Vegan White Pizza w/ Roasted Tomatoes & Basil

Hi and welcome back to Ria Lives Well!

The other day, I needed proof that being a vegan didn’t mean I had to give up good, cheesy pizza.

So I went on a hunt.

I headed to my nearest library and looked up vegan cookbooks that offered pizza recipes that were good, but not exactly what I was looking for. You see, I’m addicted to cheese. Or, rather, I was addicted to cheese before I made the decision to stop buying dairy products. And Daiya cheese, while the talk of the vegan town, doesn’t cut it for me. In fact…I’m not particularly fond of it’s taste. Like…at all.

The recipes I found made no attempt at even imitating a real cheese pizza. I don’t mind having pizza topped with pesto, vegetables and tofu every once in a while…but there are times when all I want is a damn good imitation cheese pizza.

Frustrated, I took my search to the internet, where I came across a recipe for vegan white pizza, which uses coconut cream as the cheese substitute.

I took one look at that recipe list. Just one. And I was all in.

Vegan White Pizza:

Inspired by: Sweet Beet and Green Bean

Pizza dough (homemade or store bought; although I highly recommend her dough)

2 roasted garlic heads

1/2 cup coconut milk

1/4 teaspoon sea salt

Fire roasted tomatoes (canned)

fresh basil leaves

one teaspoon dried oregano

Directions:

Roast garlic head. Set oven to 375 deg. F. Lightly coat garlic with oil. Roast for 40-60 minutes {mine took just 4o}.

Pour 1/2 cup of coconut milk + sea salt + roasted garlic in a blender. Blend on high until smooth. Strain. Refrigerate.

Roll out your dough. Pinch the circumference to create crust.

Sprinkle a bit of corn flour over baking sheet.

Carefully pour the coconut and garlic mix over the pizza. Top with fresh basil and a few fire roasted tomatoes. Sprinkle with oregano.

Bake at 475 for 10 minutes, or until crust browns and cheese bubbles

I made two of these. The first I ate so quickly, I was unable to take pictures of it. My greediness makes food blogging very difficult.

You’re probably wondering if the coconut taste is pronounced in this recipe. It really isn’t. The roasted garlic beats down the coconut triumphantly.

This recipe was exactly what I was looking for. Something “cheesy,” without regret.

~Live Well!