Thai Tofu Pizza on Spelt Crust

Blogging Marathon# 66: Week 2/ Day 3

Theme: Pizza

Dish: Thai Tofu Pizza on Spelt Crust

For the last day of this week's marathon, I have an interesting pizza recipe. The base is a No-rise spelt flour crust and the topping is spicy peanut sauce with crumbled tofu. I was in an experimenting mode and found these recipes -- crust recipe from Vegan Richa and Thai tofu topping recipe from Nasoya -- and wanted to give them a try.

No rise instant pizza crusts seem to be the common theme for all three days this week (check out the instant-pizza crust and chickpea flour crust). This spelt flour pizza base doesn't need any rising time and is ready to roll once you have the topping done. Richa's original recipe has BBQ tofu topping, but I used the Thai style peanut-Tofu instead.

I was skeptical how the family would react to this quite unusual pizza. To be on the safe side, I made a tomato and cheese pizza for the kids on the same spelt base. They loved the crispy thin crust and my son wanted me to make it again very soon. So the crust is a keeper.

As for the peanut topping, my husband loved it a lot. It's spicy, sweet and well peanutty :-) I can see myself making this topping very often now. There's far less guilt-factor eating this pizza than eating a regular one. So this recipe goes straight into my favorite folder :-)

Crust recipe from here and Thai Tofu recipe from here:

Thai Tofu Pizza on Spelt Crust

Ingredients:

For Spelt Pizza Crust:
• 3/4cup Spelt flour
• 2tsp Instant Yeast
• 1/2tsp Salt
• 1tsp Maple Syrup
• 1tbsp Corn starch or Arrowroot starch
• 2tsp Extra virgin Olive oil
• 1/4~1/2cup Warm Water
For Thai Tofu:
• 7oz. (half of a package) Extra firm or Firm Tofu, drained, pressed and crumbled
• 2tsp Oil
• 1cup Grated Mozzarella cheese (use vegan cheese for a vegan pizza option)
• 1cup Chopped Broccoli
• 3 Scallion, thinly sliced
• 1tbsp Roasted Peanuts, chopped
For the Peanut Sauce:
• 3tbsp Creamy Peanut Butter
• 1tbsp Soy Sauce
• 1tbsp Rice Vinegar
• 1tbsp Water
• 1 Garlic clove, finely minced
• 1/2" Ginger piece, finely grated
• 1tsp Sesame Oil
• 1tsp Agave Nectar or Honey
• 1tsp Chili garlic sauce

Method:

1. Make the Dough: In a bowl, combine flour, yeast, corn starch (arrowroot starch), salt, maple syrup, extra virgin olive oil and 1/4cup water. Mix and knead to form a smooth dough. Add more water 1tbsp at a time, if needed. Cover and set the bowl near the oven.
2. Preheat the oven to 450F. Lightly grease a baking sheet or line it with parchment paper.
3. Prepare Peanut Sauce: In a bowl, combine all the ingredients for the peanut sauce. Whisk until the sauce is smooth.
4. Prepare Thai Tofu: Heat oil in a nonstick skillet, add the crumbled tofu along with 3tbsp peanut sauce. Cook on medium high heat, stirring frequently, until tofu is crispy, about 5~7 minutes.
5. Make Pizza: Roll out the dough into 12~13" round or oval shape. Place it on the prepared baking sheet. Spread the remaining peanut sauce over the crust and top with sauteed tofu, cheese, broccoli and scallions. 
6. Bake in the oven for 10~12 minutes or until the crust is slightly browned around the edges. Remove from the oven. Sprinkle chopped peanuts and more scallions, slice ad serve.

 

Lets check out what my fellow marathoners have cooked today for BM# 66.