grilled pizza

The weather has been so lovely here, in the seventies, no humidity, thinking-about-wearing-a-sweater-in-the-morning type of weather, that I am fearing it is the end of summer and we haven't grilled a pizza, yet! Yikes!

So, tonight, in honor of the ebbing summer days, we grilled pizza. Pizza night is always a cause for great rejoicing in our home, and tonight was no exception.

Grilling pizza is so easy! It is actually easier than baking them in the oven and can even be done indoor on a grill without having to heat up the house. Just because summer is ebbing does not mean it has ebbed.

The key to grilling pizza is to grill one side first, flip and then add your toppings. To help melt our non-dairy cheese, I inverted a metal bowl over the pizza to keep the heat in.

The kids had their usual toppings - pepper-NOT!-i and Daiya cheese-sub, but I wanted something with a little heat.

I made a quick (really) tomato sauce using Bionaturae Organic Strained Tomatoes in a glass bottle because I found out that while Eden Foods does not add BPA to the lining of their beans, there is trace amounts in the lining of tomatoes. I added chipotle peppers to the sauce because I have such an affinity for those smoked little jalapenos. My pizza sang with the melody of sweetness, spiciness, crunch and the grill. Music to my mouth.

Cost Breakdown:

dough: $3

Daiya: $5

tomato: $2

Yves Pepperoni: $3

onion, garlic: $1

herbs, spices, chipotle: $1

Total to make 6 pizzas:

$15.00

pizza night

We had Pizza Night here!

The kids have been asking and since there was en easy pizza crust recipe (besides the Chicago Deep Dish Pizza) in American Vegan Kitchen, my fate was sealed. I rolled the crust thin, baked the pizzas in a super hot oven in a cast iron pan (I don't have a pizza stone), and topped the kids' pizzas with Yves 'pepperoni' and David's and mine with grilled vegetables.  The adult version also has a reduced balsamic vinegar drizzle, adding sweetness and extra flavor. Making it is very easy, just reduce a half cup of balsamic vinegar to half its original volume on medium-high heat. This will eliminate the acidic quality of the vinegar and concentrate its sweetness. BTW, to get the 'pepperoni' to be crisp, pan-fry them in a little olive oil before adding to the pizza.

Cost Breakdown:

crust: $2

Yves: $3

Daiya and Follow Your Heart: $7

vegetables: $3

vinegar: $.50

Total to make 5, 9-inch pizzas:

$15.50

Stuffed-Crust with Yves Pepperoni

Grilled Vegetable with Balsamic Vinegar Reduction

chicago deep dish pizza

Visions of Uno's and Lou Malnati's Pizza has been dancing in my head.

And now on my palate as well.

American Vegan Kitchen by Tamasin Noyen has a pretty authentic recipe (minus the spinach), complete with the sausage (also in the cookbook, and also an easy recipe),  tomato sauce (can it really be called that, it just being drained, seasoned tomatoes?), and dough. The dough, which I popped into my bread machine and forgot about it until it was ready, turned out golden brown and crunchy - no soggy dough here! 

I'll stop raving now, but I do admit pizza is one of my old-time faves.

Suffice it to say everyone loved it.

Ahh.

Cost Breakdown:
1/2 Daiya, 1/2 Follow Your Heart: $5
Can of Eden tomato: $2.50
Homemade crust and seasonings: $1
Homemade seitan: $1
Salad: $3
Total to feed a family of 5:
$12.50

A FIVE Star Dish!