This healthy pizza recipe is perfect if you're trying to cut down on takeaway

Bonus points for being vegan, too

While some prep is involved, it only takes 10 minutes to cook. Image: Ali Green and Clare Winfield

Vowed to order in less this year? Author and social media star Madeleine Olivia's vegan version is so good that we guarantee it'll be your new favourite slice.

At home, we would often make pizzas together as a family. Making the dough from scratch can seem a daunting task (it did for me at least), but it’s surprisingly simple. 

You won’t ever eat better pizza than a homemade one, and you can share the pizza joy with friends and family. You can use a stand mixer with a dough hook attachment, but I’ve also included tips if you’re making it by hand.

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Homemade Vegan Pizza

Makes: Two large or four small pizzas 

Prep time: 1 hour

Cook time: 10 minutes

You can mix it up when it comes to the toppings you choose. Image: Ali Green and Clare Winfield

Ingredients

For the dough

500g (4 cups) strong white bread flour, plus extra for dusting

7g sea salt

7g packet of fast-action dried yeast

12ml (2½ teaspoons) olive oil

325ml tepid water

Polenta (cornmeal), for sprinkling under the base

For the tomato sauce base

400–500g passata (sieved tomatoes) or 400g tin of chopped tomatoes, half the juice drained off  

1 tablespoon tomato purée (paste)

1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs or dried oregano

handful of basil, torn (optional)

sea salt and freshly ground black pepper 

For the toppings

200g vegan cheese, grated

200g shiitake mushrooms or tempeh

400–500g tinned jackfruit, rinsed, drained and dried

While some prep is involved, it only takes 10 minutes to cook. Image: Ali Green and Clare Winfield

Method

1. Add the flour to a stand mixer fitted with a dough hook attachment together with the salt, yeast and olive oil. (Take care that the yeast and salt do not mix or touch each other, as salt can kill the active properties of yeast.)
2. Pour in the measured water and start kneading on a slow speed at first and slowly increase to a middle speed (halfway). Knead for 5 minutes, or until you have a nice elastic dough.
3. If you don’t have a stand mixer, you can make the dough with your hands. Make a circle of the flour mixed with the yeast on a clean work surface. Add the oil and salt to the water and slowly pour into the centre of the circle at the same time as mixing in the flour with your hands to form a dough. Once that is done, dust the work surface with flour and knead the dough for about 10 minutes, or until it is elastic.
4. Form the dough into a ball, place in a bowl, cover with a dish towel and leave to rise for 1 hour, or until doubled in size. Place the dough in the refrigerator and leave overnight – this improves the elasticity of the dough, making it easier to stretch out.
5. Preheat a fan oven to 220°C.
6. Mix all the ingredients for the tomato sauce together in a large bowl and set aside.
7. Cut the risen dough in half (and half again if making four pizzas). On a very lightly floured work surface, roll out each piece of dough and stretch until you have the desired shape and thickness. Keep playing with the dough to stretch it out, as it will continue to expand as you play with it.
8. Place each pizza on a large baking sheet (add a sprinkle of polenta to the baking sheet first to stop the pizzas sticking), top with the tomato sauce and your desired toppings, and bake in the oven for about 10 minutes until the base is golden brown and crispy.

This is an edited extract from Make It Vegan by Madeleine Olivia, published by Hardie Grant. 

Originally published as This healthy pizza recipe is perfect if you're trying to cut down on takeaway