Mamma Mia That's A Margarita Pizza!

As many of you will note from the crumbs in this picture,
The Hungry Vegan Bear had several slices prior to taking this photo.

As a young bear cub I had pizza at most of my birthday parties.  Sometimes my mom would make homemade pizza, which only fueled my love for pizza even more than usual, with my mom in mind, I took the liberty of creating my own vegan Margarita Pizza.

Tools
blender
hammer
knife
plastic bag
spoon
cutting board
18 inch pizza pan

Pesto Ingredients
9 Trader Joe's basil stems (pluck off leaves)
1/2 c ground raw almonds
1 c olive oil
3 garlic cloves
1/2 c vegan Parmesan cheese

Obviously this is my food processor.

I don't own a food processor, but I really don't need a food processor, because I own a hammer.  Take the almonds and place into a plastic bag, don't seal the bag, because next you'll lie the almonds and bag flat on your cutting board and then proceed to hammer the almonds until they are finely ground.

Add the leaves, almonds, garlic, and Parmesan to the blender, adding the olive oil last.  Begin to blend the ingredients together until you have a smooth spreadable pesto.  You might have a cup of the pesto left over at the end, which I usually keep in a container and hold onto for pasta later in the week/weekend.  It's great on bread, too!

Blended pesto

Grease the 18 inch pizza pan with about a teaspoon of vegan margarine.  If you own a stone then by all means break out the stone! (My sister owns a stone and I love borrowing it when I'm in town, hee hee.)  Take the dough and spread it out to the edges of the pan.  I left my dough out for two nights.  Lemme just say that I barely had to touch the dough to get it to comply to my every whim.

Toppings
1/2 block vegan mozzarella cheese
3 tomatoes
basil (a few leaves for garnish)
vegan Parmesan cheese (enough to sprinkle on top)

Once you have the dough on the pan, spoon on the pesto.  Then proceed to add the toppings.  Finally, top with the basil and Parmesan.

Normally, this pizza will serve 3-4 people unless you invite
The Hungry Vegan Bear to your home...

Dough
Trader Joe's basil/garlic pizza dough

If I had more time I would have made my own dough, but I find that Trader Joe's has a nice selection of wheat, basil/garlic, and plain pizza dough, so I often pick up a pack when I'm in the store.  It's great to have in the freezer if you're in a pinch or if you just don't feel like spending a great deal of time making dough, because, let's be honest, making your own dough is time consuming.

Cook the pizza at 450 for 10-12 minutes or until the cheese is melted and golden brown.