Roasted Pepper and Garlic Pizza!

On Sunday morning, I was flipping through a Rolling Stone in the bathroom of all places, when an ad for a frozen very non-vegan pizza caught my eye. Suddenly, I got the world's most intense craving for cheesy pizza. I was planning to buy groceries later that day, and I considered grabbing a frozen Tofurky pizza from Whole Foods.

But I have all these free packs of Vegan Shreds from Galaxy (thanks Galaxy!), and I have a front yard garden of ripe peppers that desperately need to be used. Plus, it was a Sunday, which meant there was plenty of time to make a homemade crust. So that's just what I did.

I whipped up some crust using my old stand-by recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance. I oven-roasted some red and yellow bell peppers and some jalapenos (all from my pepper garden). And I oven-roasted some garlic in olive oil. I threw together a homemade sauce (also from Vegan with a Vengeance). Then I layered the veggies, sauce, and Galaxy Vegan Mozzarella on the crust and baked it. The result was a delicious pie that likely far exceeded the taste of that non-vegan frozen pizza that launched my craving in the first place.

Check out my Roasted Pepper and Garlic Pizza:

Since I used Vegan with a Vengeance for the crust and sauce, I can't share those recipes. But I will share the basics.

Roasted Pepper and Garlic Pizza

3 red or yellow bell peppers
3 jalapeno peppers
1 head galic
2 tsp. olive oil 
10 black olives, sliced
1 cup sliced button mushrooms
1 homemade or storebought pizza crust
1 cup pizza sauce
1 cup vegan mozzarella cheese shreds


Preheat the oven to 450 degrees. Line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.

Stem and seed the bell peppers. Stem the jalapenos, but do not seed (unless you're scared of spice and then I guess you can seed ... but you're a wuss).


Coat the garlic head in the olive oil and wrap with foil. Place on the baking sheet. Place the whole bell peppers and jalapenos on the baking sheet. Bake for 30 minutes, flipping peppers once halfway through. 

The peppers should be mostly blackened when you remove them from the oven. Place the peppers in a bowl and cover with plastic wrap for about 15 minutes. This steams the skin so it's easy to remove. Set the garlic aside.


Turn oven heat up to 500 degrees.


Dump the peppers onto a cutting board, and use your fingers to work the skin off. Discard the skin and chop the peppers.


Spread the sauce over the crust, leaving a little room on the edge for the crust. Add cheese, chopped peppers, mushrooms, and olives. Open the garlic foil and use your fingers to squeeze the soft, roasted garlic onto the pizza in various places, distributing evenly.
 
Bake for 8 to 10 minutes if using a homemade crust. If using a storebought crust, follow package instructions.