Pizza - Zucchini and Hungarian Pepper
From All-Creatures.org Vegan - Vegetarian Recipe Book: How Mary and Frank and Friends Eat

"We are dedicated to cruelty-free living through a vegetarian - vegan lifestyle. Let no animal suffer or die that we may live!"

Ingredients

Pizza Crust
4 cups Whole Wheat Bread Flour
1 tbsp. Soya Lecithin, liquid *
4 tbsp. Molasses
1/4 tsp. Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid) *
1/4 tsp. Ginger, ground *
4 tsp. Dry Yeast
2 cups Water, warmed to 52°C. (125° F.)
* Optional Dough Enhancer

Sauce and Veggie Topping
1-1/2 lbs. Zucchini, coarsely diced
1 lb. Hungarian Peppers, coarsely diced
1 Onion, medium size, diced
1 tbsp. Garlic, crushed
1 to 1-1/2 tbsp. Oregano, dried
1 - 28-oz. can Tomatoes, crushed
1 - 6-oz. can Tomato Paste

Bean Cream (uncheese sauce)
1 - 15-oz. can White Kidney Beans (Cannellini)
1/4 cup Lemon Juice
1/2 cup Nutritional Yeast (powder) OR 1 cup (flake)
Hot Sauce (to taste)
2 tbsp. Corn Starch

(To enlarge the photo of the Pizza - Zucchini and Hungarian Pepper, click on the photo or link)

Preparation

This zucchini and Hungarian pepper pizza is a delightful mildly spicy vegan deep-dish pizza crust recipe that will serve 4 to 6 adults as a main meal. Leftover slices can be stored in covered containers in the refrigerator for a few days and reheated in a microwave oven.

We like to make a thick crust pizza, which we make in an 11 X 15 inch stoneware baking pan. If you want a thinner crust, cut the dough ingredients in half.

We mix our pizza dough in either our bread maker or in our mixer.

If you are grinding your own flour from wheat berries, the flour will be warm, and the water should not be preheated.

Place the flour in the mixing bowl or in the bread maker container. Hollow out the center of the flour and add the lecithin, molasses, vitamin C, and ginger. Add about half of the water and the yeast and begin mixing. Add small amounts of water as needed to bring the dough to a springy consistency, and continue mixing. The total kneading time should be approximately 20 minutes.

Roll out the pizza dough on a clean lightly floured countertop until it is nearly the size of the baking pan. Lightly dust the baking pan with flour and place the pizza dough in the pan, and roll out or press out the dough into all four sides of the pan, allowing the dough to curl slightly up the sides of the pan.

Place the pizza pan in the warming drawer of your oven or in the oven at 110 degrees F. to allow the dough to rise to at least double its original size (approximately 45 minutes).

While the dough is rising make the pizza sauce and veggies: wash the peppers and zucchini, removing the stems, and coarsely dice them. Add the pieces to a 2 quart covered baking dish.

Peel the garlic and onion, crush the garlic into the covered baking dish, dice the onion and add to the covered baking dish, add the crushed tomatoes, tomato paste, oregano, and mix well. Cook in the microwave or conventional oven until the sauce and veggies thicken.

While the sauce is cooking, open the can of beans and pour off the liquid.  Place the beans in the container of your blender, add the lemon juice, nutritional yeast, hot sauce, and corn starch, cover, and run the blender at high speed until the contents are creamy smooth.

When the pizza dough has risen, place in the oven at 350 degrees F. until the dough gets firm on top (about 20 minutes).

Remove the pan from the oven and quickly, but gently, spread on a uniform layer of the uncheese bean cream and top with the pizza sauce and veggies so it covers the entire surface of the dough to within 1/4 inch of the edges, with the aid of a soft spatula.

Immediately place the pizza back in the oven and bake for another 15-20 minutes.

When the pizza is baked, remove from the oven and place on a wire rack, and slice into the desired sized pieces.

Serve and enjoy! It goes great with a large tossed salad.

Ingredients Information

Beans, Cannellini, canned

Corn Starch

Garlic

Ginger, ground

Lecithin, Soya

Lemon Juice, Reconstituted

Molasses, Unsulphured

Onions, Yellow

Oregano, Dried

Pepper Sauce - Hot Red

Peppers, Hungarian

Squash, Zucchini

Tomatoes, Crushed

Tomato Paste

Vitamin C (Ascorbic Acid)

Wheat, Hard White

Yeast

Nutritional Yeast

Utensils and Equipment Information

Baking Pan, Stoneware

Dish, Glass Baking

Garlic Press

Knives

Measuring Cups, Dry

Measuring Cup, Liquid

Measuring Spoons

Mixer

Spoon, Large Mixing

Vita-Mix

The above recipe is in keeping with God's creation intent (Genesis 1:29-31): 'Then God said, "I give you every seed-bearing plant on the face of the whole earth and every tree that has fruit with seed in it. They will be yours for food. And to all the beasts of the earth and all the birds of the air and all the creatures that move on the ground-- everything that has the breath of life in it-- I give every green plant for food." And it was so. God saw all that he had made, and it was very good.' (NIV) Let no animal suffer or die that we may live!