Hi, Foodies!
Today I made vegan pizza, since I had some silken tofu left I made cheese the same way as yesterday in my Vegan Creamy Garlic Cheese and other cheesy recipes post. The only difference is that I used less garlic in cheese.
I even found a can of Dark Staropramen beer in the pantry. That was a surprise. I'm not a big fan of drinking alcohol but, the flavors of this Czech beer complemented the pizza incredibly.
I have a big garden and I'm self-sufficient with food, most of it I freeze and can and today I will describe recipes for homemade tomato and chili sauce.
First I would like to talk about pizza dough. There are many recipes for it and my favorite is yogurt dough. I used vegan yogurt, you can find recipe for it in my previous post.
Pizza dough likes resting, so I would recommend preparing it a day ahead, wrap it in a stretch foil and keep it in the fridge overnight.
Ingredients for the dough:
0.5 kg of flour
2 dl of water
20 g of fresh yeast
1 of teaspoon sugar
1 dl of vegan yogurt
0.5 teaspoons of salt
3 tablespoons of olive oil
In a tall pot, crush the yeast and mix it with one tablespoon of flour, sugar and 1 dl of warm water to form a yeast. Let the yeast rise in a warm place.
Sip flour into a large bowl and make a hole in the middle. Salt the flour along the edge and pour the yeast and some of warm water into the bowl, into the hole- we call this volcano. Let it rise a little again in a warm place.
Mix 1 dl of vegan yogurt with 1 dl of water and warm it up a little. Mix yeast and flour with a wooden spoon, while slowly adding warm water and yogurt mix.
Once you form a ball, transfer the dough to a floured board and knead it with both hands. Knead the dough until it separates nicely from the board and hands.
Cover it with olive oil and wrap it in stretch foil. Put it in the refrigerator overnight or at least for two hours.
Ingredients for pizza toppings:
homemade tomato sauce
dark olives
green bell pepper
red onion
oregano
hot chili sauce
Just cut vegetables in any shape you like.
Take the pizza dough out of the fridge and put it on a floured surface. Shape it any way you like (I used a round shape) with your hands.
Coat it with tomato sauce, place your toppings on it and put some vegan cheese on top. Sprinkle with oregano and put it in a hot oven for 10 minutes or until nicely baked.
Recipe for homemade tomato sauce:
10 kg of fresh, ripe tomatoes
70 g of salt
2 bunches of fresh basil
Wash and dry the tomatoes with a kitchen towel. Cut into quarters or chunks. Put it in a large, deep pot. Add half the salt (35g) and two bunches of basil and mix well. Cover with a cloth and leave for 12 - 16 hours at room temperature. This way, the tomato juices will drop and the basil will add a wonderful aroma.
Take the basil out of the pot and discard (or better yet, use it in some other dish). Place the pot on a high heat and wait for the tomatoes to boil while stirring regularly, then reduce the heat. Cook on low heat for 2-3 hours, leaving only a third of the amount. Stir occasionally. Add the rest of the salt (35g) to taste, if you like, depending on your taste.
Preheat the oven to 100 ° C, place clean jars and lids on a tray and place in the oven for 15 minutes.
Place a fine sieve over a large bowl and pour in the cooked tomatoes and stir well over the sieve.
Pour filtered tomato sauce into hot jars or bottles. Close the jars with a lid, wrap in a larger blanket and allow cooling it slowly. Then store in a cold and dark place for up to a year or prepare a dish.
Recipe for hot chili sauce
150 g of chilies, hot peppers or jalapeños
1 small onion
1 red bell pepper
a clove of garlic
2 tomatoes
4 tablespoons of olive oil
3 dl of herb white wine vinegar or apple vinegar
3 dl of water
a tablespoon of sugar
a tablespoon of salt
Finely dice chilies, hot peppers or jalapeños, onion and bell pepper.
Heat up olive oil and fry vegetables on medium heat for 5 minutes. Add crushed garlic and diced tomatoes. Cook for another 10 minutes, on low heat, with a lid on and stir occasionally.
Add vinegar, water, salt and sugar and boil on low heat for another 20 minutes, with a lid on, stirring occasionally.
While waiting, heat up the oven on 100 ⁰C and put in clean bottles or cans. To get them sterilized they need to stay in the oven for at least 15 minutes.
Transfer your hot sauce into a food processor and blend it well. Sip it trough cheese cloth and boil it up again.
Pour your hot sauce in hot bottles, close them and put it back in the oven for 40 minutes, or boil them in a water bath for 40 minutes.
Keep it in a cold and dark place (in the pantry or a basement).
This hot sauce will stay good for a few years, if its processed and stored in a right way.