Vegan Alfredo Pizza
Prepared pizza dough, like Basic, Easy Pizza Dough
1/4 cup vegan margarine
Garlic powder and nutritional yeast, to taste
THE SAUCE:
1 cup vegan margarine
1/2 cup olive oil
2 - 8 ounce containers of vegan cream cheese
4 to 6 cloves garlic, minced
Sea salt and fresh cracked pepper, to taste ON TOP:
1 medium zucchini
1 medium summer squash
1 cup chopped broccoli
4 to 6 sprigs asparagus
Olive oil
Oregano and thyme, to taste
2 links vegan sausages (optional)
1 block vegan mozzarella cheese, shredded (about 2 cups)
1) Prepare the pizza dough and press it out for your pizza. In a bowl, melt about a 1/4 cup margarine and mix in garlic powder and nutritional yeast. Brush it evenly over your dough. Set aside.
2) Prepare your vegetable toppings by chopping them all into bite-sized morsels. Put the broccoli, asparagus, zucchini, and summer squash into a glass baking pan, coat evenly with olive oil and season with thyme and oregano. Place it under the broiler for 10 to 15 minutes, stir it around about halfway through.
3) While those are cooking, grab a saucepan and a whisk or fork. Melt about a cup of margarine with 1/2 cup olive oil over medium-high heat. Add vegan cream cheese, melt and stir frequently, almost obsessively. Add the fresh minced garlic, sea salt and cracked black pepper to taste. Keep stirring till it's almost boiling, then turn the heat down to low. If you're using vegan sausages, chop them into coin shaped morsels and fry.
4) Pull your veggies out of the broiler and immediately turn the oven down to about 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Bake your crust without ingredients for maybe 5 to 7 minutes, just to very lightly brown the garlic bread crust. Take it out of the oven. Now, if you're picky, you might want to disperse your veggies and meaty chunks evenly on the dough and then cover it with sauce... but for me, I just like to throw everything together in the Alfredo and let fate decide where everything ends up. Either way, put your sauce and things on your pie-shaped garlic bread, and top it with the vegan cheese. Crank up the heat to 450 degrees Fahrenheit and cook for 5 to 10 or till your cheese melts.
Thanks for bearing with me this far. I'm not accustomed to writing recipes (or for that matter, following them). I'll turn the notifications on, so feel free to reply with any questions if I haven't quite articulated the instructions properly.
Source of recipe: This recipe was inspired by various Alfredo recipes and is a result of careless tinkering, inspired spontaneity, and amazing coincidence that we had the packaged ingredients we did at the time. I don't generally make dough exactly the same twice, but it's generally pretty close to the recipe I've linked to, unless I want to season it when mixing the dry ingredients.
SO HOW'D IT GO?
I followed this recipe almost exactly except for adding some nutmeg and a little cayenne to the alfredo. Topped the pizza off with Daiya cheese and it turned out Fantastic. The only change I would make next time is using a white flour dough. I love wheat crust so I did a wheat crust pizza and I think it would have been better with a white flour crust. Thanks
Nutmeg and cayenne both sound like very inspired choices! I'll have to give that a try next time. :) I had the very same thought regarding the crust. Something about wheat just detracts from the savory garlic-goodness. I'm so glad you enjoyed it.
Oh, also a note on the ingredients: I didn't realize when I put this up, but apparently the regular white label Tofutti cream cheese contains trans-fat. They make a non-hydrogenated version with a yellow label which I highly recommend to anyone attempting this recipe. If you're in proximity to a Whole Foods Market, it's the only kind they have (kudos to them for banning hydrogenated oils).
I followed this recipe almost exactly except for adding some nutmeg and a little cayenne to the alfredo. Topped the pizza off with Daiya cheese and it turned out Fantastic. The only change I would make next time is using a white flour dough. I love wheat crust so I did a wheat crust pizza and I think it would have been better with a white flour crust. Thanks