I really like making pizza at home if I have a bit of time on my hands to make dough and let it rise, etc. It’s so easy to make, and I was stoked to make my take on Oh She Glows‘ pizza. I usually make a wholewheat crust from Artisan Bread in 5 Minutes a Day but I really liked the crust used in this recipe as it was crispy on the outside and soft on the inside. The dough wasn’t finicky at all, either. I made a vegan parmesan cheese to top it with, although the crust was covered in pesto (which is not vegan). I loved the roasted onions and tomatoes as a topping- simple and delicious.

Garlic Oil

• 1 garlic clove, minced

• 3 tbsp olive oil

In a sauce pan, add the minced garlic and olive oil and heat over low. Cook for several minutes until garlic is slightly golden but be sure not to overcook it. With a pastry brush, spread over the pizza dough before layering on the pesto.

Roasted Tomato and Onion Topping

• 2 medium sized tomatoes

• 1 large red onion

• 1 small white/yellow onion

• 5-6 basil leaves, ends trimmed, chopped finely

• 3 tbsp olive oil

• 1⁄2 tbsp balsamic vinegar

• Couple pinches salt

• 2 garlic cloves, minced

Directions: Chop the tomatoes, red onion, yellow onion, and basil leaves. Mince the garlic. In a small bowl, mix together the oil, salt, vinegar, chopped basil leaves, and minced garlic. In a medium sized bowl, mix together the veggies and sauce. Spread onto a greased or lined baking sheet and bake for 35-40 minutes at 375F, watching carefully. Veggies can be set aside on counter for about 1 hour after cooking. Spread on top of pesto and then sprinkle with parmesan cheese before baking.

Vegan Parmesan Cheese

• 1/2 cup toasted sesame seeds

• 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

• 1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Preheat oven to 350F. Toast sesame seeds in the oven ( I just toasted them in a frying pan on the stove) until golden and then throw all ingredients into a blender. Process for 30-60 seconds.

Easy Herb-Infused Pizza Dough

• 1 cup white bread flour  + 3⁄4 cup flour, divided

• 3⁄4 tsp kosher salt

• 1.5 tsp white sugar

•2 tsp pizza herbs (I used an Italian mix of rosemary/oregano/basil)

• 2 & 1⁄4 tsp instant yeast

• 3 tbsp oil

• 2/3 cup very warm water (not lukewarm)

• More flour for surface when kneading

In a large mixing bowl, mix together 1 cup of flour, salt, sugar, pizza herbs, yeast. Stir well. Now quickly add in 2/3 cup of very warm water along with your 3 tbsp of oil. Stir well. It will be very wet and sticky at this point. Now add in 3⁄4-1 cup more of flour, gradually, as you stir. Once all the flour is in, grab the dough and place on floured surface. Knead the dough for 5 minutes, adding flour if it gets tacky. After 5 minutes the dough should be smooth and not sticky. Form into a ball and place in a large, oiled bowl. Cover the ball with a bit of oil so it doesn’t dry out. Now cover the bowl and let it rise for 1.5 hours. You can punch out the air once half way through. For best results, make the dough the day beforehand and place in an oiled and sealed plastic bag in the fridge. Allow dough to come to room temperature on the counter before working with it. Cooking time will vary but my pizza took 10-12 mins at 500F.

To assemble the pizza:

Make your pizza into a round (or whatever shape you like…), brush on garlic oil, top with pesto (homemade or store bought), add roasted vegetable mixture, and top with parmesan cheese. Bake and enjoy!

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.

I loooove Whistler, and since I visit here often, I’m so excited that I’ve found such a fantastic place to eat at now. Creekbread not only makes delicious food, but I was amazed at the amount of organic and local ingredients they use. It seems like everything on the entire menu is made of top-quality ingredients, from nitrite-free and organic meats to fresh produce grown at local farms, and local, organic whole-milk cheeses.

This is the little 2nd floor:

The menu basically consists of an organic salad which comes with a blend of greens, arame seaweed, sesame seeds, celery, carrots, and a homemade raspberry vinaigrette. From there, you can really add whatever you can imagine on to your salad for a couple dollars more. The next option is their beautiful thin-crust pizzas that are cooked in a giant wood-fired oven. You can choose your base pizza and of course, customize it to your liking with their great ingredients. There are vegan pizza options, too! All the pizzas are available in 12-inch or 16-inch sizes.

I should mention that the tasty crust is made from 100% organic Candadian wheat, milled into white flour, and with the wheat germ restored. Creekbread is located at 2021 Karen Crescent in Creekside, Whistler.

I don’t look that happy here….I can assure you that I was very happy, though I had just been woken from a much needed nap- haha!

It was absolutely packed when we went in and I was happy to see that! There are two levels to the restaurant, as well as a patio and all were full. All the servers and hosts were really positive and it suited the friendly, community vibe that the restaurant has. Between my mom, my dad, and I, we ordered two salads and 1 16-inch pizza, and we had leftovers to take home. I love that they had great beverage choices, too (so happy to see plain, unsweetened ice tea on a menu- it’s always super sugary usually!) I took a look at the dessert menu, and they had some really nice options like a locally made pumpkin gelato with a gingerbread cookie cooked in the wood oven, or a brownie sundae, also cooked in the wood oven! Alas…I was already to full to indulge.

The salad was yummy, and I ate the one with goat cheese (which was really good) and the dressing was nice. I was hesitant when I heard it was a raspberry dressing, as I don’t like the super sweet fruity vinaigrette that lots of restaurants serve. I was pleasantly surprised to find it light in flavour and it went well with the salad.

The pizza…..ohhh, the pizza. To die for! This sealed the deal- I will absolutely be eating here again. We ordered the Whistler Community Creekbread which consists of tomato sauce, caramelized organic onions, BC grown mushrooms, whole milk mozzarella and asiago cheese on organic bread dough with organic garlic oil, and a sprinkle of organic herbs. The mushrooms had such amazing flavour- really woodsy and delicious. The crust was so thin and the tomato sauce was light and fabulous. I reaaaally enjoyed this pizza.

If you are visiting Whistler, I really recommend giving Creekbread a try- it feels great to know you are getting the best quality and sustainable ingredients when you are eating out. Creekbread also does something special on Tuesdays where they donate a portion of every Creekbread sold to a local non profit organization- so nice!!

On another note, tomorrow is Father’s Day, and I just had to share with you these awesome necktie-themed cakes- they are too cute to miss! Thanks to Matt for showing me these!

And two bonus pictures of my dog, Pepper, because I love her to death!

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.