Inspired by Buffalo Ranch Pizza, this vegan pizza features ackee ranch dressing; spicy cauliflower bites, red onions and nutritional yeast or as I like to say nu-Yeah! It’s all baked atop a crisp thin crust then finished with some watercress and more ackee ranch dressing.
It’s not hard to put together, but it is a bit involved and it helps to have a clear plan of attack to get it done. Below I’ll outline how to do just that, the recipes follow.
How to make pizza in less than 15 minutes
Game plan:
- The day ahead:
- Prepare the dough, refrigerate overnight to develop flavour.
- Make the spicy cauliflower bites and other toppings (you can slice the red onions and prepare the watercress ahead of time or you can do it the day of) store in the fridge till needed.
- Prepare the ackee ranch dressing
- 90 minutes before:
- Remove the dough from the fridge; cut into desired portions; let sit covered on a floured surface till needed.
- 30 minutes before:
- Preheat your oven with your pizza stone on the rack in the top third of the oven. My oven goes up to 500F. (If you don’t have a pizza stone, you could try using an upside down sheet pan, I used to do this for pita before I got the stone, it doesn’t hold heat as well but works in a pinch)
- It’s game time:
- Stretch or roll out the dough (I like to do this on a sheet of parchment on the back of a cookie sheet, that way it can easily be slid onto the pizza stone in the oven – a word of caution here, the parchment is paper and will burn, so cut the piece as close to the edge of the keeza as you can).
- Spread the sauce and add your toppings
- Shimmy the prepared keeza off the cookie sheet onto the hot pizza stone in the oven and bake for 5 to 8 minutes till nicely browned. (I use tongs to help pull the finished keeza off of the stone and onto a cooling rack or back onto the cookie sheet)
- Repeat the process if making more than one keeza. It’s ok if you haven’t finished putting together the second one before time is up, this will actually allow the oven to regain some of the heat that would have been lost when you opened the door.
That’s it! Quite a bit of prep but all done in less than 10 minutes.
My pizza stone isn’t very big so I can only do one at a time. If you want to make a few but serve them all warm, pop them back into the oven to warm up for a few minutes – at this point you no longer need to put it directly on the stone, that sexy crust should already be set.
Feel free to share your thoughts in the comment section below. If you try this or any of the recipes, snap a pic and #amazingackee across social media so I can see your post.
As always, thanks for stopping by.
Pizza Dough
Left to slow ferment overnight to develop flavour, this is my go to focaccia dough recipe turned pizza dough
Ingredients
- 500 g All purpose flour (4 cups)
- 12 g Brown sugar (1 tbsp)
- 10 g Salt (2 1/2 tsp)
- 70 g Olive oil (1/4 cup)
- 8 g Instant yeast (2 tsps)
- 320 g Water, cool (1 1/4 cup)
Instructions
- In the bowl of a standmixer fixed with the paddle attachment combine all the ingredients except the water and yeast
- Mix together the water and yeast then add to the bowl
- Mix for 10 to 15 minutes on the recommended setting for your mixer until the dough is smooth and elastic (this is speed 2 on my KitchenAid Classic)
- Place in a greased bowl, cover with plastic and place in the fridge overnight
- When ready to use remove from fridge and portion. For a thin crust 12inch 175g, thick crust 12inch 250g you can use more or less to suit your preferences
- Enjoy!
Notes
The numbers written in parentheses are approximate conversions, it is best to use a scale for accuracy
Spicy Cauliflower Bites
Vegan alternative to buffalo chicken or shrimp, the pack a punch, use less pepper or a more mild one if you like
Ingredients
- 1 medium Cauliflower cut into bite sized pieces
- 1/4 cup Flour
- 1/4 cup Cornstarch
- 1/2 cup Water
- 1/2 tsp Salt
- 1 bottle of Grace hot pepper sauce 3oz
- 2 tbsps Coconut oil
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 450F;
- Place cauliflower in a large bowl, set aside;
- In a small bowl, whisk together flour, cornstarch, salt and water.;
- Pour flour mixture over cauliflower and toss well to coat.;
- Spread coated cauliflower evenly on a greased sheet pan and bake for 15 minutes (turn the pieces halfway through).;
- Rinse and wipe clean the bowl you mixed the cauliflower in. In it combine the hot pepper sauce and coconut oil.;
- Pour the hot cauliflower off the sheet pan into the hot sauce mixture and toss well to coat.;
- Return coated cauliflower to sheet pan and return to oven for another 30 minutes (turn the pieces halfway through).;
- Let cool slightly before serving or storing,;
- Enjoy!
Ackee Mayonnaise
5 ingredient vegan mayonnaise made with ackees, great for dips and salads
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Parboiled ackee;
- 2 tsps Lemon Juice use vinegar if you want a tangier mayo;
- 2 tbsps Oil use something mild in flavour, I used canola;
- 1 tsp Grainy mustard optional (I like the texture);
- 1/4 tsp to 1 tsp Dry ground mustard;
- Salt to taste
Instructions
- In a small blender cup or food processor, combine ackees, lemon juice or vinegar, oil and grainy mustard if using
- Pulse a few times till combined, you may notice that the mayo looks like its going to break, this is where the mustard powder comes in, it will at as an emulsifier and hold it all together
- Start adding the ground mustard 1/4 tsp at a time until emulsified, thick and smooth. Though it may seem a bit loose it will thicken up a bit more as it sits
- Enjoy!
Ackee Ranch Dressing
This version of vegan ranch dressing features ackee, is nut free and easy to make
Ingredients
- 3/4 cup Ackee Mayo
- 3/4 cup Unsweetened Soymilk less 2 tsps
- 2 tsps Vinegar
- 1/4 tsp Salt or more to taste
- 1/2 tsp Garlic powder
- 1/2 to 1 tsp Onion Powder
- 1 tbsp Flat leaf parsley finely chopped
- 1/2 tbsp Fresh chives finely chopped
Instructions
- Pour 2 tsps of vinegar into a measuring cup then pour in enough soymilk to come up to the 3/4 cup mark, set aside for 5 minutes.
- Combine the ackee mayo, salt, garlic powder and onion powder in a bowl, whisk in the soymilk mixture and then the herbs.
- Adjust seasoning
- Enjoy!
Notes
If you use a blender to combine everything, you should still mix in the chopped herbs by hand as it will turn the whole mix green
The amounts of herbs and spices listed can all be adjusted as per your taste
SaveSave