In our house pizza night is a family favorite. The kids scream with excitement when they hear that we are having pizza. It has become one of our go-to meals, as it is quick, tasty, and hands-on for the little ones. For a while I was making the crust from scratch using a recipe by Brandi Doming, thevegan8.com. I will still use her pizza crust recipe for the kids, as it is simple to make and they love the taste. However, when I discovered The Essential Baking Company through Thrive Market, I was thrilled to find a crispy thin-crust that only requires baking for ~ 12-14 minutes. With Thrive Market, the pizza crusts arrive at our doorstep and are ready to go. So easy! The crust is delicious and perfect for our plant based toppings. The Essential Baking Company also offers $10 off of a Ridwell membership, which allows you to recycle the bread packaging. Since we are mentioning recycling plastic bags- Check out the Plastic Film Recycling website to find a plastic film recycling location near you. Ok. Back to pizza!

I encourage you to get creative with pizza toppings. The more veggies the better! I will be showing our favorites which are a white pizza and a red pizza. Honestly, we have switched gears to only white pizzas lately, but I am sure it will change again in the future. One of my favorite toppings is vegan ricotta! Kite Hill has a delicious vegan ricotta cheese, but if it is unavailable to you or price prohibitive (it’s not cheap), then you will be happy to know that Brandi has perfected plant-based ricotta cheese. I will link her blog here. It is easy to make and tastes AMAZING! Typically, I will make the ricotta cheese the day before we plan to have pizzas, or if I am really on top of it I will keep a batch in the fridge as it a fantastic addition to pasta dishes.

Raising Vegan Tip- Make a small batch of dough from scratch and let the kids help! Using the Vegan8.com pizza crust recipe, portion out the ingredients ahead of time for ease with the little ones. Have them pour, weigh, mix, knead, and roll. Use compostable parchment paper (I love the If You Care brand found at Thrive Market) to line the pan and serve personal sized pizzas. The kids will have a blast making the crust, choosing the toppings, and of course eating their very own veggie pizza!

Originally I was making our white pizza with sauteed spinach, chopped artichoke hearts and Sir Kensington’s vegan mayo seasoned with basil, Italian seasoning, and black pepper. Once it is aromatic and the spinach has cooked down, transfer the mixture to the crust. Then add any other toppings you like, such as mushroom, black olives, capers, etc. It is a delicious combination. However, we are currently decreasing our oil intake, so now I make the white pizza sans mayo. I just layer on minced garlic with dried herbs and toppings. No sauce needed with the tasty thin crust.

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