I know it looks like pepperoni on the pizza but they’re sweet potatoes. Who puts sweet potatoes on pizza? Why I do. Since I’ve recently discovered the ability to make One Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough, we’ve had our share of pizza. I’ve been playing around with ingredients and flavor combinations that are a little different than what Domino’s has to offer. My husband loves potatoes in any way, shape, or form and since sweet potatoes are on the healthier side than white, and because I happen to love them, I made pizza with them. He also loves bread, and of course cheese, and combining his favorite food groups and putting them on top of a chewy, wholesome slice scored me some brownie points.

To make this pizza, first make the dough. You could use storebought dough like I did here, or you can just make your own in an hour. I recommend making your own because you have to roast a potato anyway and that’s going to take a half hour, so you may as well get the dough going now. It’ll be ready about the same time the potato is done. How convenient. Make the dough as previously described. In a nutshell, combine flour, yeast, a drizzle of oil, a pinch of sugar, and pour water over the whole thing in a mixing bowl. Let your mixer knead it, or you can knead it, for eight minutes, and that’s the dough. Let it rise for an hour, roll it out, top it with pizza fixings, and bake it. Super simple and goofproof even if you’ve never worked with yeast.

You can also make this dough up to two days in advance; and if you make it now, you can use half now and refrigerate the other half for the next day. I’ve had many people write saying they’ve tried the dough with great success and it’s going to replace their existing pizza dough recipe or replace their Trader Joe’s frozen pizza crust habit.

Now that the dough is underway and sitting in a bowl rising away, get that potato in the oven. I used one long, cylinder-shaped sweet potato. Technically speaking, it’s a red garnet yam but I’m calling it a sweet potato since most people don’t properly label sweet potatoes and yams. I used the red one, on the right.

Peel the potato and slice it thinly, about one-eighth of an inch. You could use a mandolin or food processor but that seems like too many dishes and effort for one potato. Arrange the slices in a single flat layer on a Silpat Non-Stick Baking Mat, drizzle with olive oil, season with salt, pepper, and bake at 425 for about thirty minutes, flipping once midway through. Feel free to roast with coconut oil or season with other herbs and spices based on what you like. Bake until the potato slices are fork tender, but don’t allow them to really brown or crisp up. They’re going to be pizza toppings and will spend another 15 minutes in the oven, and will have more opportunity to darken so don’t overdo it now.

After about an hour has passed, or if your dough is doing well and has risen nicely, punch it down. And listen to that sweet sound of air escaping, like helium from a balloon, knowing the yeast worked and created air bubbles and gases in the process. I divided the dough into two pieces, but there are no rules here. I made two medium pizzas, or you could make one now, and save and refrigerate the other half for the next night. Or make one large or four smaller tortilla-sized pizzas. Even though I say ‘medium’ pizzas, because they are thick and hearty-crusted pizzas, a medium pizza is plenty filling and it’s all our family of three comfortably needs at one time. I made two at once because I have another pizza post coming up.

Roll out the dough fairly thinly because it does rise while baking and unless you like very thick crust, roll it thinner rather than thicker. It’s a springy dough and will try to recoil and snap back on you, but just keep finessing and stretching it into the shape you want. If you don’t have a pizza stone and are baking on a baking sheet like I am, placing a pinch of corn meal underneath the dough prior to baking will safeguard against the bottom becoming too browned. That’s a trick I learned when I made the vegan Outback Steakhouse Copycat Wheat Bread I also recommend pricking the dough with a fork in a half dozen places like you’d do with a pie crust so the air and steam can escape while baking, otherwise you may get air bubbles, which could rise up and knock off your precious toppings while baking.

Drizzle a bit of olive oil over the dough; or browned butter, pizza sauce, pesto, or even salsa. Top with the sweet potato slices in a single layer or slightly overlapping layers. I used about half the slices for the pizza and the rest were devoured right off the roasting tray. Then, add diced bell peppers or top with other favorites including pepperoni, sausage, mushrooms, olives, corn, tomato slices, or mango and pineapple. Or try other roasted root vegetables like beets, carrots, Brussels sprouts or slices of roasted delicata squash. I think of pizza like a bake-able salad and just keep piling on the vegetables and toppings, using whatever I have that looks interesting from the crisper drawer, freezer, or from a can in the pantry. Any time you call something pizza, the vegetables that top it suddenly don’t become so awful in case you have family members who are veggie-resistant.

Sprinkle cheese over the top. I used goat cheese for it’s tanginess and sharpness, a great contrast to the sweetly flavored sweet potato and sweet bell peppers. I used the cheese sparingly, about two ounces. It’s somewhat expensive, plus my husband doesn’t need 1237 calories of cheese on top of his slab of dough, although he’d like it. Use mozzarella, Parmesan, or your favorite pizza cheese. Or skip the cheese and this becomes a vegetable tarte of sorts. If desired season with spices or herbs, but I opted for just pinch of salt and pepper. I didn’t want to get too carried away with seasonings that would mask the wheatiness of the dough, the sweetness of the potato, or that worth-its-weight-in-gold goat cheese.

I baked the pizza for about 15 minutes at 425F. Some people prefer to bake their pizzas in very hot ovens, 550F or hotter. I don’t like baking anything over 450F because food tends to just burn before it cooks through in my oven. Baking times could range from eight minutes to nearly 20 minutes, based on how hot the oven is, how loaded up the pizza is, how thin the dough was rolled, oven variances, and personal preferences. Because I adapted the pizza crust from Soft Buttery One Hour Pretzels and basically just swapped out half the white flour for wheat and rolled it rather than twisting it into a pretzel, the pizza crust is kind of like eating one big mall pretzel, rolled out, and topped. They even sell pizza-flavored pretzels; this is the literal definition. Scott loved that aspect since he simply adores those big, soft mall pretzels. The pizza was a hit with the family. The crust is chewy, hearty, thick,  and soft with a nicely balanced wheat flavor. And it’s very filling. Between the dough and all the toppings, even Scott said he was stuffed after two pieces.

The roasted sweet potato slices were soft and tender, and the bell pepper pieces stayed quite crunchy and added a pop of gentle, sweet heat and extra flavor. The goat cheese is an automatic win. It’s not a gooey, stringy, melty cheese like mozzarella. Instead, as it bakes the little nuggets firm up and develop a slightly browned exterior. The saltiness concentrates and the flavor enhances. You can easily keep this pizza vegan by substituting a favorite vegan cheese since the crust is already vegan.

Making homemade pizza from start to finish in just over an hour is possible. And it’s easy. Too easy.

 

One Hour Whole Wheat Pizza Dough – The dough only takes one hour to make and rise, and it’s a now-or-later dough. So you can make a pizza within an hour, or save it for up to 2 days later. The recipe is vegan and healthier wheat flour is used. The dough is soft, chewy, versatile, and most of all, easy to make. Simply combine all ingredients in a mixing bowl, knead for about 8 minutes, wait an hour, and bake it off. Foolproof, goofproof, and now you can have homemade pizza in just over an hour. The dough is what I used in today’s pizza Tried this recipe? Leave a review! Consider leaving a 5 star rating if you’ve made and loved one of my recipes!

Pepperoni Pizza and Chipotle Avocado Cucumber Flatbreads – Pre-made pizza crust is used for the pizza in case you absolutely don’t want to make your own. Shortcuts are a-okay

Crescent Roll dough makes up the Chipotle Avocado Cucumber Flatbreads -Both the pizza and flatbreads are ready in about 30 minutes. An easy, flavorful, fun dinner idea that everyone likes

Mango Basil Personal-Sized Tortilla Pizzas – Tortilla shells make a great foundation for thin and crispy pizza, my favorite kind. I love mango or pineapple on pizza and the beauty of mini pizzas is that everyone can customize their toppings and flavors for at-home personal pizzas and no one gets stuck picking off a topping she doesn’t like

Avocado Cream Cheese and Salsa-Stuffed Puff Pastry (vegan) – One of the top ten Most Viewed Recipes of 2012, these savory bites are rich and satisfying with a slight kick from the salsa. Many brands of puff pastry are vegan and vegan cream cheese is an easy swap to keep them vegan. These are a crowd pleaser with my family and with readers.  Try stuffing them with your favorite vegetables, pizza sauce, protein option, and cheese

Baked Chipotle Sweet Potato and Zucchini Fritters (vegan, GF) – For those who can’t get enough sweet potatoes, work them into baked fritters rather than white potatoes and fried fritters. Healthier all the way around

Sweet Potato Graham Cracker “French Toast” Sticks – Don’t judge a book by it’s cover. They won’t win a beauty contest but they are delicious. The coating is crushed graham crackers, brown sugar, and cinnamon and the potatoes taste like French toast sticks

Sweet Potato Red Pepper and Coconut Milk Soup (vegan, gluten-free, soy-free, microwave-friendly) – This is a favorite soup, 3 ingredients, and ready from start to finish in 15 minutes. Just like the pizza today, the soup uses sweet potatoes and red peppers, which I never tire of

Caribbean Citrus Roasted Sweet Potatoes – A salt-free seasoning blend used on top of potatoes that are eaten fresh and warm from the oven is such a simple idea yet wonderful pleasure

What do you top your pizza with? Do you make your own dough? I’d love to hear about your favorites and fave recipes. Please feel free to leave links.

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