Dairy Free Loaded Pizza

 

Wow! It's been a while since I've posted a new recipe. I've had a few big life changes that have kept me super busy. I came down with a cold this week so I though this would be the perfect time to post some of the things I've been working on. 

This dairy-free pizza came about because my boyfriend's son has a severe dairy allergy. I wanted to come up with something that still felt pizza-y without using vegan cheese. I'm not a huge fan of most vegan cheeses. Please feel free to comment below if you know if a good one! I'm always on the lookout. 

Dairy Free Loaded Pizza

Ingredients

Pizza Crust 

Our recipe can be found here - PIZZA CRUST  

Dairy Free "Ricotta"

8 oz artichoke hearts in olive oil

14 oz extra firm tofu

Toppings

1 head roasted garlic

1 - 2 cups Dairy Free "Ricotta" (recipe above)

2 Tbsp oil

2 large bell peppers, sliced

1 large onion, sliced

1 1lb ground beef

~1 cup marinara sauce (I use Raos) 

Directions

Prepare pizza crust. You can follow our recipe (HERE) or use your own. Our recipe will make enough for 3 - 12" pizzas (2 if you like a really thick crust)

Prepare the toppings while the dough is rising.

Prepare Dairy Free Ricotta - In a food processor, pulse artichoke hearts and tofu until mixture resembles ricotta cheese. (Everything should be in smaller bits and look crumbly) 

In a large frying pan, fry peppers and onion in oil until wilted - about 5 to 8 minutes. Remove from heat.

 In the same pan, add ground beef and cook until browned. Drain off excess grease and stir in about 1/2 cup of the marinara sauce. Set aside. 

Have your toppings all ready to go when the dough has completed its rise. 

Prepare pizza - Divide dough into 3 equal pieces. The toppings here are enough for 2 pizzas. You can freeze the 3rd piece of dough for use later OR make 2 larger, thicker crust pizzas.) 

Preheat oven to 400. 

Press dough into 2 - 12 inch pizza pans lined with parchment paper OR oil well with olive oil. 

Bake the crusts for about 8 minutes, until edges are just ever-so-slightly brown.  Remove from heat and top the crusts. 

Crumble about 1 cup of the dairy free ricotta on each crust. Squeeze out the roast garlic and distribute on the 2 pizzas. 

Top each with half of the pepper/onion mix and the ground beef.

Put back in 400 oven for another 15 or so minutes - until crust is golden brown. 

Heat the remaining 1/2 cup of marinara sauce and drizzle over the two pizzas. 

You can, of course, use more garlic, more marinara, more of any of the ingredients, if you prefer. 

I had about 1 cup or so of the dairy free "ricotta" left over. I am currently looking for another way to use it up. I will let you know what I come up with!

You won't miss the cheese on these. The "ricotta" makes the topping feel more pizza-y without adding any dairy. You could make these with a Pillsbury pizza crust or even using naan or pita bread for individual pizzas. 

My boyfriend's son enjoyed these so I am counting the recipe as a success. I liked them as well. I made my crusts a little thicker than I usually do so that threw me off BUT I will definitely make these toppings again and be sure to make a thinner crust. 

If you try it, let us know how it turned out for you.