my annual vegan mofo pizza post!

Most Sunday mornings when I was a kid, my mother would take pizza dough out of the freezer to rise for that evening, when my dad would make a dozen or so mini pizzas (there are 6 people in my family; we'd always have leftover pizzas for the next day, which is good planning because leftover pizza is THE BEST). My mother would grate and chop a bunch of toppings and put them in bowls, then we would all have a chance to customize our own mini pizzas. We would also go to Pizza Hut about once a month, and later in life, when we'd grown out of pizza Sundays and both of my parents were working, Friday nights became takeout nights, which 90% of the time meant pizza nights. This all on top of the fact that for all of K-12 at school, Friday lunch was always pizza.

What I'm saying is, I have a deep-rooted love for pizza that becoming vegan and nightshade-intolerant (no tomatoes or peppers) can never squash. So while I don't have pizza as frequently as I did as a kid, and I usually can't have pizza when I go out, I still make it pretty often. And each year, I show you several of my creations in a big Vegan Mofo pizza post! Here are the ones from 2010 and 2011, in case you want to see even more homemade, nightshade-free, vegan pizzas.

I think I've talked enough about pizza for now; time to show you! I'm going to go with minimal captions just letting you know what the toppings are. Feel free to comment if you want to know more about any given pizza!

My basic white pizza: pesto topped with spinach, caramelized shallots, and daiya.

This pizza features carrot marinara, a tofu-based cheesy spread, and minced Tofurky sausage on top.

 A fancy pizza because I used fillo dough for the crust. I also used the fig-almond spread I had made for this potluck, because there was a lot left. AND I topped it with "goat cheese" made from leftover nut-milk solids mixed with miso, nutritional yeast, lemon juice, and a few herbs and spices. Also onions, because onions are my favorite topping on pizza.

It was so good I did it again, only for a whole-grain, deep-dish pizza.

After using the fig-almond spread for the above fancy pizza, I've discovered I like a bit of fruit as a sauce base. This sauce is made of raisins, carrots, and some seasonings. Topped with grated daiya, spinach, and homemade bean-based sausage crumbles.

Another white pizza, topped with daiya, chickpeas, my zucchini pepperoni, and shallots.

French bread pizzas! This was my best nightshade free marinara sauce to date; one beet, 4 carrots, boiled till tender and food-processed with vinegar, fresh basil, and a couple pinches of oregano and rosemary. Topped with grated daiya and onions.

A white pizza with a homemade tofu "cheese," minced seitan, and onions.

Finally, these calzones (which totally belong in this post, as calzones are basically just folded-up pizza) are from Peace O'Pie, Boston's vegan pizza parlor:

 Kevin's had a lot of nightshades in it and I was afraid to touch it.

 MINE had daiya cheese, artichoke hearts, and caramelized onions.

I hope you enjoyed this epic pizza post, a favorite tradition I have to celebrate one of my favorite foods.