Homemade Vegan Pizza
Homemade Pizza
To have an artful life means to finding ways to live joyfully without sacrificing your health. If you generally have a healthy diet, you can afford to play around with your indulgences once in awhile (weekends!).
Why is pizza so loved, popular, delicious, addicting and gorgeous? The question speaks for itself! But, here’s another question for ya? How do you feel after you eat pizza? I’m pretty sure the excitement of ordering pizza and eating the pizza is blissful - trust me I would love to gobble down a pizza myself, although, the aftermath can be daunting for the gut - for me and probably for you, too. The combination of tomato, cheese, think floury crust, and all the creative toppings might be fit for a king but, oyyy, poor tummy, tired, and ready for a snooze pronto! Those pizza ingredients can put an insomniac to sleep in no time. Pizza is oily, gooey, hot (tomato paste), salty, and hard to digest. Need I say more! Together these ingredients are out of balance. To counterbalance these qualities in a pizza look for dry, bitter, and lighter ingredients to be able to digest the topics and crust. The recipe below will do just that! So excited for you, as I am for me.
Food should be joyful besides healthy. Trust me, I love to eat gorgeous, delicious food - healthy bites are non nonnegotiable, but I do love fun food, too, but my priority is to feel good after I eat. So, every so often I create my own version of pizza ‘my way’ (doesn’t always go well in my house - my family is just as picky as me). I try to please all because bonding over food is special, so I keep at working to create a pizza that looks like the real deal and healthier for you. It’s nice to eat together - the word ‘companion’ derives from the french word meaning ‘with bread’ - as we eat together we grow closer and bond with friends and family over food, which is another way to keep us healthy, because connecting with others through food reduces stress. So when my family eats pizza I’m inspired to join them on my terms with an easy to create Homemade Pizza that’s loaded with a combination of delicious ingredients that are a perfect recipe to leave you energized even after eating a few slices.
Genia’s Spoon Me Tips
My home made pizza is easy. I found a crust made from chickpeas. It has a great consistency, no fuss, tasty, and holds the toppings beautifully. Company: Banza, Gluten Free, Vegan, NON GMO. You can use a cauliflower crust as well.
My teacher Divya Alter author of Joy of Balance created her own crust. (recipe in her book) If you are ambitious to make your own pizza crust - go for it!
Pizza Crust by Divya:
1 3/4 cups whole spelt flour
1 tsp baking powder
1/4 + 1/8 tsp salt
1/4 cup olive oil
1/3 cup + 2 tbsp buttermilk
1 tsp fresh lime juice
mix flour, baking powder, salt in large bowl
rub oil into flour mixture with finger tips until it resembles a coarse meal
add buttermilk, lime juice, and briefly work to a soft but not sticky dough. If it’s too sticky add a little more flour. Do not knead the dough too much, just enough to mold all ingredients into a ball
wrap the dough with a damp kitchen towel or plastic wrap and refrigerate for 10 minutes
preheat oven to 400 degrees
use a sheet pan covered with parchment paper or use a pizza stone
lightly dust the parchment paper (sprinkle of spelt flour) - you can now roll the dough out using a rolling pin on the parchment paper (taping the parchment paper on the counter top will make the dough easier to roll) - best to do on counter top onto of parchment paper. You can roll in a round or oblong shape, 1/4 inch thick
transfer to the sheet pan and place in oven - bake for 7 minutes, add you toppings, and bake again with toppings for 10 more minutes
Genia’s Homemade Recipe
Banza (follow directions on box) or use your own crust - bought or homemade
vegan feta cheese
fresh basil leaves
red or sweet onion sliced
sliced artichoke hearts - optional
sliced asparagus - optional
red bell peppers - chopped - optional
broccoli - cut up in small bites - optional
mushrooms - any kind - optional
extra virgin olive oil - drizzle over pizza topics
dried or freshly chopped parsley - sprinkle onto of pizza
oregano - sprinkle onto of pizza - optional
instructions
preheat oven to 400 degrees
smear the vegan feta cheese onto of crust
layer with your favorite toppings
place pizza directly on middle oven rack and bake until crust is lightly golden, 10-15 minutes
slice and serve
easy, right? enjoy - I know you will!
Love Pizza my way and love you,
Genia