Everyday is a good day for pizza. Chef Del has all of the best recipes and tips for making your whole food, plant-based pizza party rock.
Pizza Tips for a Whole Food Plant-Based Kitchen
Yes my friend I do eat pizza on a whole food, plant-based diet, though, I insist on healthy ingredients. A WFPB pizza cooks differently from a traditional pie. For example, a whole grain pizza crust will burn in a traditional oven heated to 700 degrees. Here are some more of my best tips for a delicious pizza pie.
Oven Temperature
In the traditional oven at home, we strive to get the oven temperature as hot as possible. Pizza joints heat ovens to as high as 800 or even 900 degrees, temperatures far above what is possible in the home kitchen, and that is probably a good thing. Whole grain crusts burn much more readily than traditional white flour crusts, so you’ll see most of my recipes between 375-400 degrees.
Don’t Use Cold Dough
If you are using a refrigerated dough, take it out of the refrigerator about an hour before baking it so that it can warm up to room temperature and the gluten(if making a wheat flour dough) can relax- allowing you to stretch your pizza into shape easily without overworking it (which makes the dough tough).
Don’t Roll Out Your Dough
This is true mostly for wheat based crusts. The texture of your crusts comes in part by the nooks and crannies created as it rises. Rolling the crust out deflates the crust and gives you more of a cardboard texture. Instead, put the ball of dough on a floured pizza peel and use curved fingers to gently pull from the center to make a round or oval shape with a raised crust at the edge. Work your hands around the edge, lifting so that gravity does the work to stretch the dough to the desired thickness.
Don’t Over Sauce your Pizza
Too much sauce makes a soggy pizza. By the same token, if you are using fresh tomatoes, slice them thinly. If you are using canned tomatoes, drain any excess liquid from them before using them in your recipe.
Preheat Your Baking Surface
No matter what type of bakeware you use to cook your pizza, if you want a crispy crust, a preheated surface will go a long way towards that end. Pizza stones are great but not absolutely necessary for good pizza
Consider Using Parchment Paper
If you are making several pizzas for that big pizza party you promised the kids, then parchment paper is a must so that you won’t spend all night cleaning dishes, or so that you don’t have to go out and buy a bunch of baking dishes
Pre-cook Your Toppings
Many vegetables will not cook in the short time they spend in the oven becoming pizza. If you do not like raw veggies on your pie, then consider cooking them first. And, if you are going to cook them, you might as well up the flavor game and season them too. Also, some greens like spinach and kale which have a lot of water in them benefit from cooking and then squeezing the excess liquid from them-remember nobody wants a soggy pie. If you are going to add raw vegetables, chop them small so they will cook some, and so that they don’t dominate the pizza. flavor.
Rotate Your Pizza Once it is in the Oven.
Do this about half way through the cooking. Most home ovens bake unevenly and most dishes benefit from rotating them while cooking.
Add Fresh Herbs After the Pizza Comes Out of the Oven
Tender herbs like basil will burn quickly when baked on top of a pizza. Adding them after the pie comes out of the oven preserves all that delicious flavor.
Recipes
