Grilled Mushroom, Onion, & Spinach Truffle Oil Flatbread Pizza and Cherry Tomato Salad

It has been a while since I have posted a recipe! There has been a lot of things happening in your blog doll's life over the last two months that have prevented her from cooking in a kitchen. Sorry for the long delay and there will be more recipes on the way!

Grilled Mushroom, Onion, & Spinach Truffle Oil Flatbread Pizza

* Prep Time: 1 hour
* Cook Time: 20-30 minutes
* Ingredients (for flatbread dough):

• 1 tsp sugar*
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup bread flour
• 1 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• flour, for dusting

* Ingredients (for pizza topping):

• 8 (or more) cippolini onions, sliced
• 2 cups mushroom assortment (shiitake, button, cremini), sliced
• 2 cup fresh spinach
• 2 tbsp fresh basil, thinly sliced (optional)
• 1 tbsp olive oil, for sauteing
• salt and pepper, to taste
• truffle oil, to top, drizzled

* Recipe (for flatbread dough):

1. Follow package instructions to activate yeast. You will use the sugar and part of the warm water in this step (1/4 cup water). Set aside for 10 minutes.
2. While yeast is activating, combine the flours and salt in a mixer or bowl. Mix well.
3. Add the olive oil, warm water, and yeast. Combine until dough climbs the bread hook.
4. Leave in bowl covered for 45 minutes to 1 hour to let dough rise. Once risen, punch it so it collapses.

* Recipe (for pizza topping):

1. In a large frying pan, heat the olive oil over medium heat. Add the onions. Once onions start to become translucent, add the mushrooms, salt, and pepper.
2. As the mushrooms begin to cook, add the spinach and basil (if using).
3. Once the leaves have wilted, turn off pan and set aside.
4. Heat a grill frying pan over medium heat. Spray with non-stick cooking spray.
5. Dust a counter and your hands with flour. Roll out the dough on the counter and cut into four pieces. 
6. Roll out one piece of dough until a long flatbread shape is made.
7. Place on grill pan and cook until grill marks begin to appear. Flip and cook the other side. 
8. Top flatbread with pizza topping and drizzle sparingly with truffle oil (a little goes a long way).  
9. Repeat steps 6-8 with another piece of dough. 

* Note: Make sure your sugar is vegan!

This recipe will give you about half the dough leftover. I drizzled some olive oil in a freezer ziplock bag, dusted the dough, rolled the dough in the olive oil within the bag, and froze the leftover. If you want 4 pizzas, just double the topping recipe or you could cut the dough recipe in half as well.

Cherry Tomato Salad with Buttermilk Basil Dressing

* Prep Time: 20 minutes
* Cook Time: n/a
* Ingredients: 

• 3 cups cherry tomato assortment, halved
• 1/3 cup non-dairy milk*
• 1 tsp white vinegar
• 2 tbsp vegan sour cream*
• 2 tbsp fresh basil, thinly sliced
• 1/3 cup red onions, thinly sliced
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• salt and pepper, to taste

* Recipe:

1. Combine the milk and vinegar in a bowl and place in fridge for 10 minutes. This will let the milk curdle.
2. While the milk mixture is in the fridge, let the uncut red onion soak in an ice water bath. This will give the onion less of an abrasive taste when in the salad.
3. Combine the tomatoes, basil, onion, garlic, salt and pepper. 
4. Add the sour cream to the milk mixture and beat until all lumps are out. Combine with the tomato salad.

* Note: I used flax seed milk for non-dairy milk. Feel free to use whatever you prefer. The vegan sour cream I used was Tofutti.   

Mushroom & Kale Pizza with Truffle Oil

This is a beautiful and elegant pizza. If you don't have truffle oil, you could sub this for extra virgin olive oil. I would recommend adding more exotic fresh mushrooms on this as well. I only had cremini and shiitake in my fridge, otherwise I would have!

Mushroom & Kale Pizza with Truffle Oil

* Prep Time: 50 minutes
* Cook Time: 15 minutes
* Ingredients (for dough):

• 1 tbsp sugar
• 1 package active dry yeast
• 1 cup warm water
• 1 cup all-purpose flour
• 1/2 cup whole wheat flour
• 1/2 cup bread flour
• 1/4 tsp salt
• 1 tsp fresh thyme, chopped
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• 2 tbsp yellow cornmeal & flour (used to dust counter to roll out dough)

* Ingredients (for topping):

• 1 cup cremini mushrooms, sliced
• 1 cup shiitake mushrooms, sliced
• 1/2 cup dinosaur kale, chopped
• 1/2 medium red onion, sliced
• 1 tbsp olive oil
• 1/2 cup vegan mozzarella cheese*
• 1 tbsp white truffle oil*
• vegan Parmesan, to taste*

* Recipe:

1. In a separate bowl, combine water, sugar, and active dry yeast to activate yeast and let sit for at least 5 minutes.  
2. In a mixer, add the dry ingredients and mix on a low setting using a bread hook. When the yeast is ready, add it to the mixer with the olive oil. Let the dough form in the mixer until it forms a uniform ball and starts to climb the bread hook. (If you do not have a mixer, then combine the dry ingredients with the bowl of yeast, kneed until smooth.)
3. Remove and let stand for about 45-50 minutes or until it doubles in size. (You want the crust to be more fluffy for your end product, so you should allow more time for the dough to rise.)
4. Preheat the oven to 475°F.
5. While dough is rising, sautee onions over medium heat in olive oil until caramelized. 
6. Stretch the dough to fit a round pizza baking pan. Lightly dust with flour to prevent the dough from sticking. Make the middle dough thinner in order for the outside dough to be thicker (for thicker crust).
7. Add about half the vegan mozzarella, the caramelized onions, kale, vegan Parmesan, then mushrooms. Top with the remaining mozzarella and drizzle with truffle oil (including over crust).
8. Bake for 15 minutes.

* Note: For vegan mozzarella, I used Daiya. You could opt to leave this pizza cheese-less too if one wanted. Truffle oil is something where a little goes a long way in taste and flavor. Be sparing. You may even need to use less than what I suggested. I drizzled from the bottle. For vegan Parmesan, I used Galaxy topping.