Favorite Vegetarian Topping Combinations

[Don K]

Once a month, we have family and friends over for a pizza party. We used to take turns hosting the party but since I've been making homemade pizza, it's always at our house now.

My sister is a vegetarian and she often brings her vegetarian friend along as well. I usually make a plain 4-cheese pizza for them (that is mighty tasty IMO), but I would like to surprise them and make them something unique with veggie-only toppings.

I am definitely an omnivore when it comes to pizza. I use veggies, but always in combination with some kind of meat. So my question is:

Does anyone have any great veggie-only combinations?

[TXCraig1]

Mozz, mushroom, parm, black pepper, white truffle oil (post bake)

Maranated kale (in evoo, lemon juice, chopped fresh garlic, S&P) on tomato sauce (or cherry tomato slices) and mozz

Roasted onion (with evoo and salt - smoked salt is my favorite) and mozz with some black pepper and thyme.

Tomato sauce, mozz then post bake a big handful of spring mix dressed with evoo, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, and parm.

Olive oil and parm (+ herbs if you like) then post bake a big handful of spring mix dressed with evoo, lemon juice, salt, black pepper, and parm OR a big handful of ceasar salad

Maranara with chili oil or smoked EVOO drizzled on post bake

Mascarpone, gorgonzola (not a lot), poached or fresh figs, and honey drizzled on after the bake

Roasted butternut squash pureed with some cream, mozz (smoked is better), roasted red and yellow bell pepper.

Roasted butternut squash slices, mozz, red pepper, with honey drizzled on after the bake

Mozz and rapini with lemon and garlic butter drizzled on post bake and a couple twists of black pepper.

Margherita, of course.

Craig

[buceriasdon]

Craig, Ahem........ brussel sprouts?

[TXCraig1]

Craig, Ahem........ brussel sprouts?

Can't do it without the pancetta. I tried to think of a substitute but could not. Any ideas I overlooked?

CL

[scott123]

Brussels sprouts without pancetta would be like chocolate chip cookies without chocolate chips  

Colonel_Klink, it's been a solid ten years since I've had these, but, back in the day, they were pretty good.

http://www.lightlife.com/Vegan-Food-Vegetarian-Diet/Smart-Sausages-Italian-Style

Out of probably hundreds of different faux meats I've ever eaten, these were at the top of the list.  It looks like they reformulated somewhere along the way, but hopefully they didn't change all that much. The one thing that I learned about making these is that you can't follow the directions.  They tend to favor longer, oilier cooking than the directions describe. They're way too lean, so they need to be sauteed in oil- for a while. After they've absorbed some grease and firmed up a bit (they come of the package really mushy) then use them to top the pizza. Also, try to saute them in smaller pieces to maximize the surface area, so they soak up a good dose of oil- the biggest difference between these and the real thing is that these aren't fatty enough.

[scott123]

I did a little digging and found a review:

http://www.slate.com/articles/life/food/2011/06/vegetarian_sausage.html

Apparently, the reviewer prefers the field roast sausages to the lightlife.  I think a big part of this is the fennel in the field roast. If the lightlife is fennel deprived, you might want to add a bit- carefully, though, as a little goes a long way.  I grind my fennel seeds in a spice grinder and then use that for supplementing weak pork italian sausage. Or, maybe you could track down field roasts.

Edit: Apparently the field roasts are wheat (seitan), while the lightlife are soy (tofu).  Seitan is hard to work with, but, in the right hands, it's better than tofu based faux meat.  If you do go with the field roasts, don't cook them a long time like the lightlife.

[buceriasdon]

I like Brussels sprouts halved then oven roasted with pearl onions, sliced thin garlic and a drizzle of balsamic. A Thai with peanut sauce, sliced colored peppers, green onions, julienned carrot and beans sprouts is excellent.
Don

[deb415611]

I like thin sliced zucchini, red pepper, and onion, sometimes I'll add some spoonfuls of ricotta

There is a place near where I work that does a grilled veggie - they grill zucchini ,summer squash, carrots & onions with some herbs-- it's pretty good , I would have never thought to put carrots on a pizza.  

[Don K]

Brussels sprouts??? Yuk. There's one vegetable that I've never cared much for. Maybe I've just never had it prepared right (w/pancetta huh).

Great suggestions so far! I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned olives yet.

Despite the fact that I've made lots of pizzas over the years, I have usually stuck with the common toppings. Perhaps this is why I am having trouble thinking of a good veggie combo. There's only so much that you can do with olives, onions, mushrooms and green peppers. After salivating though all of the great looking pies in the Pizza Anarchy thread and seeing other combinations on this forum, I'm feeling inspired to think a little outside of the box. 

@TXCraig1
Margherita! There's one that I have made before. Not sure why I didn't think of it. A definite possibility. You've mentioned a lot of things that I would have never thought of. Several of them sound pretty darn good, even to a meat-eater like myself. While I've tried smoked mozzarella, I have never heard of smoked salt or smoked EVOO (until I just googled them). Thanks for the great suggestions.

@scott123
I never thought of using a faux meat. According to their website, the LightLife stuff is sold at Trader Joe's. I plan on going there next week; I'll have to look for it. The store locator doesn't work on the Field Roast website so I'm not sure where to buy them unless I ordered them online (not sure if I want to do that with perishable food). Thanks for your effort.

@buceriasdon
I seem to remember my sister mentioning Thai peanut sauce before. She goes to this Thai restaurant a lot. A definite possibility. Thanks.

@deb415611
mmmm...I love ricotta cheese! My wife makes great lasagna with lots of it. I can eat it right out of the container too. I've never tried it on pizza (yet). I would have never thought of carrots (or half of the other things mentioned here) either, but I'm willing to try. Thanks!

[TXCraig1]

Brussels sprouts??? Yuk. There's one vegetable that I've never cared much for. Maybe I've just never had it prepared right (w/pancetta huh).

Forget everything you thought you knew about Brussels sprouts You have not LIVED! until you've had then on a pizza with panceta, a little thinly sliced garlic, and evoo.

Craig

[TXCraig1]

Great suggestions so far! I'm surprised that nobody has mentioned olives yet.

Tomato sauce, briny dark olives, chili oil, oregano.

Most of the other olive combinations I like involve meat.

CL

[Pizza3.14]

This one I got had asparagus, artichoke hearts, sauteed onions, and spinach!  Thought it was great. 
The sauce was a tomato pesto, a bit sweet for me but I"m sure it would be good with plain sauce.  I don't eat meat either so I'm always on the lookout for good combinations. 

[deb415611]

Here is one I did a few weeks ago - you could leave the chicken off -- it had just a little mozzarella, baby spinach, broccoli, red pepper, greek olives and a little grated parm on top

[RobynB]

Homemade pesto - I make mine with pistachios - dolloped on red sauce with mozz, topped with thinly sliced red onion.  Sometimes I add dollops of ricotta too.

Caramelized onions are wonderful with many things, including Brussels sprouts    Especially good with butternut squash, also - I've topped with caramelized onions, roasted squash, and Gruyere cheese (no red sauce). 

Bianco's Rosa:  no sauce, EVOO, chopped pistachios, minced rosemary, Parmesan, and sliced red onion. 

I'm a big fan of Kale, as Craig mentioned, though I leave the garlic out, just toss the kale with EVOO salt & pepper, great with sauteed mushrooms, red onion and cheese on a sauce-less pizza. 

Roasted or fried eggplant is wonderful on red sauce & cheese pizza, and I've had breaded fried cubes of eggplant work well that way too. 

[TXCraig1]

More great suggestions there, Robyn.

I can't believe I forgot the Rosa. One of my all-time favorites.

[pizzablogger]

Bianco's Rosa:  no sauce, EVOO, chopped pistachios, minced rosemary, Parmesan, and sliced red onion.  

x2. Fabulous combination. Maybe my favorite non-margherita pizza.

Some others I enjoy making:

Kale on pizza is fabulous! Wintergreen: taleggio, marinated kale, smoked sea salt, olive oil.

Brussels Sprouts: I think that the combination of smoked mozzarella (I find the Maplebrook cherry wood smoked product to be very good http://www.maplebrookvt.com/index.php/products/smoked-mozzarella) and red onion is somewhat "bacony" if the onion is sliced thinly enough to crisp and caramelize a tad in the oven. Brussels sprouts, red onion, smoked mozzarella, sea salt and olive oil. Sometimes a post-bake drizzle of aceto tradizionale with this is good.

Greenpointer from Paulie Gee's. The lemon post bake livens it up.

Potatoes (thinly cut and par cooked in a pan so they crisp on the edges in the pizza oven), pecorino romano, rosemary, thyme and a dash of Old Bay seasoning and cracked black pepper post bake.

Mascarpone cheese, black mission figs, Mike's Hot Honey

Filetti Atomica. Basically the UPN Filetti except I inject a little Mike's Hot Honey into the tomatoes prior to cooking.

[Don K]

I will be making some dough tomorrow for this weekend's Superbowl party, so I think that I'm going to make some extra so that I can make several small sampler pies to try out some of these combinations!

I thought of another one that I have already made--Pierogi Pizza. It's sliced boiled potatoes with butter sauteed onions and minced garlic, cheddar cheese and a little sharp provolone. I have made it with mashed potatoes but I think that sliced is better.

Forget everything you thought you knew about Brussels sprouts You have not LIVED! until you've had then on a pizza with panceta, a little thinly sliced garlic, and evoo.

What the heck, most things taste better with bacon! I just bought and pancetta and sprouts today. My wife loves Brussels sprouts, but she rarely has them because nobody else in or family likes them. She insists that we try it this weekend. So it's EVOO, garlic, pancetta, and is that mozzarella? Do you precook the sprouts or put them on raw?

This one I got had asparagus, artichoke hearts, sauteed onions, and spinach!  Thought it was great. 
The sauce was a tomato pesto, a bit sweet for me but I"m sure it would be good with plain sauce.  I don't eat meat either so I'm always on the lookout for good combinations. 

This sounds (and looks) great! Anything with sauteed onions on it (yum) is definitely on the short list.

Here is one I did a few weeks ago - you could leave the chicken off -- it had just a little mozzarella, baby spinach, broccoli, red pepper, greek olives and a little grated parm on top

That looks very tasty! I think I may have to put the chicken on part of it for myself.

Homemade pesto - I make mine with pistachios - dolloped on red sauce with mozz, topped with thinly sliced red onion.  Sometimes I add dollops of ricotta too.

Caramelized onions are wonderful with many things, including Brussels sprouts    Especially good with butternut squash, also - I've topped with caramelized onions, roasted squash, and Gruyere cheese (no red sauce). 

Bianco's Rosa:  no sauce, EVOO, chopped pistachios, minced rosemary, Parmesan, and sliced red onion. 

I'm a big fan of Kale, as Craig mentioned, though I leave the garlic out, just toss the kale with EVOO salt & pepper, great with sauteed mushrooms, red onion and cheese on a sauce-less pizza. 

Roasted or fried eggplant is wonderful on red sauce & cheese pizza, and I've had breaded fried cubes of eggplant work well that way too. 

Caramelized onions...now you're talkin'! I may learn to like Brussels sprouts after all. I've always liked eggplant Parmesan, so fried eggplant, red sauce and cheese sounds good too.

x2. Fabulous combination. Maybe my favorite non-margherita pizza.

Some others I enjoy making:

Kale on pizza is fabulous! Wintergreen: taleggio, marinated kale, smoked sea salt, olive oil.

Brussels Sprouts: I think that the combination of smoked mozzarella (I find the Maplebrook cherry wood smoked product to be very good http://www.maplebrookvt.com/index.php/products/smoked-mozzarella) and red onion is somewhat "bacony" if the onion is sliced thinly enough to crisp and caramelize a tad in the oven. Brussels sprouts, red onion, smoked mozzarella, sea salt and olive oil. Sometimes a post-bake drizzle of aceto tradizionale with this is good.

Greenpointer from Paulie Gee's. The lemon post bake livens it up.

Potatoes (thinly cut and par cooked in a pan so they crisp on the edges in the pizza oven), pecorino romano, rosemary, thyme and a dash of Old Bay seasoning and cracked black pepper post bake.

Mascarpone cheese, black mission figs, Mike's Hot Honey

Filetti Atomica. Basically the UPN Filetti except I inject a little Mike's Hot Honey into the tomatoes prior to cooking.

I tried smoked mozzarella once, but it kept clogging the pipe.
The potatoes, romano, rosemary, thyme, and Old Bay seasoning sounds really good!


Thanks again everyone for all of the great suggestions!

[TXCraig1]

Peel the leaves off and put them on raw. Have the pancetta sliced thin - 1/16" or a little less. Chop it up into little squares and put it on uncooked too. Thinly slice a clove or two of garlic and scatter over. Give a swirl of olive oil. Use lots of pancetta and you won't need any salt.

Here are before and after pics. Might not be the same pie, but you get the idea.

CL

[Don K]

Peel the leaves off and put them on raw. Have the pancetta sliced thin - 1/16" or a little less. Chop it up into little squares and put it on uncooked too. Thinly slice a clove or two of garlic and scatter over. Give a swirl of olive oil. Use lots of pancetta and you won't need any salt.

Is that fresh mozzarella also?

[TXCraig1]

Yes, fresh. Buffalo in this case, but cow's milk is also very good. I drain either on paper towels for a couple hours before using.

You could make this pie with dry whole milk mozz, and it would be just fine.

CL