Yo!
April’s secret ingredient was CARROTS! WOO!
What better way to enjoy them than to bake them on a big mushroom and make it look like a scrambled egg pizza?
Exactly.
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| They have no idea what's about to happen. |
So…here was my inspiration for this month’s thingy. Portobello mushroom pizza from The Sweetest Vegan! This woman is awesome! She has two channels, The Sweetest Vegan and The Take Out Diet. Both focus on taking common recipes and "veganizing" them. Plus she's hilarious. Worth a watch!
She only makes two mushrooms and I wanted more than that so my recipe quantities are larger below. I added sliced carrots and red pepper to the top. Something green would have made it more colorful. You could really add whatever vegetables you want or OOH WHAT ABOUT PINEAPPLE?! OOOOHHH!
The almond cheese looks really good and I’ll probably make that later but, not having almonds at the time, I went ahead and made a tofu-basil topping that is quite delicious. Basically, it’s vegan ricotta.
Here is the recipe as I followed it. Let’s start with the tofu basil topping because you need to have that ready to go before you start the mushrooms anyway. This is a basic tofu “ricotta” recipe and there are many variations out there. Feel free to try any of them!
Tofu Basil Topping (can be used later for other stuff!)
1 block firm tofu
2T lemon juice
1 cup minced shallot
1/2 cup chopped fresh basil (fresh is necessary here)
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 clove of garlic, minced
1t oregano
1/2t paprika
1t garlic powder
Salt & pepper to taste
1T olive oil
Heat oil in a pan and saute the shallot for a few minutes.
While that’s happening, place the tofu in paper towels and squeeze out excess moisture like tofu scramble.
Crumble up the squeezed tofu into the pan and add the rest of the ingredients.
Stir and heat until the tofu is cooked through and the mixture smells wonderful. I am not a chef. I have no idea how to explain that better.
It would also be good to make this tofu mixture the night before and let the flavors mingle and jingle and get all friendly overnight. You don’t have to do that though.
NOW FOR THE PIZZA PART!
Mushroom Pizza (taken from The Sweetest Vegan - thanks!)
6 portobello mushroom caps (as I mentioned, she only makes two so you could use her recipe quantities if you don’t want 6)
Olive oil to lightly coat each cap (4T?)
A dash of liquid smoke for each cap
Dash of pepper for each cap (are you sensing a theme here?)
Marinara sauce (for, you guessed it, each cap)
Tofu-basil topping (recipe above)
Preheat the oven broiler to high.
Clean the mushroom caps with a wet paper towel.
Break out the stem and use a spoon to scrape out the gills. Be careful not to rip off the edges of the cap.
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| I was not careful. |
Drizzle on olive oil, salt, pepper and liquid smoke and rub it around each cap.
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| Just like this. |
Broil the mushrooms for 3 minutes.
After 3 minutes, take them out and put on toppings.
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| Hello! |
Put them back into the oven for 5-7 minutes.
Once time is up, take them out and let cool for 10 minutes or so.
Be patient.
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| I want to eat you so hard. |
Consume with reckless abandon.
The Sweetest Vegan’s almond cheese gets brown so you have a better idea when the pizzas are done. Mine didn’t do that but it the mushrooms were all bubbly and fragrant so the time she states seems to work for the tofu stuff too. Yay!
The smell of the basil and oregano cooking was SO DELIGHTFUL. It’s worth making them just for that.
SUPER AWESOME KITCHEN TIP: A tofu container comes in REALLY handy when you’re clearing off the counter.
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| See? |
SAKT 2: I used the tofu ricotta in a baguette with tomato and spinach a few days later. Highly recommended!
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| No, the photo isn't overexposed. Unfortunately, I was standing next to my green lamp when this was taken and now the sandwich is gone. C'est la vie. |
Check out the other challenge recipes!
OK THANKS! BYE!
