The Sexy Vegan Cookbook by Brian L. Patton Page A

powder, onion powder, nutritional yeast, salt, the 1 tablespoon of olive oil, and the Worcestershire. With your very clean hands, blend the ingredients by mashing the tofu until it is completely broken up into a ground meat–like texture. Then mix in the bell pepper and onion. Lube up a casserole or baking dish with some olive oil, and spread the tofu mixture evenly in the dish. To ensure that it browns properly, make sure the layer is no more than ½ inch thick, using a second dish if necessary.
    Bake the mixture for 30 minutes, then remove it from the oven. The top of the mixture should be lightly browned at this point. Toss it around with a spatula to allow the other side to brown. Return the mixture to the oven, and cook for 30 more minutes, or until the mixture is mostly browned with some moist, white tofu-looking parts remaining. Set aside to cool.
    Raise the oven temperature to 450°F. Spread the tomato killer evenly across the dough, and top it with the not-zzarella sauce, then the cooked tofu mixture. Bake in the oven for 7 to 9 minutes, or until the crust begins to brown. Remove from the oven, and top with a sprinkle of parmesan topping and the basil.

THE B.L.A.T.

    It’s a great sandwich, so why not a pizza?
Makes one 14-inch pizza
    1½ cups Smoked Cheddar Sauce (see recipe, page 215 )
    1 Basic Pizza Dough (see recipe, page 158 ), rolled out to a 14-inch diameter
    1 beefsteak tomato, thinly sliced
    Salt
    8 strips Tempeh Bacon (see recipe, page 32 ), chopped
    ½ medium avocado, thinly sliced
    1 small handful watercress
    Preheat the oven to 450°F. Spread the smoked cheddar sauce evenly across the dough. Add the tomato slices and hit them with a pinch of salt. Add the bacon, and bake for 7 to 9 minutes. Take the pizza out of the oven, and arrange the avocado slices on top in an elegant, symmetrical manner. Finally, top with the watercress.

THE MUSH-A-BOKI

    This is what my dad calls mushrooms. I guess he just made it up.
    Me: “Hey Dad, we’re ordering pizza (again), what do you want on it? I’m thinking sweet peppers.”
    Dad: “What, no mush-a-bokis?”
    Me: “Oh yeah, let’s do that.”
    Dad: “How ’bout some pepperovich too?”
    I can’t believe I almost forgot about that one. “Pepperoni” was known as “pepperovich.” Never thought about it until now, but my dad is a pretty prolific pizza-topping renamer.
Makes one 14-inch pizza
    2 teaspoons extra-virgin olive oil
    8 ounces fresh shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced
    8 ounces fresh cremini mushrooms, halved
    1 teaspoon chopped fresh thyme
    Salt and pepper
    3½ ounces fresh enoki mushrooms, bottoms trimmed, cut into 1-inch pieces
    ¼ cup dry white wine (or, if you wanna get nuts, use sake)
    3 packed cups baby spinach
    1 lemon wedge
    1 cup Cashew Ricotta (see recipe, page 213 )
    1 Basic Pizza Dough (see recipe, page 158 ), rolled out to a 14-inch diameter
    1 cup Not-zzarella Sauce (see recipe, page 214 ) or other vegan cheese
    2 teaspoons Parmesan Topping (see recipe, page 211 )
    2 teaspoons fresh basil chiffonade (see WTF, page 103 )
    Preheat the oven to 450°F. In a large skillet, heat the oil over medium heat. Add the shiitakes and creminis. Cook for 4 to 6 minutes,or until browned, then add the thyme and a pinch of salt and a pinch of pepper. Cook for 2 to 3 more minutes, and push them off to the side of the pan. Add the enokis, and cook for 1 to 3 minutes, until browned on one side, then toss them with the rest of the mushrooms. Stir in the wine, and let it reduce until it’s almost all evaporated, 1 to 2 minutes. Finally, add the spinach to the pan and toss it with the mushrooms until wilted. Squeeze just a spritz of lemon juice into the mixture, season with salt and pepper, and set aside to cool.
    Spread the ricotta evenly across the dough. Then top that with a layer of the not-zzarella sauce (if you can make fancy swirls of it with a squeeze bottle, all the better), and top that with the mushroom-spinach mixture. Bake in the oven for 7