Pizza ... with a vegan twist!

If I ever actually ask P what he wants for dinner (usually I have the menu planned in advance and choose things I know we both like) he without a doubt, never fails, responds with "we haven't had pizza in a while!" I don't care if we just had it the week before. I swear that man could eat pizza once a week and it wouldn't be enough. Since I am one for variety and change, its hard for me to put pizza on the menu more than once a month. Just for him though, I do! Believe me, I have tried my fair share of pizza recipes. When P and I first got married, homemade pizza was something I decided to attempt. Since I am lactose intolerant and Mrs. health-nut it never intrigued me to make pizza, that is until I married a pizza-nut. After our first month of marriage he finally said, "when are we going to just have pizza??"....I knew it had to be made since I wasn't going to allow him to eat the (excuse my french) crappy pizza you buy.  It was then a goal of mine to make a pizza that was somewhat healthy and that satisfied him as much as any crappy store bought/restaurant served pizza. Poor guy, there have been some bad ones...extra crispy, burned, gooey, greasy, tough, you name a screw up...I did it. Thank God, the more I make it, the better it gets...I even created a pizza I could eat!!! Usually, I make a pizza for him along with another pizza for me. One with meat and cheese, one with vegetarian cheese and veggies! What can I say, we are total opposites!

Light Wheat Pizza Crust (with vegan toppings)

1 Grapefruit size ball of dough straight from the fridge*
Tomato sauce (I used tomato paste watered down with Italian seasonings and garlic added)
Veggie Shreds
Morningstar Veggie Grounds

Directions:
I recommend having your toppings (whether they are the fun vegan ones I have suggested or not!) ready before you pull out your dough or get the ready while your dough rests.
1. Dust surface of dough with flour. Stretch surface of dough on each side and tuck under, creating a round, ball with a taut surface. Cover the dough and let it rest for about 30 minutes.
2. With floured hands flatten dough ball a little, carefully stretch dough in a circle until you can stretch on your fists into a round shape. The thinner you can get the dough without tearing, the better. You can use rolling pin (esp if your dough is still a little cold). If dough is difficult to stretch or roll, let it sit and relax for 10 more minutes. Make sure your pizza round will fit on your pizza stone!!
3. 20 minutes before you want to bake preheat your oven and your baking stone. Crank up your oven to its highest setting (usually most ovens go up to 500F) and insert your baking stone.
4. If you have a pizza peal feel free to use it to slide the pizza onto the preheated stone after you have topped it. If not (i definitely don't) pull out the pre-heated stone and place your pizza dough on top.
Work quickly by putting your toppings on the stretched pizza dough. Sauce, cheese, then "meat". The fewer the ingredients the better, I think! (simple is good!)
5. Place pizza back in oven and cook for 7-10 minutes or until your cheese is bubbly and crust is tanned.
6. Slice**, serve and smile!


*Use the same no-knead dough recipe as the Naan I made before.
** A tip for those that don't have a pizza slicer- I use scissors :)

After finding this crust recipe, I wouldn't even mind having it once a week!!