why i didn't eat yeast + yeast free vegan pizza recipe

When I first became vegan, I didn’t eat yeast. Now, strictly speaking, yeast is vegan – it is just bacteria. But when I first became vegan (at the ripe age of 13) I was disgusted by the fact that bread was made by bacteria, so I opted for yeast free bread. I also had convinced my parents that “normal” bread contained dairy products (which is true for some breads…even worse, there are some breads containing fish oil! Watch out for those breads which advertise being high in omega 3’s!) so I was lucky to be able to eat as much yeast free bread as we could buy.

As I grew older and wiser, I realised that hey, yeast is actually vegan, bacteria is in everything, it’s natural, etc. So I started to eat yeast breads. And then I was pregnant, and I looooooved bread. And pizza. And all sorts of yeasty goodness. So naturally, (sorry if this is too much information) I got thrush, which is quite common in pregnancy, although I do believe a diet high in refined flours, sugars and yeast does increase the likelihood of thrush infections…but anyway, onto more palatable subjects!

So I have experimented with making yeast free breads, pizzas and other baked goods over the years (often using gluten free flours as well). My homemade yeast free breads haven’t turned out all that well mostly…however I have had success with a yeast free pizza, using a fairly common ingredient! Read on…

I made numerous different pizza bases that did not call for yeast, and while some of them were pretty successful, this recipe must be one of my most-cooked pizzas simply because it is easy and fast!

The secret? Puff pastry. And better still, you can buy vegan puff pastry from Woolworths! The one thing which can be inconvenient as a vegan is the lack of availability of vegan premade foods and ingredients. I am thankful I don’t need to add puff pastry to my list of things I need to make from scratch!

Puff Pastry Pizza (vegan)

Serves 1

Ingredients

1 sheet of premade puff pastry (Borgs Puff Pastry is vegan and found at Woolworths across Australia)

Pizza sauce (I use passata with a bit of chopped garlic, oregano and salt)

Toppings of choice (tomato, onion, olives, roast pumpkin, mushrooms, pineapple, spinach leaves…whatever you have on hand)

Vegan cheese (I make a simple bechamel sauce using 1tbsp olive oil, 2tsp flour and 1/4 cup rice milk, see below)

Finely chopped parsley (optional)

Method

Remove puff pastry sheet from freezer to defrost while you prepare the rest of the pizza.

Preheat oven to 180 C.

Prepare your toppings by dicing or slicing.

Grease a baking tray and remove puff pastry from any packaging and place on tray. You can make 1 large pizza or cut into mini pizzas – if you are going to make mini pizzas, cut the pastry now.

Prepare your pizza sauce and smooth onto puff pastry with the back of a spoon.

Evenly place your toppings on top on the sauce covered pastry.

Make the bechamel sauce – heat the oil for a minute on the stove on medium heat. Add the flour and mix well, cook for a further 30 seconds before adding the rice milk gradually, stirring continuously. You may not need to cook this for more than a few minutes until the sauce will become a good consistency for pizza topping – you want it to be pourable but thick enough to hold it’s shape slightly. Add more milk if you made the sauce too thick. Add some salt and pepper to taste and pour gently over pizza.