Today’s recipe for homemade vegan pizza with grilled eggplant and zucchini is perfect for those of us who want to eat healthier, yet fondly remember the pizza from their pre-vegan days.
My pizza has all of the comforting qualities of traditional pizza, yet it’s much healthier because it isn’t loaded with cheese or meat.
Vegan pizza oftentimes can turn into a high-maintenance disaster. Even if it tastes okay, it might still call for too many processed or store-bought ingredients that can contain too much sodium or traces of dairy/eggs.
So how can we make a healthier pizza? Here are a few steps:
– Make your own dough instead of buying it (the list of ingredients on a package of store-bought pizza dough always scares me with all those hard-to-pronounce ingredients!);
– Make your own marinara sauce, or if pressed for time, buy a jar with a short list of simple ingredients at the store (beware of high fructose corn syrup and artificial additives!);
– Load it up with veggies! For this recipe, I grilled eggplant and zuccini to make the pizza more filling, and then topped it with an array of fresh vegetables – this way they come out crispier and less processed overall after baking the pie.
– Cheese or no cheese? While a lot of vegans are accustomed to the taste of cheeseless pizza, most of us still have a long way getting there.
You can find a number of homemade cheese substitutes online, or opt for a store-bought variety. My only advice: stay away from vegan cheeses that have a long list of hard-to-pronounce ingredients!
Making this pizza can turn into an all-day affair, but it doesn’t have to! Planning ahead will help you save time.
How to Plan Out Making Your Vegan Pizza:
I recommend that you make the dough in the morning and forget about it until you’re ready to proceed with the rest. If making your own marinara sauce, do it the day before – or use a store-bought version as suggested above.
Prepare vegetables in advance (about an hour before you assemble the pizza). Grill eggplant and zucchini at the same time as you’re getting the crust ready.
The dough is ready after at least 3-4 hours of resting in a warm place
Ever had those soggy homemade pizza crust disasters? A pizza stone eliminates that. Plus, some brands are very cheap, and still do a good job! Also, you can bake cookies on a pizza stone later.
A pizza stone is a great addition to any kitchen: since most of us are unlikely to splurge on a specialized pizza oven in our houses, using a pizza stone brings us at least one step closer to a better pizza crust.
Start preheating the oven with the pizza stone inside well in advance to let the stone get very hot.
The only advice: when washing the stone after use, do not use dish detergent! The material of most stones is very porous, and using soap can make your future baked goods taste funny.
For vegetable toppings, I first grilled some eggplant and zucchini (if you put them fresh on a pizza, they won’t have enough time in the oven to cook through).
Then I chopped up a number of other vegetables – mushrooms, black olives, red onions, yellow bell peppers, but you can use whatever combo you like.
These vegetables went on the pizza on top of eggplant and zucchini, and then were topped with vegan mozzarella.
By the way, you can totally skip adding more vegetables on top of this vegan pizza – eggplant and zucchini can be enough.
My pizza spent about 10 min in the oven at 450°F until the crust was firm and browned.
After I took it out of the oven, I topped half of the pizza surface with some torn-up spicy kale and fresh basil (my husband didn’t want any of those). The crust cooks a little more on top of the pizza stone if you don’t take the pizza off of it.
Vegan Pizza with Grilled Eggplant and Zucchini
This delicious vegan pizza with grilled eggplant and zucchini has a medley of fresh vegetables that adds a nice crunch. Use store-bought vegan mozzarella, experiment with homemade cheese substitutes, or go completely cheese-free! Dairy free, meat free, suitable for vegetarian and vegan diets.
Ingredients
- 6 Tbsp Marinara sauce
- 1/2 eggplant, sliced into 1/4 inch rounds
- 1 small zucchini, sliced lengthwise into 1/4 inch planks
- 8 oz or more shredded vegan mozzarella - I like Follow Your Heart Mozzarella Shreds
- 1/2 Tbsp dried oregano
Fresh vegetables to your taste:
- bell peppers
- mushrooms
- black/green olives
- red onions
- spicy or regular kale, spinach, or other fresh greens
- fresh basil
For the pizza dough:
- 1 tsp active yeast
- 1/2 tsp sugar/agave nectar
- 3/4 cup warm water (105°-115° F)
- 1 cup whole-wheat flour
- 1 cup unbleached white flour, plus more for kneading
- 1/2 tsp salt
- 1 Tbsp ground flaxseed
- 1 tsp olive oil (for coating the ready dough)
- 2-3 Tbsp cornmeal (for dusting the pizza peel)
Equipment:
- Pizza stone
- Pizza peel
- Work area for kneading the dough
Instructions
To make the dough:
- In the morning/early afternoon, combine yeast, sugar/agave, and warm water in a small bowl. Cover with a towel to avoid cooling off, set aside for 6-8 min until foamy.
- In a large bowl, combine flours, salt, and flaxseed. Add foaming yeast mixture. Start combining the ingredients with clean hands until dough forms. Put the dough onto a floured table and knead until soft, about 5 min, adding more white flour if the dough gets sticky.
- Once the dough is uniformly soft, cover it with olive oil, put into a container with a lid (I used a big soup pot), wrap the container with a towel to create warm environment inside, and leave in a warm place for at least 3-4 hours.
- Preheat the oven with a pizza stone inside to 450°F. Let the stone sit inside the hot oven for at least 30 min before adding pizza.
- 10 min before baking your pizza, dust a pizza peel with cornmeal, take the dough out of your container, and spread into a circle (approx. 14 inches) using your hands (not a rolling pin) right on top of the pizza peel. If not assembling the pizza right away, cover the dough with a damp kitchen towel to prevent drying out.
To prepare the vegetables:
- Lightly grease sliced eggplant and zucchini with olive oil spray. Grill on a preheated grill for about 3-4 min per side, careful not to burn. Take off the grill, let cool slightly, and cut into bite-sized pieces.
- Chop fresh vegetables of choice into bite-sized pieces.
To assemble the pizza:
- Spread the prepared pizza dough circle with marinara. Arrange a layer of grilled vegetables, then cover with fresh vegetables (except kale and basil). Top with sliced or shredded vegan mozzarella. Sprinkle with oregano.
- Carefully slide the pizza from the peel onto the hot pizza stone. Bake for 10-12 min, or until the crust looks firm and browned, and the cheese has melted. Note: some vegan cheese brands don't melt well, so watch the crust as an indicator of doneness.
- Once the pizza is done, take it out and top with fresh basil and kale/spinach. Wait 5 min before cutting. Enjoy!
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Nutrition Information:
Yield:
6Serving Size:
2 slicesAmount Per Serving: Calories: 557Total Fat: 23gSaturated Fat: 10gTrans Fat: 0gUnsaturated Fat: 11gCholesterol: 34mgCarbohydrates: 72gFiber: 9gSugar: 6gProtein: 20g
Please note that the provided nutritional information data is approximate.
Do you have a favorite vegan pizza recipe? What kind of cheese or pizza toppings do you like to use? Share with us in the comments!
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