Have a Heart Pizza
Make this simple dough ahead of time and the rest is fast and fun! So many options to please everyone in your family!
Servings Prep Time
4individual pizzas 20minutes plus rising time
Cook Time
15minutes
Servings Prep Time
4individual pizzas 20minutes plus rising time
Cook Time
15minutes
Ingredients
Instructions
  1. Put the warm water in a large mixer bowl. Make sure it is not too hot or it may kill the yeast.
  2. Add the sugar to combine. This helps “feed” the yeast.
  3. Sprinkle the yeast over the warm water and leave it to foam up for about 10 minutes.
  4. Once the yeast has foamed, add oil to the bowl.
  5. Stir or sift together your flour, salt and spices, if using.
  6. Add your flour/salt mix to the liquid and mix. I use my bread dough hook.
  7. If you have a kneading capacity on your mixer, let it do the work. Scrape down the sides and make sure it is all combined. Add a little flour at a time to the dough, which should change from sticky to soft, smooth and elastic when it is ready. It will pull away from the sides of the bowl. If you are doing this by hand, just knead the dough on a lightly floured surface until smooth.
  8. Lightly oil a bowl. Turn the dough until all sides are coated in oil and then cover and let sit until doubled. You can do this in an hour or so, or put it in the fridge overnight. It is even better the next day!
  9. When you are ready to make pizza, bring the dough out of the fridge to come to room temperature. Heat your oven to 450 degrees F.
  10. Knead the dough a few times and then divide up the dough into 4 small balls and let the dough rest for 10-15 minutes.
  11. While your dough is resting, organize a rainbow of toppings! Top suggestions: (Slice everything very thinly): mushrooms, sweet onion, green, red, yellow, and orange pepper slices, purple cabbage, pineapple, crumbled vegan bacon or vegan sausage, shredded vegan mozzarella, Cashew Crumbles.
  12. You can use a homemade or a store bought pizza sauce. You will need about 1 cup of sauce.
  13. Now let your kids help and press each ball of dough out into a heart-shaped pizza shell! It works well to do this on a corn-meal covered cookie sheet. The corn meal stops it from sticking, without the extra oiliness.The dough should be soft and stretchy. Sometimes it can take a little patience, but keep stretching until you have a heart at least 6 inches in diameter.
  14. Spread your sauce on, leaving the edges unsauced. Decorate your heart with a rainbow of goodness, ending off with the cheeze. (I used a vegan mozzarella.)
  15. You should bake the pizza on the cornmeal-covered pan that you shaped it on.That way the heart keeps its shape. Bake the pizza for about 10-15 minutes, unil the bottom is browned and the dough is cooked.
  16. Let cool for a moment before slicing. Sprinkle with a little more Cashew Crumble and serve with some slices of fresh tomato and a tossed green salad! Enjoy!
Recipe Notes

This was a fun family Valentine’s tradition when our girls were young!