Sunday, March 05, 2006

Vegan Pizza Pronto!

You know those days... frantic from the get-go right up until dinner? You're tired, impatient and hungry, and just want to eat!

Amy's Roasted Vegetable Pizza to the rescue! We keep a couple of these in the freezer, stocking up when on special. Pair this vegan pizza with a big crisp salad, maybe tossing some nuts, seeds, or beans into the salad for extra protein, and you have dinner, pronto!

The pizza itself is tasty. However, I always jazz it up with extra toppings. Below is the pizza in its out-of-the box state:

Not too bad for toppings. Actually, this was one of the better ones I've bought. But for our house, it needs more toppings! I always have jars of roasted red peppers and artichokes in my pantry. I simply drain a few of each, slice/chop, and distribute them on the pizza, along with some pitted kalamata olives. This is the "after" shot:


The sauce base of this pizza is not your traditional tomato sauce. Instead, it is a thin layer of caramelized onions blended with shiitake mushrooms. It is a VERY tasty base - I think even those of you not partial to mushrooms and onions would like it, the onions are cooked down and sweet and there are no large pieces of either mushrooms or onions.

My only criticism of this pizza is that it has a white-flour crust. I wish Amy's would produce this pizza with a whole-wheat crust, as well as offer more vegan pizzas in their product line. But, for the occasional rushed meal, it is tasty and saves the day! For a full listing of Amy's vegan product offerings, click here.

19 comments:

Julie said...

Dreena~ You must be reading my mind! I have been looking for a vegan frozen pizza to keep at the house for "those days." I was looking at Amy's soy cheese pizza and was upset that it had caesin in it. What's the point of a soy cheese pizza-if it's gonna have dairy in it?!? I am considering going completely vegan-but, need replacements for my favorite things-like pizza and ranch (thx in advance, Nancy!).

Carrie™ said...

Julie, you are right along the same thought as me. I was looking for a pizza to have in the freezer too and saw Amy's soy cheese one. I read the ingredients and thought(same as you) "what's the point?" I looked at a couple of other Amy's pizzas and gave up, so thanks Dreena for showing us this one.

Harmonia said...

Okay. I have been looking for the vegan Amy's Pizz for ever. Apparently they don't sell it near me but I can get a few select Amy's Product (but the pizza isn't one of them)

Last night Amy made my supper, too! I had one of the vegan pot pies!

Julie & Carrie ~ That is what was stopping me. I still call myself an aspiring vegan but I am taking in 99 less dairy than ever before. Dropping cheese wasn't as difficult as I thought it would be except when I travel and visit other people places for dinner. They know I am veg but not aspiring vegan. They think I am just cutting back on dairy and I am fine with that assumption for now.

Dreena said...

Hey Julie & Carrie! Yeah, I really don't understand why there are SO many veg pizza offerings with cheese. Even with Amy's. They have lots of veg pizzas, but only 1 vegan one. I plan to e-mail them, and I'll mention my blog. This kind of feedback from all of you may help them see how much we want more vegan pizzas! I know when Amy's pizzas are on special at one of our grocery stores, the roasted veg one sells out first, so people are interested in it - perhaps because of dairy allergies more than eating vegan.

Hi Madelyn! Yes, a little flax would be awesome in there - and a thin crust... we should be product developers! :)

Hi Harmonia! Maybe you could bring in the product info to your retailer. If they are already carrying some Amy's products, then it may be simple for them to bring in the pizza for you! You seem to be doing a great job eliminating dairy, btw. I think if you make a gradual transition towards the diet and get to know the new foods and experiment, then you have more success enjoying the foods and keeping the diet long-term!

Flo @ Yielded Heart said...

My kids love this pizza!
I totally agree with the whole wheat crust and more selections from Amy's. I should borrow your idea and put more toppings next time.
I've made a few more goodies from VLV! I wasn't able to take pictures over the weekend, but did some today. Hopefully, I could post some tonight.
Thank you, thank you! And I hope you'll keep on writing cookbooks!!

Harmonia said...

Thanks for all of your advice! I have been thinking of asking management about carrying more products! :)

Oh! I forgot to tell you I bought a small coffee grinder for my seeds (flax and otherwise)

Tonight I might dehydrate some Pink Lady Apples. I don't know if I have ever had Pink Lady Apples, have you?

Anyhow, I will have to see how that goes.

Nothing back yet from World Harbor. I tried contacting them again today...so fingers cross.

I bought Cocoa Powder so I might have to try and bake tonight or tomorrow!

Flo @ Yielded Heart said...

Also, I made 2 batches of the Easy Pleasin' Oat Bars. There's not much left, but is it just okay to leave them out, I mean not to freeze or refrigerate them?
I would like to make more next time, but wondering how they freeze...
Thanks, Dreena! Your blog is so priceless!

Dreena said...

Hi kaivegan! My older daughter loves the pizza too, but then I chock it full of artichokes and olives - two of her favorites! :) Thanks for your good words! So nice to hear that my recipes are working out for people and fitting into their busy lives! I am actually trying to squeeze in new recipe testing/writing now for my third book... should have some details in the coming weeks! Re the oat bars - absolutely can be frozen, no troubles. And yes, it's best to refrigerate them rather than leave them out at room temp. Food safety issues, there can be a lot of bacterial growth at room temp, and these do have a little moisture in them that can bring this on. Maybe put a small batch in the fridge and the rest in the freezer. To thaw, just pop them in the fridge and you can probably eat them within a few hours.

You're so welcome, Harmonia. I still am trying to get over to your blog today. Such a crazy morning here! Preschool, cleaning house, two poop diapers already - but you don't need to know more about that! :) I think I have had Pink Lady before - somewhat like a macintosh in texture/taste...?? My fav apples are Sweet Orin, and I also like Gala, Fuji, Yellow Delicious, and Spartan (these are all mostly sweeter and cruchy/crispy)!

Catherine Weber said...

I LOVE the Amy's roasted veggie no cheese pizza! (And I even eat a bit of cheese on occasion.) I think there actually are artichokes on the pizza, but the pieces are so small, it definitely needs a lot more.

And I agree about the sauce; it is soooo tasty. (And I don't generally care for mushrooms.) And it needs to be on top of a whole grain (or at least half and half) crust!

Dreena said...

Hi Catherine! I know, the sauce is the best part! It's very unique - most of the other pizzas out there have a tomato-based sauce (well, and only a few are vegan). And, yes, even half and half would be great, esp because I find that with the richness of the sauce, a less-rich crust (not 100% white flour) would be such a nice touch. Let's hope...!

Anonymous said...

I love pizza! I have been trying to make my own for awhile...your ideas sound great! Thanks for the help.

VeganHeartDoc said...

I always have one of the Amy's Roasted Veggie Pizzas in my fridge too. Thanks for the great ideas on how to jazz it up -- it definitely could use some more veggies!

Michelle said...

dreena, our school's nut rules (actually, our whole school district!) is no nuts of any kind, plus you can't bring in any packaged snack (granola bars and whatnot) that *MAY* contain traces of nuts. all seeds are okay, as is coconut. which makes it impossible to find a good, vegan, completely nut free granola to send to school :(

oh well, it keeps me and the munchies baking up a storm to stock our lunch boxes and freezer with vegan muffins and other snacks!

Dreena said...

Hi happyvegandoc! Yes, more and more veggies! I'm always adding extra veg to stuff like this, or pizzas we order (though we finally seem to have found a pizzeria that makes veg pizzas with mucho veg - and it's a great pizza, yay!)

Hi Michelle, that's what I suspected. It's very hard to find foods without that labelling 'may contain traces of peanuts or tree nuts' - that's on a lot of foods!

Eat Peace Please said...

I love pizza but haven't had a store-bought one in almost 7 years. I do take-out from one or two local restaurants (they are accommodating) but that's it for buying it.

At our house (important factor: when the oven's working/I'm not afraid of it anymore) we make our own pizzas with store-bought whole wheat dough, I make my own sauce (usually) and then add a ton of toppings. Ray eats his with cheese, but I turn mine into mini pizzas with veggies and breadsticks with garlic and olive oil. It makes it also a fun night. I don't roll from scrach, unfortunately.

I would try this pizza you show, but I'd pick off all the mushrooms and I don't care how small they are in this one, for me, a basis of onions and mushrooms doesn't do it. If they came out with more (hopefully they will) I am for sure willing to try other flavors. I like the idea Madelyn had with the flax! Even though this one's not for me, I still enjoy reading your posts and learning some things.

Melissa said...

I love this pizza! But at ten dollars a box, its definitely a treat! I love the creaminess it has on the crust. I think from the artichoke. And the crust itself is great too!

Vicki's Vegan Vice said...

That's my kind of meal! Love the before & after shots of the pizza.

I missed your contest.(sad face) Are you going to do it again?

Dreena said...

Leslie, you don't need to excuse yourself for not making your own pizza dough... you're making pizza from scratch, and that's enough work in my house!! :) I again thought of you when I did this post. Would she really pick off these teensy bits of mushrooms??? I guess so!! :) Thanks for your feedback!

Hi Melissa!! I know, they are expensive at about $9 here too, but we can usually get them on sale for about $6-7, and that's when we pick up a few for the freezer, since compared to a takeout pizza that's quite inexpensive (though a takeout pizza is usually bigger with more toppings)! Amy's has the roasted veggie pocket that has these same ingredients rolled into a pocket sandwich type of thing. I like that too - and it has more 'toppings' in it, but they rarely go on sale. :(

Hi Vicki! I will do another contest sometime. Not sure when, but for sure I will be doing another... now you can be :)!!!

Anonymous said...

i know this is an old post -- but i just wanted to mention! amy's has a frozen pizza with soy cheese that IS vegan. strangely, it is the one that doesn't advertise that it is made with soy cheese.

the rice crust spinach pizza is made with vegan soy mozzarella.

just thought i'd share!