The hubby has been talking about pizza a lot lately. I can’t blame him, pizza is amazing. It’s on the top of my “if I could only eat one thing for the rest of my life…” list. Although there are places in town to get some fresh amazing vegan pizza (Green, Mellow Mushroom, Whole Foods), I love the idea of making it at home. Taking the time to bake this delicious focaccia-like crust and topping it with thinly sliced potatoes and onions makes me appreciate the pizza even more. It also gives us a new recipe to test, enjoy, and perfect. It’s Pizza Party time.

Homemade Vegan Potato Pizza 

Crust Ingredients

1 teaspoon dry active yeast
1 1/4 cup warm water
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp raw sugar
1 1/2 cups all-purpose unbleached flour  (plus more for kneading)
1 cup bread flour

Topping Ingredients

2 russet potatoes
1/2 red onion
3 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil
1 tsp freshly cracked italian seasoning
sea salt (to taste)
freshly cracked pepper (to taste)
2 sprigs fresh chopped rosemary

In a medium bowl mix the yeast with warm water and let sit for 5 minutes. Then whisk in 2 tbsp olive oil, the sugar and salt. In a large bowl mix together the flours. The original recipe calls for 1 cup whole wheat flour, but I substituted 1 cup bread flour and it came out great. Create a hole in the center of your flour mixture and pour in the wet ingredients. Slowly mix the ingredients together by hand until all the liquid is absorbed. If it’s too wet you can mix in more flour 1/4 cup at a time. Sprinkle a clean surface with flour and knead the dough until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Coat a large bowl with the 1 tbsp olive oil and add in the dough. Swirl the dough in the bowl so it’s completely coated. Cover the bowl with plastic wrap and a dish towel. Allow the dough to rise until it has doubled in size, about 2 hours. Then punch down the dough and let rise for 1 more hour.

When the dough is almost done rising preheat the oven to 475°F. Grease a 9 x 12 cookie sheet with olive oil and mold the dough into the shape of the pan. Brush the dough with 1 tbsp olive oil. Place the crust on the bottom oven rack for about 5 minutes, this helps ensure a cooked-through crust. Thinly slice the potatoes and red onion using a mandoline and roughly chop the fresh rosemary. I recommend microwaving the potato slices for 1 minute before placing them on the pizza so they’ll be soft in the center with crispy edges. Take the crust out of the oven and top with two layers of thinly sliced potatoes in a scallop style. Brush the potatoes with 2 tbsp olive oil so they don’t dry out in the oven. Toss on the sliced onions, italian seasoning, and sprinkle with salt, pepper, and fresh chopped rosemary. Place the pizza on the middle oven rack to bake for 10 to 12 minutes. Once the bottom of the crust has browned, remove the pizza from the oven and cut into rectangles.

I shared a similar Potato & Pistachio Pizza here back in 2010, but I never got around to sharing our recipe. It’s very similar to this one, except you add your favorite marinara sauce and pistachios. We also used a pre-made whole wheat crust, but this homemade dough is even better. This recipe was adapted from Nadia G. over at Bitchin Kitchen.

Happy Monday!

xo angie