Cheesy Deep Dish Pizza with Pretzel Crust
This delicious vegan pretzel crust pizza is filled with my delicious vegan cheese sauce and has some mushrooms and a crisp Pretzel crust! It’s a cheese pie in pizza form!
Servings: 4
Ingredients
For the crust:
- 3/4 cup warm water
- 1 teaspoon active yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon sugar
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 1/2 cups flour
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoons semolina flour or rice flour or almond flour
For the baking soda wash:
- 1 1/2 tsp baking soda
- 1/4 cup warm water
- For the cornstarch wash:
- 1 tablespoon cornstarch
- ½ cup water
For the filling:
- 1 to 1 1/2 cups vegan cheese sauce
- 1 tbsp flour to mix in the cheese sauce
- 1/2 cup thinly sliced mushrooms
- 1/2 cup packed fresh basil or baby spinach
- 2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
- Pepper flakes as needed
Instructions
- Make your crust; add the warm water, active yeast, and sugar to a bowl. Mix well and let it sit for 5 minutes to activate the yeast. Then add in the olive oil, flour, salt, and semolina and mix really well.
- Press and mix to make it into dough. If the dough is too sticky add more flour one tablespoon at a time. Cover the dough with a wet kitchen towel and let the dough sit in a warm place or in the warm oven (110ºF to 130F) for at least 45 minutes to an hour or until the dough has risen significantly.
- Sprinkle some flour on the dough and transfer to a floured surface. Knead the dough into a ball then transfer it to a parchment-lined baking dish. You can either use a 7.5inch cast iron or similar size cake pan or springform pan.
- Using some flour on your hands, push the dough on the pan and then on the sides of the pan until is 1 1/2 to 2 inches tall on the sides. Let this dough sit to rise near the warm oven for 20 minutes.
- Meanwhile, make the cornstarch slurry; mix the cornstarch in the water then heat the mix in a saucepan or the microwave until it’s boiling. Mix really well to thicken evenly and set aside.
- Make the baking soda wash: Heat up the water for the baking soda wash until hot. Mix the baking soda into the water. Brush the baking soda wash all over the crust, brush twice on the edges.
- Then let this wash dry out a little bit for 2-3 minutes. Then brush the cornstarch slurry all over the crust, especially on the edges of the pizza crust. Bake this pizza crust in a preheated 450ºF (230 C) oven for 10 to 11 minutes. In the meanwhile, prep your toppings and set them aside.
- Add one tablespoon of flour into the cheese sauce, mix really well and set aside. You can also use my mozzarella cheese here (no need to add flour to this cheese sauce) or you can use any other creamy cheese sauce or Alfredo sauce. Depending on the cheese sauce, if it’s thick enough, you can add flour or not.
- Remove the pizza crust from the oven. Then fill it with the cheese sauce. The. Spread the sliced mushrooms. Then toss the spinach or the basil in olive oil and black pepper and spread the leaves all over the pizza. Add some pepper flakes.
- You can also brush the crust with a little bit of olive oil (optional). Then put this pizza back into the oven. Reduce the heat to 400ºF and bake for 16 to 20 minutes or until the sauce has thickened and the edges have turned golden brown.
- If there is too much browning you can put a piece of parchment paper on top of it to reduce the direct heat. Check at 16 mins
- Remove the pizza from the oven and let it sit for five minutes for everything to settle a little bit. We like to wait for an additional 5 minutes so the cheese sets more and you don't make a mess when you cut into it.Then Slice and serve!
Video
Notes
To make this gluten-free, use my gluten-free pan crust or use my other flour crust.
Nutrition
Calories: 367kcal | Carbohydrates: 47g | Protein: 11g | Fat: 15g | Saturated Fat: 3g | Sodium: 690mg | Potassium: 247mg | Fiber: 3g | Sugar: 2g | Vitamin A: 352IU | Vitamin C: 1mg | Calcium: 32mg | Iron: 4mg