I'd like to say that the first year of bliss for Lance and I was based solely on puppies and rainbows, but I'm pretty sure it was based mostly on red wine and pizza.
We once looked up at the shelf above his kitchen cabinets at the pretty wine bottles we had cleaned after drinking and displayed proudly.
"How long have we been hanging out at your place?" I asked.
"Two weeks," he said, and pulled me in for a hug.
I sighed contentedly. And then I counted the bottles.
"Um, there are twenty bottles up there..."
Let's just say that we slowed down on the wine.
But the pizza! Pizza! For two vegetarian lads, it was the greatest luxury. The oily cheese enrobing every bite...wow, the sheer amount of seratonin a pizza could create almost blasted us totally out of our already-blissful minds. Little did we know that we'd consider making the leap to veganism and away from our daily dairy explosion.
Transitioning to non-dairy options has been fairly easy, but, to be honest, pizza has been the third rail: don't touch it, just forget it exists. The vegan option couldn't possibly be as good as the past. We were just going to have to deal with it.
That was, until last night.
All the great posts I've been reading during VeganMoFo inspired me to try my hand at some new things. On top of it, my new favorite cooking show on the Food Network, "The Cooking Loft", did a show about pizzas made in a cast iron pan. So, with those images in my mind, I broke out VwaV ("Vegan with a Vengeance") and made some crust and tofu-ricotta.
The crust: I followed the recipe almost exactly, but I substituted whole wheat pastry flour for one cup of the flour in the dough. I probably should've added a bit more water, but the dough finally succumbed to my kneading after awhile. For a basic cast iron pan (is it 9 inches?), I got four pizzas out of the dough.
I made two types of pizzas:
-Caramelized onions and sauteed gimme-lean "sausage" pieces, with a drizzle of olive oil infused with grated garlic, and a sprinkling of tofu-ricotta from VwaV.
-Tomato basil sauce, topped with the tofu-ricotta.
I lightly oiled the cast iron pan each time, rolled out the dough, and cooked it for a minute or two on each side before topping and heating up in a 350 degree oven until bubbly and crisp.
Can I just say: the pizzas were freaking amazing! The tofu-ricotta, especially when put in the oven for a bit, came out completely creamy and amazing...dare I say *better* than a pizza piled with greasy mozzarella!
Lance, who definitely has been missing pizza, gave them five stars...he kept sighing contentedly and saying, "this is the best pizza! Oh my gosh!"
So, if you've been holding back on making pizza, because "it just wouldn't be the same"...try it! You'll be surprised!
4 comments:
I love pizza, and your's looks good!
I'm on the same pizza wavelength right now. I still have some pizza pi leftovers we're working through.
I'm thinking about making pesto for a sandwich like I had yesterday. When I make pesto for non pizza reasons, I have to make extra for a pesto pizza with pineapple on a vicolo's cornmeal crust. I always want to try my own crust, but then I think of the vicolo deliciousness and can't resist.
you guys are so cute. That pizza looks awesome. I'm glad you took the vegan pizza plunge. Heavenly no?
What a cool idea to cook a pizza in cast iron! Who knew?
Your title to this post really made me smile.
Mmmm pizza. How I love thee. Your combinations sound delicious.
Your description of your wine consumption rate at the beginning of your relationship made me laugh, and reminded me of the start of B's and mine. Good times.
Post a Comment