How to get creative with vegan pizza

Pizza is appropriate any time of the day. It can be sweet or savoury, spicy or mild. When you’re picking a sauce and toppings, think of the pizza dough as your canvas. Your colour palette is a smorgasbord of vibrant hues. And your tools simply involve a baking pan and a rolling pin. (I use a wine bottle to roll my pizza dough flat.)

Here are some fun ideas outside the (pizza) box:

Sweet: nutella + fruit

I used homemade nutella for the pizza spread. Then I layered strawberries and fresh figs on top. Blueberries, raspberries, kiwi and pomegranate seeds will work well, too.

Bake in the oven at 425 degrees fahrenheit for 10 to 12 minutes.

Savoury: basil pesto + grape tomatoes + walnuts

I often make my own pesto, but this time I used a vegan basil pesto for the spread. I sliced up these beautiful grape tomatoes that came in bright shades of yellow, red and dark red. If you want some gooey-ness, sprinkle vegan mozzarella on top.

Bake in the oven at 425 degrees fahrenheit for about 15 minutes.

Spicy:
tahini + sweet potato + yellow bell pepper + cilantro
chili ginger sauce + chili garlic sauce + broccoli + red bell pepper + carrot + basil

Pictured above left: Instead of pizza dough, I used spinach naan as the base. (Flatbread will also do.) The sauce is tahini, a sesame paste, that’s spiced with harissa, a hot chili pepper paste. I layered sweet potato puffs and yellow bell pepper then garnished with chopped cilantro.

Pictured above right: This Thai-style pizza packs plenty of veggies, herbs and heat on spinach naan. There are two hot sauces: a chili and ginger plus chili and garlic. Top it with red bell peppers, broccoli, shredded carrot and fresh basil.

Bake in the oven at 400 degrees fahrenheit for 12 to 15 minutes, depending on how crispy you want the bread to be.

Recommended

Hummus and grilled vegetable pizza

Mac and cheese pizza

Mexican pizza: creamy avocado sauce, black beans and corn

Vietnamese pizza: hoisin sauce, pickled veggies and marinated tofu

Indian pizza: tikka masala sauce, eggplant, chickpeas and potato

Breakfast pizza: peanut butter, banana and jam pizza

Breakfast pizza: tofu scramble, mushrooms and vegan sausage

Dessert pizza: vegan cream cheese and fruit pizza

Dessert pizza: raw chocolate and strawberry