This recipe makes one olive oil-based pizza and one with a more traditional red sauce. It has a lot of pieces - so feel free to mix and match these components on your next pizza night!
Prep Time45 minutesmins
Cook Time15 minutesmins
Resting Time1 hourhr
Total Time2 hourshrs
Course: Main Course
Cuisine: Italian
Keyword: vegan, vegetarian
Servings: 2pizzas
Author: Alanna Peterson
Ingredients
Pizza Dough
1½cupswater, lukewarm
2¼tspyeast
3cupsall-purpose flour, whole wheat, white, or a 50/50 mixture
1tspsalt
2Tbspolive oil
Garlic & Herb Olive Oil Base
1clovegarlic, crushed
3Tbspolive oil
1tsporegano, dried
⅛tspsalt
Vegan Ricotta
1packagefirm or extra-firm tofu, drained
1/3cupcashews, raw, unsalted
2TBlemon juice, or 1 TB apple cider vinegar
2TBolive oil
1clovegarlic, chopped
1/2tspsalt
Additional Toppings
marinara or pizza sauce
other toppings of your choice
Instructions
Make the Olive Oil Base
Place the crushed garlic clove into a small bowl. Add the olive oil, oregano, and salt. Let sit for at least an hour (or, better, two!) so that the garlic and herbs have time to infuse the oil.
Make the Pizza Dough
Mix the yeast into the lukewarm water, and let sit for a minute to give the yeast time to wake up.
Add the salt, flour, and olive oil. Knead in a mixer using a dough hook, or by hand, for about five minutes. If the dough is too sticky, you may need to add a bit more flour.
Cover and let rise for about an hour.
Make the Vegan Ricotta
Break the tofu block in half. In a food processor or blender, mix together ½ of the tofu and all other ingredients (cashews, lemon juice, olive oil, garlic, and salt); blend until smooth.
Crumble in remaining tofu and pulse a few times. The mixture should be slightly chunky, like ricotta.
Adjust seasonings to taste (you may need to add a little extra lemon juice/vinegar and salt - you want it to have a strong briny zip).
Refrigerate until ready to assemble pizza.
Assemble the Pizzas
Preheat the oven to 450°F. This is a good time to prep your toppings - slice up fresh veggies and olives, and sauté hardy greens or sausage crumbles.
Punch down the dough and divide into two pieces. Optional step: if you have family members who want to decorate their own smaller pie, pinch off a small amount (about the size of a clementine orange) from each dough half for them to roll out separately.
Roll out one of the larger dough balls. Stir the olive oil mixture (the salt will have sunk to the bottom) and spread evenly on the pizza crust. You can chop the garlic clove into smaller pieces and sprinkle on top of the pizza for a little extra garlicky goodness. Add dollops of vegan ricotta so that the crust is mostly covered. Then add the rest of your toppings!
Repeat with the other dough half, but use red sauce for the base (or double the olive oil base recipe and use it for both pies), and dollop with vegan ricotta. Sprinkle on your other toppings.
Bake each pie on a pizza stone or baking sheet for about 15 minutes.
Cut and serve!
Notes
To cut down on the prep time, you can use a store-bought crust instead of making your own.If you don't have raw cashews around, you can substitute walnuts or blanched almonds. Or, if you need the ricotta to be nut-free, you can omit them entirely - but you'll probably want to add a little extra olive oil, as the nuts contribute a lot of richness to the recipe.