddar or quickmelt may be acceptable. Both the former cheeses were out of stock at the grocery when I made this, so I used two cups of grated quickmelt cheese.

Let dough (with toppings) rise again for around an hour, or until doubled in thickness. Bake for 350° for about 30 minutes, or until cheese has browned and toppings are bubbly.

(let rise after topping the dough.)

(it is best to slice it while hot.)