Total Time: about 1 hour
Yield: serves 2-4
Ingredients:
1 2/3 cups marinara sauce of choice
16 oz vegan beef (I used Beyond’s Ground Beef)
1 cup corn
1 red bell pepper
2 cups grated cheddar cheese
About 16-20 ounces of pizza dough - one of the premade dough balls from Trader Joe's should be enough but you might have extra toppings (which is okay!)
Directions:
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees with your pizza stone in the oven if you have one
Heat and lightly grease a skillet, dice your bell peppers (don’t worry about making excellent cuts), and saute for about two minutes on low
Add the vegan beef to the skillet with the peppers and continue to saute for about 5 minutes on low, stirring regularly
Season your beef, as you're stirring, with salt and pepper to taste
Remove peppers and beef from the skillet and mix in a large bowl with the marinara sauce and the corn - taste and add more salt or pepper if needed
Roll out your pizza dough - remember to flour your surface and roll that dough as thin as possible (if you like a thin crust like I do). If you’re using the Trader Joe’s dough, I try to roll that dough to a diameter of 12 inches. Don’t be afraid to use more flour than you think to get your dough flat, even, and easy to work with. I suggest watching some videos if this is your first time rolling out pizza dough.
Remove your pizza stone from the oven, or get your cookie sheet out, and transfer your dough on it. I do this by using my rolling pin to roll up the dough and then roll it back out on the stone - I didn’t think to photograph this step so I found a photo on the google that shows what I’m talking about (ignore the fact that it’s not my photo and the fact that it’s pie)
Evenly distribute your filling - don’t feel pressured to use all your filling! I had about 1 cup of excess filling that I put aside to use another time
Sprinkle the grated cheese evenly on top of the filling
Stick that pizza in the oven!
Let bake for about 20-30 minutes (depends on your oven, how thick your dough is, and how big your pizza is). I wait for the crust to brown, the cheese to get a little crispy in areas, and test it by lifting from a side to see what the bottom looks like. No one likes a soggy bottom.
Let cool and enjoy!
My husband and I make pizza about once a week (well, we brainstorm ideas and I execute it) and not to brag, but we’re really good at it. I should probably create a section that’s just for pizza on this website. When we were brainstorming pizza ideas a few days ago we started with nectarines and somehow landed on a sloppy joe pizza. I just started a part-time job making and rolling out pizza dough at a top-rated pizza place in Seattle and there’s always extra dough that I’m allowed to take home. Gotta love those work perks. Since this is not my recipe, I will not be sharing the pizza dough recipe on here. Making pizza dough can be a little annoying to make so I highly suggest buying Trader Joe’s pizza dough so you save yourself time, a mess, and some stress. It’s really inexpensive and definitely gets the job done! Trader Joe’s also has a frozen gluten-free crust that’s real convenient and tasty. I made my own marinara sauce super quickly out of some tomatoes I needed to use, a can of whole tomatoes, ½ head of garlic, dried oregano, olive oil, and salt & pepper. Any marinara sauce will do so don’t overthink it. I love Beyond Beef and have passionately written about it on another blog post so I’ll keep this short: it’s the best vegan beef and it’s also gluten-free. You can find it in the actual meat section of any grocery store. It looks like real meat because of the beets in it. I do think it’s important to warn you that it does have an interesting odor when you cook it. I don’t mind it but some people get really dramatic about the smell of it so don’t say I didn’t warn you. My husband and I were gifted a pizza stone as a wedding gift and I can’t even remember what my DIY pizza life was like before it. I highly recommend getting married so you don’t have to spend the money on one. It’s also worth the money though if that’s not an option. Back to the pizza. Don’t feel pressured to use all the filling you made. Save it for another dish - I’m going to put my excess filling on some pasta! You don’t want your pizza to be so heavy that you have to eat it with a fork. My husband and I were convinced that this pizza was going to turn out soggy and impossible to pick-up before we even got it in the oven. It turned out perfectly though! Like, this pizza was really, really delicious. My dad is quarantining with us right now and he was stoked to get the last slice. You know that feeling when you make something for someone and you really can’t tell if they enjoyed it or not? I didn’t have that feeling at all. This pizza was a huge hit. I hope you’ll give it a try because it’s so easy! I promise. Cheers!