Vegetarian Summer Tomato Pizza With Basil Garlic Butter

This recipe was commissioned by the Vegetarian Society as part of #nationalvegetarianweek I often talk about my struggles to get my meat-loving husband to eat more veggie-based meals. I celebrate for days if I manage to make a meal where he doesn’t even question the lack of meat. This pizza was one of those occasions! Now between you and I, it’s unlikely that as a family, we’d manage to go fully vegetarian. However, I don’t think that should stop us trying to reduce the amount of meat we do eat. There are so many amazing recipes out there that don’t involve endless amounts of tofu and quorn and other scary ingredients that definitely don’t make me drool.

It’s even better when a recipe isn’t trying to be a meat-replacement - like vegetarian bacon and dried quorn mince (not my cup of tea). Vegetarian meals can be fantastic, satisfying and full of flavour (incidentally, Becca from Amuse Your Bouche creates marvellous veggie dishes. Her cheesy carrot nut roast went down particularly well at a recent family dinner). When I saw that National Vegetarian Week, this year, was focused on getting meat-eaters to increase the amount of vegetarian food they eat, it really struck chord with me. I’ve got to admit, when I initially read up on it, I thought it might be about spreading the word that we should all try to be vegetarian. A more gentle approach of increasing the amount of vegetarian food in ones diet completely resonated with me. –>If you’re interested in increasing your vegetarian meals, check out the National Vegetarian Week website and sign up to the newsletter to receive info on tips, giveaways and other goodies.<– So with that in mind, I set to work creating something that would be satisfying and truly tasty. Something the kids would love too. Pizza is going to work every time!

I made the base from a simple mixture of flour, greek yogurt, baking soda and salt. I’ve been using this recipe for a couple of years now. I think I saw it in a Jamie Oliver recipe first, but I’m not sure whether he invented it. Anyway, it makes a wonderful dough, with the right amount of chewiness, whilst being crisp at the edges. The dough is no-knead, and it doesn’t need to prove. Just mix up the ingredients in a bowl, then roll it out and use it right away. I brushed the base with some garlic butter, before topping with mozzarella and vegetarian cheddar, then cooking in the oven. Now, you can stop right there if you’re looking for a quick, yummy, cheesy pizza, but as you might know, I’m a toppings girl…. So I loaded that thing up with tomatoes (I found some gorgeous multi-coloured tomatoes at the shop) and sliced olives (Nocerella olives in case you’re wondering. They’re olives for people who want to appear grown up and like olives, but just can’t do it. I call them learner-olives). I continued to pile it high with baby salad leaves, red onion slices, melted basil garlic butter (best butter ever!) and a drizzle of creamy cashew sauce.

It was sooooo gooood! Serve it with extra basil garlic butter, and those meat-eaters will be licking their lips and demanding seconds! If you like this, here are some other vegetarian meal ideas I’ve managed to successfully get past Chris: Cheesy Veggie Chickpea Burgers

Griddled Halloumi and Peach Salad with Lemon Pesto

20-minute garlic bread spaghetti

Cheese and tomato tart (not quiche!)

Halloumi Burgers with sticky chilli drizzle

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