BEST HOMEMADE MARGHERITA PIZZA 🍕

Homemade Vegan Margherita Pizza Recipe: 20 Minute Pizza crust, 5-minute Pizza sauce and a creamy cashew mozzarella cheese sauce. Vegan Soy-free Recipe. Gluten-free and nut-free options.

Sometimes you just want a ridiculously good pizza and the pizza restaurants are too far away or have shut down. Then you just go to the kitchen and whip up a super fresh delicious Margherita pizza with gooey cashew cheese, all made from scratch
The pizza dough doesn’t need much kneading. Just bring the dough together and let it rise for 15 mins, then shape it using some flour. This dough is shaped easily as it does not have much gluten development and hence is not the stretchy traditional pizza dough, so no struggling to roll it out!

You can speed up the process by either making the components ahead of time or using store-bought options. With a store-bought pizza sauce, this pizza comes together in 20-30 mins and then you have to wait and fight over the fresh slices. 

INGREDIENTS FOR VEGAN MARGHERITA PIZZA

• This easy Pizza sauce needs tomato paste, olive oil, minced garlic, Italian herbs, onion powder, salt and pepper.  Or use a store-bought pizza sauce or marinara.
• Pizza dough needs just 5 ingredients: active yeast, water, flour, semolina, and salt. Or use a store-bought dough
• Mozzarella Cashew cream uses cashews, garlic, onion powder, salt, miso, lemon juice, olive oil and flour or starch for thickening.
• Gluten-free: Use my Gluten-free pizza crust options (listed just above recipe), Use rice flour in the cashew cream for thickening.
• Nut-free: Use one of my nut-free alfredo sauce. Thicken the sauce with a few tips. flour if needed and then scoop spoonful on the pizza.

HOW TO MAKE VEGAN MARGHERITA PIZZA FROM SCRATCH

Preheat the oven. Soak the cashews for the mozzarella in hot water if you haven’t already. Mix the warm water with yeast and 1 tbsp flour. Mix well and let sit for 2 mins. Mix the salt and semolina into the rest of the flour. Add the flour and oil to the yeast mixture and mix.

Mix till just about combined. Let it sit for a minute.
Oil your hands and bring the dough together till just about smooth. Don’t knead it more than a few seconds. Cover with a towel and let it sit near the preheating oven for 15 mins.

Drain the cashews. Blend all the ingredients under mozzarella cream until smooth. Add to a skillet over medium heat. Cook to thicken evenly 3 to 5 mins. Stir occasionally to avoid sticking at the bottom and lumping.

Prep the pizza sauce: Mix all the ingredients in a bowl. Taste and adjust salt and flavour. Add a pinch of sweetener if needed.

Oil your hands and transfer dough to parchment-lined baking sheet. Using flour shape the dough, then spread using your hands. Keep spreading to make a large pizza or make 2 small pizzas.

Spread the pizza sauce all over. Add some fresh basil and place tomato slices over the basil. Add a spoonful of the mozzarella cream.

TIPS TO MAKE A FABULOUS VEGAN MARGHERITA PIZZA

• Dough: Knead the dough for a minute after it has risen to help the mixture incorporate well. Adjust the flour or water if needed.
• Spread the dough out to make thin crusts. this dough makes bready crust if too thick.
• The mozzarella cream can be made ahead.
• Drizzle drops of olive oil all over on the pizza before baking.

HOW TO STORE OR FREEZE THIS VEGAN MARGHERITA PIZZA?

Freeze: Freeze the pizza dough with the sauce and tomatoes or veggies if using and without the cheese. Freeze on a tray, once fully frozen, store in an airtight ziplock with least amount of air around the pizza.

To cook frozen Pizza: Preheat the oven. Add cheese and other toppings on the frozen pizza in the oven and bake for 16 to 18 mins