Pizza, homemade & healthy

Most pizza, whether from a restaurant or grocery story freezer, is neither healthy nor very tasty, IMHO. It fills a caloric need, a hungry stomach, plus it’s something usually everyone will eat. But the oil and fat and salt aren’t appealing; the cheese turns off anyone plant-based. So let’s make our own! Much better, with a whole wheat crust, quick homemade sauce, lots of veggies, and a mozzarella-like pourable cheese that browns right up.

Here’re the recipes for the crust, the sauce, and the cheez. The crust recipes includes the directions for assembling it all into a pizza.

Prep Time5 minutes
Cook Time5 minutes
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“Mozzarella”

This cheez will taste like mozzarella, and brown in the oven. It's ooey and gooey, perfect for pizza.
Course: Sauces and dressings, Snack
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 0

Ingredients

  • 1/2 cup cashews
  • 4 Tbs tapioca flour
  • 1 Tbs nutritional yeast
  • 1 Tbs apple cider vinegar
  • 1/2 lemon juiced
  • 1/2 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp garlic powder
  • 1 1/3 cup water

Instructions

  • Cover the cashews with hot water and soak for 10 minutes.
  • Drain the cashews and place in a blender. Add the rest of the ingredients and blend on high until it becomes a completely smooth liquid, about 2 minutes.
  • Pour into a small saucepan over medium-high heat. Continually stir. The cheese will start forming clumps; keep stirring and it will continue clumping until the mixture turns from watery to a thicker melty cheese sauce. This takes about 5 minutes.
  • Serve hot or allow to cool. The cheese will get thicker as it cools but will stay in a melty state.

Notes

Store in an air-tight container in the fridge for 2 – 3 days
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
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Pizza!

Course: Appetizer, Main Course, Snack
Servings: 0

Equipment

  • 1 pizza stone optional

Ingredients

  • 1 cup warm water 105 degrees F
  • 1 Tbs sugar
  • 1 Tbs active dry yeast
  • 1 Tbs olive oil
  • 2 – 2 1/2 cups flour I like white whole wheat
  • 1 tsp salt

Instructions

  • Instructions
  • Preheat oven to 500 degrees F. Put a pizza stone in the oven while it preheats for at least 10 minutes.
  • Combine warm water, yeast and sugar in a large mixing bowl and stir to combine. Let sit for 5 minutes, or until it becomes frothy and bubbles form.
  • Gently stir in olive oil.
  • Add 2 cups of flour and salt and mix with a spatula until a ball begins to form (dough will still be slightly sticky). Add more flour as needed to form a dough ball.
  • Transfer to a floured surface and knead into a smooth dough for about five minutes, adding up to ½ cup extra flour if needed.
  • On a piece of parchment paper, roll the dough flat into a 12-inch circle.
  • Spread pizza sauce on the crust. Add desired vegetables: red onion, mushrooms, green pepper, artichokes. Top with pourable or sliced mozzarella cheez and a sprinkling of herbs like oregano and basil.
  • Transfer the pizza to the preheated pizza stone in the oven.
  • Bake on the preheated pizza stone for 12-15 minutes, or until the bottom of the crust is golden brown. If the cheez isn't browned, turn on the broiler for a couple of minutes. Watch it carefully!
  • Take the stone out of the oven and remove the pizza to a wire rack to cool for 5-10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Notes

If you don’t have a pizza stone, a baking pan will be fine.
Use jarred pizza sauce or make your own with this recipe below.
Prep Time2 minutes
Cook Time3 minutes
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Pizza Sauce

Whisk this up from ingredients in your pantry.
Course: Sauces and dressings
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 0

Ingredients

  • 6 oz tomato paste
  • 15 oz tomato sauce
  • 1 Tbs dried oregano
  • 1 Tbs Italian seasoning
  • 1/2 tsp garlic powder
  • 1/2 tsp onion powder
  • 1 tsp garlic salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1 tsp sugar

Instructions

  • Whisk all ingredients together until smooth.