Vegetarian Pizza (Mushrooms and Caramelized Onions)

For the crust:
In a small bowl, sprinkle yeast over warm water and let stand 1 minute, or until yeast is creamy. Stir until the yeast dissolves.

In a large bowl, combine flour and salt (I omit the salt and use garlic or onion powder). Add yeast solution and stir until a dough forms. Turn the dough out onto a lightly floured surface and knead, adding more flour if necessary, until smooth and elastic, about 10 minutes. Kneading is imperative to get the right consistency.

Very lightly coat a large bowl with olive oil. Place the dough in the bowl, and roll the dough in it so it has a light coating of oil. Cover with plastic wrap. Place in a warm, draft-free place and let it rise until doubled in bulk, about 1 1/2 hours.

Flatten the dough with your fist. Cut the dough into 2 pieces and shape the pieces into balls (this is the step that I omit). Flatten the dough slightly. Place the balls (or ball) of dough back in the bowl and cover with plastic wrap, allowing room for the dough to expand. Let rise 60 more minutes, or until doubled in size. At this point—using a pizza stone—I preheat the oven for 1 hour at 500°F. Do you really need a pizza stone? For me, I highly recommend it.

Now it’s time to spread the dough out on a piece of parchment paper to a 12-inch diameter. Some experts tell you not to roll the dough out, but if your skill level is just not ready for tossed dough, roll it out. That’s what I do.

Once the dough is properly sized, poke some holes in it with a fork to prevent bubbles when cooking. Using whatever method works best for you (I use a pizza peel), transfer the parchment paper and dough onto your pizza stone and cook for a few minutes. Keep an eye on it and deflate any bubbles that start forming on the crust.

After the crust gets, well, a little crusty, remove it and place it on a wire rack that allows for plenty of air to circulate underneath it. This prevents sogginess. Now it’s ready for the toppings.

For the toppings:
While dough is rising, slice onions and cook them very slowly in a pan over low heat. I use a bit of olive oil to keep things lubricated. Truly caramelized onions can take up to 1 hour to cook—don’t rush them by turning up the heat. Don’t believe any recipe that says you can caramelize onions in 10 minutes.

While onions are caramelizing, in a separate pan, slowly cook the mushrooms.

When everything is precooked, including the crust, add your sauce base, be it the wasabi mustard that I used, or something else but red sauce. Or you could just brush the top with a little olive oil.

Add cheese, mushrooms and onions and put the pizza in the preheated 500ºF oven. Bake for 5 minutes, then keep an eye on it and cook until cheese is nicely melted.

Let cool on a rack for a couple of minutes before you cut it up. You will love this pizza!