Meatless Monday: Roasted Veggie Pizza

What makes Meatless Monday seem not so, well, meatless? Pizza, of course!

I used the same pizza dough and sauce recipe I made last time, a generous helping of Henrietta’s goat cheese, and lots of veggies.

I used a combination of yellow squash, zucchini, red and orange bell pepper, garlic, and 1/2 a poblano pepper. A light drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, freshly ground black pepper, and a little sea salt is all these babies needed. Well, that and a little heat. A quick roast in the oven is all they need, just enough to remove some moisture. After all, no one wants a runny pizza.

Once your veggies are roasted, press out your dough onto a lightly greased baking sheet. Next, spread sauce on the crust, dollop with goat cheese (I do this quite liberally), then top off with the veggies. Place your pie in a preheated 450°oven for about fifteen minutes, until the crust is just starting to brown.

Homemade Pizza Dough & Sauce

In case you didn’t know, my husband is a bicycling badass (and, yes, he has great legs!). But let me get to the point so you don’t think I’m just bragging.

Kevin turned me on to a website that he and I both could enjoy – Culinary Competitor, “a recipe resource for athletes who love good food.” Warning – this site will make you huuungry! They have some delicious sounding recipes: sesame-soy pork loin, mango-salmon sushi rolls, and the proscuitto and mushroom pizza. Oh, and did I mention their photography is phenomenal?

I’ve been wanting to make my own pizza dough for a while and this recipe gave me the inspiration I needed to actually do it. So, so, so simple! I cannot tell you how glad I am I tried this.

Dough
2 cups whole-wheat flour
2 cups all purpose flour
1 ½ cup warm water
2 T extra virgin olive oil
1 ½ t salt
1 t active dry yeast

Sauce
4 ripe, fresh tomatoes (such as Roma), diced
1 T extra virgin olive oil
¼ t salt
pinch of sugar
black pepper to taste

Toppings
6 cups sliced crimini mushrooms, rinsed
3 oz (usually one normal package size) prosciutto, fat trimmed and sliced into 2 by ¼ inch strips
Fontina cheese
Pecorino Romano cheese

For the dough
Place the warm water (should be comfortably warm to the touch, but not hot) in a large mixing bowl. Add the yeast and let sit about five minutes. Add the remaining ingredients, mix well, then knead for about five minutes. Transfer to a greased bowl, cover with a clean dishtowel, and let sit about one half hour. Punch down then let sit an additional twenty minutes or so.

For the toppings
Heat a tablespoon of olive oil in a large heavy skillet. Add the mushrooms, season with salt and pepper, and cook about ten minutes, stirring often. The mushrooms will release a lot of water when sautéing, so once they have cooked down, drain then return them to the skillet. Season with additional salt and pepper if desired.

Roll or press out your dough onto a lightly greased baking sheet or pizza stone. Spread with sauce all the way to the sides and top with mushrooms, a combination of Fontina and Pecorino Romano cheese, and the sliced proscuitto.

Being a bit of a traditionalist when it comes to pizza, I made a pepperoni and mozzarella pizza too. Both were satisfying, but I must say the proscuitto and mushroom one was the crowd favorite. And the best part? I still have one more dough ball in the freezer. Now, I’ll take that over frozen pizza any day!

The recipe is also available at Pez Cycling which has great coverage of the Tour if you’re interested. And, really, who isn’t?

Visit me on Tuesday where I’ll be dishing about my Raspberry Blanc-Manger. You won’t want to miss it!