Vegan with a Vengeance

wouldn’t be my namesake: salty olives, fragrant pesto, creamy tofu ricotta, and yummy cremini mushrooms.
    Pizza dough for 2 pizzas (page 128)
    Pizza Sauce (previous recipe)
    Basil-Tofu Ricotta (recipe follows)
    Classic Pesto (recipe follows)
    â…“ cup pitted and halved kalamata olives
    â…“ cup thinly sliced cremini mushrooms
    Cornmeal for the pan
    Olive oil for drizzling and brushing
    Preheat oven to 500° F.
    Roll your dough out as described on page 129. Use the back of a big spoon to spread the pizza sauce onto the dough—use about ⅓ cup or so—leaving about 1½ inch of space bare around the circumference. You should still be able to see some of the crust underneath—if you add too much it may make your dough soggy. Spoon the ricotta on, in mounds about 2 tablespoonfuls apiece—you’ll want five mounds of it or so. Do the same with the pesto. You should have circles of pesto and ricotta but still be able to see the red sauce underneath.
    Scatter half the olives and mushrooms on top of the pizza. Drizzle a little olive oil on the mushrooms so that they don’t dry out while cooking. Use a pastry brush to brush the crust around the circumference with a thin layer of olive oil.
    Place the pizza in the bottom of the oven on a pizza stone. Check it after 8 minutes. Once the crust is lightly browned your pizza is ready. It can take up to 12 minutes. Remove from oven and transfer to a large cutting board to slice. Proceed to your next pizza; by this point you should be feeling like a real pizza guy.

Classic Pesto
    MAKES 1½ CUPS
    Â 
    â€œWhen in doubt —pesto” is my mantra. I serve it whenever I’m feeling lazy and want to cook something delicious that everyone will love. The nutritional yeast makes it creamier but it is entirely optional.
    Â½ cup walnuts
    3 cups packed basil leaves
    3 cloves garlic, smashed and coarsely chopped
    1½ teaspoons coarse salt
    Â½ cup extra-virgin olive oil, or more to taste
    Â¼ cup nutritional yeast (optional)
    2 teaspoons lemon juice
    Toast the walnuts in a toaster oven at 350°F for 5 minutes or on a baking sheet in a conventional oven for 10 minutes, turning once.
    Combine the walnuts, basil, garlic, and salt in a food processor or blender and process while you add the olive oil in a slow, steady stream. Add the nutritional yeast and lemon juice, and pulse to combine. The sauce should be the consistency of a slightly grainy paste, not a puree.

Basil-Tofu Ricotta
    MAKES ABOUT 2 CUPS
    Â 
    Use as a filling for stuffed shells, mixed with tomato sauce in pasta, or as a topping for pizza.
    1 pound firm tofu, pressed
    2 teaspoon lemon juice
    1 clove garlic, minced
    Â¼ teaspoon salt
    Dash fresh black pepper
    Handful fresh basil leaves, finely chopped (ten leaves or so)
    2 teaspoons olive oil
    Â¼ cup nutritional yeast
    In a large bowl, mush the tofu up with your hands, till it’s crumbly.
    Add the lemon juice, garlic, salt, pepper, and basil. Mush with your hands again; this time you want it to get very mushy so squeeze through your fingers and mush until it reaches the consistency of ricotta cheese. This may take 2 to 5 minutes.
    Add the olive oil, stir with a fork. Add the nutritional yeast and mix all ingredients well. Use a fork now, because the oil will make it sticky. Cover and refrigerate until ready to use.

Potato and Tempeh Sausage Pizza
    MAKES ONE 14-INCH PIZZA
    Â 
    Potatoes on pizza? How zany. This was a popular topping choice on The Post Punk Kitchen message boards and I have to say, the boards are never wrong. Try to cut the potatoes as evenly as possible so that when they cook they are crispy outside and chewy inside. The fennel and tempeh are a match made in heaven, and the chewy potatoes make the marriage work. I love this pizza as is, but if you would like to add soy cheese I can’t stop you.
    Pizza Sauce (page 130)
    1 cup shredded mozzarella soy cheese (optional)
    Tempeh Crumbles (page 22)
    1 medium-size russet potato, scrubbed, cut in half and thinly sliced (slices should be under ¼ inch thick)
    1 medium-size fennel bulb, trimmed, very thinly sliced
    4 cloves garlic, thinly sliced
    Olive oil for drizzling and brushing
    Preheat oven to 500° F.
    Roll out your dough as described on page 129. Use the back of a big spoon to spread the pizza sauce onto the dough—use about ⅓ cup or so—leaving about 1½ inches of empty space around the circumference of the dough. You should