Recipe: Shane’s Red Hot, Heart-Shaped Pizza: Eat it on Vegan Pizza Day, Valentine’s Day, or any old damn day!

The convergence of Vegan Pizza Day and the Fiery Vegan Valentine Cooking Contest at Cook. Vegan. Lover. provided Shane and I with the perfect excuse to indulge in some piping hot, homemade vegan pies on Saturday. (Not that we need an excuse, mind you! But they do make us feel a bit more productive, anyway. I mean, when you’re in the pizza utensil business, you’re more or less required to eat pizza on Vegan Pizza Day, amirite people?)

While I opted for a milder – but fully loaded – pizza, Shane decided to make a red hot, heart-shaped pie for himself. Crushed red pepper, hot sauce and sun-dried peppers on a “hearty” crust seasoned with cayenne pepper, cumin, thyme and basil makes for one fiery hot vegan Valentine’s Day entrée, don’t you think? (So hot, in fact, that I dared not sample it. Perhaps this was Shane’s plan all along? Sneaky, that one.)

Here’s how you do it:

 
Shane’s Red Hot, Heart-Shaped Pizza

Ingredients

Dough

1 cup warm water (110 degrees F / 45 degrees C)
1 tablespoon sugar
2 1/4 tablespoons active dry yeast
3 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt
2 1/2 cups all-purpose flour
5 tablespoons cayenne pepper
1 tablespoon cumin
1 tablespoon thyme
1 tablespoon basil

Cornmeal or cooking spray with which to coat the pizza stone or pizza pan

Toppings

Pizza sauce
Mozzarella Daiya cheese
Crushed dried red pepper
Sun-dried tomatoes
Sun-dried peppers
Lightlife Smart Pepperoni
Black olives
Hot sauce (Shane is partial to Frank’s Original Red Hot Sauce, which is vegan – obvs!)

Directions

1. Prepare the dough: stir the water, sugar and yeast together until dissolved. Add the olive oil, salt, cayenne pepper, cumin, thyme and basil. Stir in the flour until blended. Form the dough into a small ball and let rest in large bowl, covered loosely with a towel, anywhere from 30 minutes to two hours.

2. When you’re ready to assemble and bake your pizza: preheat the oven to 425 degrees.

3. As the oven’s heating, spread a dusting of cornmeal onto your pizza stone (or lightly coat your pizza pan with cooking spray). Using fingers dipped in olive oil (optional), pat the dough onto the stone, spreading it out evenly. Shape your dough so that it resembles a heart, like so:

4. Once you’re satisfied with the shape of the dough, it’s time to add your toppings! Start by spreading a layer of pizza sauce on top of the dough, as thick or thin as you like. Next, add a thin layer of Daiya cheese, followed by the crushed, dried red pepper, sun-dried tomatoes, sun-dried peppers, black olives and Smart Pepperoni. Spread a second thin layer of Daiya cheese on top of all this. If desired, add a splash of hot sauce for an extra-special kick.

5. Bake at 425 degrees for about 15 to 20 minutes, or until the cheese is melted and gooey, and the crust, a golden brown. If you’re baking two pizzas at once, increase the bake time to 30 minutes.

6. Serve warm by candlelight! (Or, if you’re like Shane and I, the soft, reassuring glow of a big screen tv.)

Très romantique!
 

Notes

Feel free to play around with the amounts of spices for a slightly milder (or, dog forbid, HOTTER!) pizza.

Peppers of various colors and flavors would taste lovely on this pizza, as would bits of jalapeño, applied sparingly. Alas, we had neither on hand!

If you don’t have any store-bought vegan pepperoni in the fridge, try this recipe for “Veggeroni” (i.e., Seitan Pepperoni). We also love, love, love Lightlife’s Smart Links on pizza, and they make a Chorizo-style sausage and Mexican Smart Ground as well!

Finally, rumor has it the Daiya will be releasing a Pepperjack flavor some time in March – so keep an eye out for that! Otherwise, we’re also partial to Follow Your Heart’s Vegan Gourmet cheese (melty!), available in cheddar, mozzarella, nacho and Monterey Jack flavors.
 

How to Enter the Fiery Vegan Valentine Cooking Contest

Lindsay at Cook. Vegan. Lover. is accepting entries for her Fiery Vegan Valentine Cooking Contest until February 11, at which time she’ll post a roundup of all the submissions. Readers can vote for their favorites in three categories – dessert, appetizer and entrée – until February 13 at 9pm EST. The winners will get fame and glory – and some vegan goodies from NYC. Details and rules here.

Posted: 02/1/11 at 12:49 pm. Filed under: Food & Recipes.
Tags: contests, holidays, pizza, recipes, Valentine's Day, vegan, Vegan Pizza Day
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