So my trip to Creekbread inspired me and once again I decided to make some dough and whip up a couple of yummy pizzas! The dough is so easy to make and can stay in the fridge for up to two weeks- perfect for when you need a dinner on the run. Just leave time for your oven to preheat to 500 degrees F, and get your toppings ready. The pizza should be done after 8-10 minutes, if it needs a couple of minutes longer, just rotate it so it cooks evenly.

This time I made a vegetarian pizza with a base of tomato sauce and I added cheddar cheese, fresh parmesan, corn, red peppers, red onions, tomatoes, fresh basil (YUM!), salt, pepper, a sprinkle of oregano, and roasted garlic. It was so delicious!

The 2nd pizza I made was half pesto-potato and half cheese + salami (a special  1/2 pizza for my brother….it’s not every day you can convince me to make something with meat on it…yucky!). I’ve never tried a potato pizza before, but it was soo good! I was stoked because I got to use my miniature mandolin and the potatoes sliced up so thinly. I’ll definitely be making that one again!

A piece of this, along with a nice big salad is one of my favourite meals! A great way to veganize the pesto-potato pizza would be to use carmelized onions instead of pesto. I can’t wait to try that, I might make it later this week!

My recipes for toppings is very casual- no measurements needed. Just add what you need for the size of pizza you make.

Light Whole Wheat Dough

• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast (2 packs)
• 1 1/2 tbsp Kosher salt
• 1.5 cups whole wheat flour
• 5 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix the yeast and salt with the water in a stand mixer bowl. Mix in the remaining ingredients, without kneading, using the dough hook on your mixer. Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature approximately 2 hours. Use the dough immediately after this, or, refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container for up to 14 days.

For each pizza you make, a one pound piece of dough should be sufficient!

To Cook The Pizza

With a baking stone in your oven, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F. Dust your table surface, rolling pin, and the top of your dough with flour. Stretch your dough into a round ball. Roll out your dough to 1/4 inch thick. Grease a pizza peel, and place your dough on top. Add your toppings. Bake your pizza for 8-10 minutes until it no longer feels doughy.

Vegetarian Pizza

• red peppers, diced
• a handful of cheddar cheese
• a sprinkle of fresh parmesan
• a handful of fresh basil leaves
• sprinkle of sea salt and black pepper
• sprinkle of oregano
• corn
• minced garlic (either packed in oil, or drizzle crust with olive oil and then add garlic)

Start with the garlic on your crust and add tomato sauce. Add cheese and other toppings, finish with herbs, salt and pepper.

Pesto-Potato Pizza

• very thinly sliced potatoes (I used little new potatoes)
• pesto
• fresh parmesan
• fresh or dried rosemary
• sea salt and black pepper
• minced garlic

Spread some minced garlic evenly over pizza crust, add an even layer of pesto, layer potatoes and add a sprinkle of parmesan cheese, salt, and pepper.

If you can recall my last post, I made pita bread as part of a Middle Eastern meal…well, I still had a ton of light whole wheat dough leftover from that. I decided to make a pizza/flatbread, using whatever I could find in the fridge! I had recently seen a pizza that used caramelized onions as a base, and I thought that was great, flavourful idea. My onions were burnt extra caramelized! It still turned out fantastic, and like my mom said ‘it’s like a fiesta in your mouth!’ *hides head in shame* Just so corny! Regardless, the comment is true. Try it for yourself!

Light Whole Wheat Dough (adapted from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day)

• 3 cups lukewarm water
• 1 1/2 tbsp granulated yeast (2 packs)
• 1 1/2 tbsp Kosher salt
• 2 cups whole wheat flour
• 4 1/2 cups unbleached all-purpose flour

Mix the yeast and salt with the water in a stand mixer bowl. Mix in the remaining ingredients, without kneading, using the dough hook on your mixer. Cover (not airtight) and allow to rest at room temperature approximately 2 hours. Use the dough immediately after this, or, refrigerate in a lidded (not airtight) container for up to 14 days.

I made one batch of this dough, and got some pita bread, and 3 pizzas out of it. Each pizza will take one grapefruit sized piece of dough.

Fiesta Flatbread

• 1 grapefruit sized piece of light whole wheat dough
• 1/2 onion, sliced
• olive oil
• 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
• 1/2 cup corn
• 1/2 avocado
• 1/3 cup salsa
• chilli powder
• dried basil
• mozzarella cheese
• cheddar cheese

With a baking stone in your oven, preheat your oven to 500 degrees F. Dust your table surface, rolling pin, and the top of your dough with flour. Stretch your dough into a round ball. Roll out your dough to 1/4 inch thick. Grease a pizza peel, and place your dough on top.

Drizzle olive oil in frying pan and heat, toss in onions and balsamic vinegar and caramelize. Put the onions onto the dough, add the other ingredients on top. Top with a sprinkle of chilli powder, dried basil, mozzarella and cheddar cheese. *Keep in mind that I estimated the amounts that I used, and if you make your pizza larger, add more toppings! If you want this to be vegan, simply exclude the cheese and it will still taste delicious! I was making this with my cheese-eating family in mind.

Bake on the pizza peel on top of the baking stone for 10 minutes, until crust no longer feels doughy.