Classic Veggie Pizza with dough made from scratch, tomato sauce, mushrooms, peppers, olives and of course, cheese. Loads of cheese. That's the secret to a happy life! A super simple recipe that never fails to impress the whole family, this vegetarian pizza is absolutely delicious!
Pizza! You hear this one word, and suddenly your day is nice and bright. I mean, who doesn't like pizza? Judging by all the pizza restaurants around the world, then l'd say lots of people.
And rightly so, it's hot, it's cheesy, it's loaded with whatever takes your fancy, it's just perfect. I do like a good pizza, but that's the problem, although you can find pizza anywhere, not all have that wow factor. You need to find THE ONE.
I have lost the count how many time I was disappointed that the take-away pizza we ordered was delivered either almost cold, or the crust was rather soggy, and just boring. So, yeah, homemade pizza all the way.
If you fear that your crust won't be as nice as the restaurant ones, l can assure you it's even better. I can't believe how little effort goes into making it.
You really can't go wrong with this recipe, it's super simple and you get a perfect crust all the time. Just top it with your favourite veggies or meat, oven on, and that's it. Blessed be the soul of whoever invented the pizza!
And if you fancy some good pizza bites, how about my Mini Pepperoni Pizzas? They are so so good!
Jump to:
Ingredients needed to make pizza dough
- strong white bread flour - it works the best for pizza dough
- yeast - I used fast-action dried yeast, a packet of 7g (or 2 teaspoons) is more than enough for 2 pizzas
- warm water - it is crucial not to use hot or cold water, as the yeast won't work and you will end up with a tough dough
- sugar - we don't need more than one tablespoon of sugar to activate the yeast and balance out the salt
- salt - I always go for one teaspoon of salt, and I think it's just right for us, if you like it saltier, you can increase to one and a half teaspoons
- olive oil - it makes the dough nice and elastic
- oregano and garlic granules - although they are optional, I find that they add so much more flavour to the dough
Step-by-step photos and instructions to make the pizza dough
You might have the best ingredients to top your pizza, but if the crust is not right, then the pizza will be a total fail. Let's see how we can get it right every single time without any problem whatsoever.
- in a jug, add the lukewarm water, the dried fast-action yeast, sugar and a tablespoon of flour. Give it a stir, and set aside for 10-15 minute until it becomes frothy
Getting the yeast right is crucial. If the yeast is not active, it will not become frothy. Do not use it in that case, because the dough will not rise, and the crust will be too tough. So, best to start again until the yeast is right.
- in a bowl, sift the flour, add the yeast mixture, salt, olive oil, garlic granules and oregano, and knead gently into a dough that is elastic and does not stick to the hands
Add a bit more if the dough is still sticky.
- shape the dough into a ball, lightly brush with oil, cover with cling film and set aside for 1-2 hours or until it doubles its size
Pizza toppings
- tomato sauce - it can be any pizza sauce of your choice
- mozzarella cheese - it makes the best topping for pizza, as it's nice and stretchy when it melts
- cheddar cheese - adds a nice sharpness to the pizza
- mushrooms - no need to cook them, they will be perfectly cooked by the time pizza is out of the oven
- peppers - any colour
- olives - I am a big fan of the black olives, but green also work
- oregano - to give it that pizza flavour we love
How to assemble the pizza
It helps if the dough is left to rise into a warm room, that speeds up the rising. If the room is cooler, it might take longer to get the best results.
- divide the dough into 2 balls, and roll each ball into about quarter of an inch thickness, or flatter, depending how thick you like the crust
- spread tomato sauce over, making sure it doesn't reach the edges, then add the toppings you like, I used mushrooms, peppers, mozzarella cheese and olives
- bake for 20 minutes or until the crust is golden and the cheese is melted
What are the best vegetarian pizza toppings?
We all have veggies we like and veggies we hate, so I guess in the end it comes down to personal preference. But, usually, a classic veggie pizza can be topped with cheese, peppers, mushrooms, onions, olives, sweetcorn, spinach, basil, and, of course, tomato sauce.
If you use basil, I would suggest to add it once the pizza comes out of the oven, otherwise it will burn easily by the time pizza is ready.
Temperature and cooking time
Now, that's a tough question to answer. And that's because all ovens are so different, that they can bring different results. Commercial ovens are obviously different, so we leave those for now.
Homemade ovens, on the other hand don't go as high in temperature, so we need to find that works best. And after testing a few times I came to the conclusion that the best temperature is 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).
If you’ve liked my CLASSIC HOMEMADE VEGGIE PIZZA or any other recipe on the blog then don’t forget to rate the recipe and let me know how you got on in the comments below, I love hearing from you! You can also FOLLOW ME on FACEBOOK, and PINTEREST to see more delicious food and what I’m getting up to.
Classic Veggie Pizza
Ingredients
For the pizza dough:
- 3 ¼ cups strong white bread flour
- 2 teaspoon fast-action dried yeast
- 1 tablespoon caster sugar
- 1 ¼ cup lukewarm water
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 3 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
For the topping:
- 1 cup tomato sauce
- 1 cup grated Cheddar cheese
- ½ cup sliced black olives
- 1 green pepper
- 1 red pepper
- 1 cup sliced closed cup mushrooms
- 1 cup mozzarella ( cut into cubes)
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
Instructions
- To make the dough, add the water in a jug, mix in the yeast, olive oil and sugar and a tablespoon of flour.
- Set aside for 10-15 minutes until the mixture becomes frothy.
- In a large bowl, combine flour and salt, then, pour in the yeast mixture, garlic powder and oregano.
- Knead into a dough for 5 minutes until it's elastic and no longer sticks to your hand - use more flour if necessary.
- Shape the dough into a ball.
- Slightly oil the bowl and the dough, cover with clingfilm and a clean tea towel, then leave to prove for 1-2 hours until it doubles its size.
- Preheat the oven to 180 degrees Celsius (350 Fahrenheit).
- Transfer the dough to a lightly-floured work surface, knead it around for a bit to push the air out, then divide it into two equal balls and roll one ball to the size of your pizza pan.
- You can either make the second pizza at the same time, or wrap it in clingfilm and refrigerate the second dough ball to use it later on.
- Cut the peppers into strips.
- Spread the tomato sauce over, add the mozzarella cubes, mushrooms cut into slices, peppers and olives.
- Sprinkle some oregano and cheddar cheese on top, then one pizza is ready to go in the oven.
- Bake for 20 minutes until the crust is golden and the cheese is melted.
- Serve hot!
Rita Lee
Hi Daniela Apostol,
your posts are really amazing !
i will visit your website regularly so that i can update with your amazing post !
Thanks !
Daniela Apostol
Thank you for your kind words, l'm glad you like my recipes.
akuner
It looks👀 so yummmmy! 😋😍
Daniela Anderson
Thank you!
BARB PORTER
Cannot wait to make this recipe because the pic looks delicious! Can you tell me what flour you use when referring to STRONG WHITE FLOUR? I am in the U.S. and know that my sourdough recipe calls for strong white flour (Doves).
Thank you for sharing you knowledge with all of us!
Daniela Apostol
I hope you like it! It’s any regular bread flour.