Trying out vegan recipes: italian sausage bianca pizza

I've been thinking about trying out Veganuary next year. I mainly eat meat-less, but sometimes meals get very boring, so I was testing a few recipes.

My favorite pizza recipe is this one from @akipponn, it's very easy if you're having a day at home and can turn the pizza dough every hour or so. I made half the quantity this time and there was still enough for dinner and leftovers for breakfast.

The bianca sauce is made from steamed cauliflower, olive oil, nutritional yeast, garlic, some ground black pepper and optional vegan cheese. I used about a quarter of a cauliflower, figuring what I didn't use I could turn into cauliflower soup.

It was interesting, another time I would gently sauté the garlic in the olive oil (and remember to add salt)! But otherwise, a nice sauce that could be used for lasagne, cauliflower cheese and other pasta bakes. You can add what flavourings you like to the basic sauce.

The italian sausage is made from crumbled tofu and tempeh (another recipe from Derek Sarno) using olive oil, fennel seeds, oregano, garlic, onion and garlic granules, chilli flakes, smoked paprika, ground white pepper and zest of a lemon. This recipe does sauté the garlic with some star anise in the olive oil and then adds the warm oil to the other ground and mixed ingredients.

You can add some red wine and then marinate the crumbled tofu and tempeh in the mixture overnight, before spreading out on a baking tray and roasting for 20-30 minutes in a moderately hot oven. Leave to cool overnight for the flavour to mature.

Select your toppings - I chose thinly sliced brown onions, sliced mushrooms, cherry tomatoes that I'd roasted for twenty minutes with oil and sage in the air fryer and mouse-trap cheddar cheese (vegan cheese optional). Assemble your pizza, spread thickly with the bianca sauce, scatter the toppings, except for the cheese and bake in a hot oven for about ten minutes. Add the cheese and sprinkle over the tofu italian sausage, place back in the oven for five to seven minutes until the cheese has melted.

It was very tasty and I found myself craving it this morning even though there was none left! I would adjust the recipes slightly, more fennel and chilli flakes in the tofu sausage and less garlic in the bianca sauce, but otherwise, a nice addition to the rotation and good for using up vegetables in the fridge.

Th remainder of the tofu sausage went into a lentil bolognese style spaghetti sauce yesterday, and the remains of the cauliflower and bianca sauce will end up in cauliflower cheese later today.

I've seen a few vegan recipes using cauliflower as a kind of medium or filler including chocolate brownies and ice cream. I could definitely still taste it, though!