Saturday, November 21, 2015

Bread - Cheese - Pizza

It has been quite some time since I updated my blog. Not that I am not trying any new vegan dishes but I got too many other things to do so never found time to update it. So when I tried something new and found that it did turn out well, I thought I will update my blog.

Today Adithi mentioned that she was hungry and she had been asking for a pizza for quite some time. However, I cannot make a pizza in a short time. Scanning the refrigerator and pantry there was not much I could offer. There was bread but she did not want sandwiches. So, I offered to make her a bread-pizza and she agreed. Typically, I make a vegan "cheese" with silken tofu or cashews but I had neither in pantry but had pistachios though. I might try making a "cheese" with pistachios. I forewarned that the "cheese" will be greenish and she was ok. Wondering what hunger can do.



Ingredients
  1. Bread (I used whole wheat) - 3 slices

For vegan cheese
  1. Pistachios, shelled - 1 cup
  2. Flax seed powder - 1 tbsp
  3. All purpose flour - 1 tbsp
  4. Nutritional yeast - 1 tsp / Garlic 1/2 pod (optional)
  5. Salt - 1/2 tsp
  6. Water, warm - 1/2 cup
Toppings
  1. Tomatoes, chopped - 1
  2. Onion, chopped - 1/2
  3. Olives - 1/2 cup
  4. Banana peppers - 1/2 cup
Procedure 
  1. Soak the dry ingredients for the cheese in 1/2 cup warm water for about 10-15 minutes.
  2. Grind the ingredients for the cheese in a mixer grinder to a fine paste. Add water if the consistency is too thick. 
  3. Lay the slices of bread on a baking pan.
  4. Spread the cheese on the bread. (If I had had some tomato based sauce or pesto I would have added it here before the cheese.)
  5. Put the toppings on the cheese. 
  6. Place the tray on middle rack and put the oven on broil under low setting for about 10-15 minutes or until the "cheese" browns or the vegetable show signs of browning.
  7. Serve hot!
 Review
I wonder if I had added one more tbsp of flour or flax seeds it would have turned with a more cheesy texture. Perhaps, tapioca flour might help. I did not have a tomato sauce to make it more like a traditional pizza. Nevertheless, I should try the next time with real pizza dough instead of bread. As for the quality report, Adithi as a lacto-vegetarian, found it good. I liked it too.