Bacon and Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

If you’re here for the the Virtual Vegan Potluck, welcome! Add some of the Vegan Bacon and Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms to your plate before they’re all gone, ha ha!

And if you’re not here for the potluck, well welcome anyway! And may I also suggest that you head over to Vegan Blogs Unite to check out the entire event from start to finish. I think you’ll find plenty to eat salivate over.

So, mushrooms. Glorious, delicious, oft-maligned mushrooms. Personally, I love ‘em. They’re perfect in salads, in stir-fry’s and on pizza. And when you have some vegan cream cheese and bacon that you just need to stuff into something, well mushrooms can’t be beat!

Bacon and Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

I made a hilarious (to me) joke about mushrooms in the last virtual potluck, and although I wont repeat it here, just know that I’m laughing to myself as I type this. I may or may not have snorted, I’ll never tell.

But, in all seriousness make sure you continue along the blog chain, whether you’re going in order and are on your way to visit my girl Bex at Vegan Sparkles or if you’re a renegade who is making your way backward and are about to hit up Saving the World One Bite at a Time – either way, you can’t lose!


Bacon and Cream Cheese Stuffed Mushrooms

Ingredients:

8 slices vegan bacon (I used Smoky Maple Bacon Marinated Tempeh from Tofurky)
Smoked applewood sea salt
1/2 cup minced sweet onion
1 dash powdered garlic
pinch chili powder
16 oz white button mushrooms, cleaned and de-stemmed (save the stems!)
4 oz vegan cream cheese
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
S&P
Green onions, chopped
Directions:

Cook the bacon per package instructions, sprinkling with just a bit of the applewood sea salt. Remove from pan and chop. Set aside.
Water saute the onions with the garlic and chili powder over medium heat for about 5 minutes. Chop the mushroom stems and add to the pan, leaving over medium heat.
Reduce heat to low and add the cream cheese, nooch and chopped bacon. Taste test and add salt and pepper as needed. Place mushrooms on foil covered baking sheet and stuff with cream cheese mixture. Bake at 350 for 15-20 minutes. The filling should be hot and the mushrooms should be soft! Top with green onions and serve immediately.
Enjoy!

Onion rings, Indian style.

Ever heard of the Awesome Blossom a.k.a Blooming Onion a.k.a Onion Blossom? Well, commonly found in American establishments (diners and steakhouses commonly serve them), this onion dish originally used the Vidalia onion, a large sweet onion. The onion is cut to resemble a flower, breaded and deep fried. As you can imagine, it's oily and naturally,  loaded with calories.

A relative of the bloom is the onion ring which is kinder to the arteries. Though fried, onion rings aren't necessarily deep fried. Pan-frying with an inch or two of oil will suffice.  Western recipes for onion rings call for the onions (cut in rings, hence the name) to be coated in white flour or cornmeal. Seasoning is mainly salt or sometimes garlic salt. New York Times columnist Mark Bittman dips his onions in milk and then flour and proceeds to fry them  in olive oil. Some recipes call for the rings to be breaded. Others mix some baking powder in a flour batter for puffy rings.



While these rings are pretty nifty, I prefer the Indian version of the onion ring called the onion Bhajee. The concept is the same but the batter has a lot more kick in it. Instead of plain white flour, the Bhajee employs gram flour (that's chickpea flour by the way) mxed with a little rice flour and chilli powder. I used about a cup of gram flour, 1 tbsp rice flour, 3/4 tbsp chilli powder. Oh, you also need a pinch of asofoetida. Finely chopped green chillies and curry leaves (and sometimes parsley) are also added. The dry mix is mixed with enough water to form a thick batter.

The onion rings are then coated generously with the batter (just chuck them into the bowl with the batter and mix them with your hands, ensuring they're well and truly bathed in the batter).  Heat oil to about 180C and fry the battered rings till they're golden. Drain and enjoy.

Indian snacks use gram flour a lot and not just as a batter. The Bonda, for example, is a fried flour ball that's made primarily of gram flour. Once again, mix the gram flour with some rice flour, chilli powder and asafoetida. Add finely chopped chilli,finely chopped spinach (lightly sauteed, just about 2 tbsp) and curry leaves (finely chopped also) and add just enough water to allow you to make little  dough balls.



Again, heat about an inch of oil in a skillet and when hot, drop the dough balls (uneven shapes are customary!) into the oil and fry till golden.

Both the onion bhajee and the bonda are snacks, usually tea time snacks. Because of the gram flour, they're quite filling. The bonda is best eaten with a coconut chutney(a southern Indian dip/sauce) while the onion bhajee is usually eaten with a mint chutney.

To top is off, have some lovely Indian spice tea (masala tea) and you'll have a nice smile on your face. I guarantee.

Battered Cauliflower

Don't you hate it when someone yanks the carpet from under you?

You see, I recently got crazy-addicted to a cauliflower side dish sold at an Indian restaurant near my workplace:  spicy, lightly-battered and deep fried, I used to buy a couple portions of the cauliflower dish two or three times a week for dinner. It was sooo good. Crunchy on the outside, soft inside; spicy outside and deliciously mild inside.

Then last week, I noticed that the dish looked a little different. The batter was thicker and I could see that it was seasoned differently.  I tried it. It was still tasty but it wasn't as good as the original. Too much batter. Not crunchy enough. Couldn't taste the cauliflower.

Sigh.

I consulted the proprietor and he explained that he had hired a new chef and this was his recipe. "Whhhyyyyyy," I cried. No really, I did.

Accck! Carpet. Pulled. From under me.

I was devastated. What was I to do now? Sulk, sulk, sulk.

I had no other choice but to try and make the dish myself. I knew it was a fairly common dish in Indian establishments and so I went online to see if I could find recipes for it. Basically, what I needed was a recipe for the batter.

Yup, there were many, many recipes online. I printed out a couple of recipes and bought 1kg of cauliflower on my way home from work.

First batch: batter was just too eggy.

The first recipe I picked looked great online. It was spicy (cardamom, cinnamon, cumin) and it was enhanced with some chopped parsley and chilli. Sounded promising. But, there were some problems:

* The recipe for the batter also called for six eggs. SIX eggs for a large head of cauliflower (unfortunately the recipe didn't indicate how many grams a 'large' head of cauliflower was).  Six eggs sounded too much and so I reduced it by half and added some light stock to keep the consistency of the batter. Despite cutting down the eggs by half, the batter was still very eggy. No go!

*  The recipe also called for a teaspoon of baking powder into the batter: this made the batter kind of fluffy instead of crispy. No go!

I didn't think I could finish the entire bowl of the eggy-battered veg as is and so I made myself a healthy yoghurt dip to go with it. It was slightly better but still eggy.

I decided that the next batch of batter I made would not have a single egg. I settled on a recipe from Jamie Oliver. His batter was akin to that used in Japanese tempura: light and crispy.

Yes! I decided to go with it, adding a little more spice to suit my palette.

The result: SUCCESS. It didn't taste like the dish I bought from the shop but it was so terribly tasty that I didn't care.

The beer makes the batter light and crunchy (some use sparkling water) and it also gives it a really nice colour -- a vibrant yellow. 

The secret ingredient

I followed Jamie's advice and included some other vegetables as well: flat-leaf parsley (isn't the green so lovely) and some carrots too.

I was happy. I still intend to recreate the dish from the restaurant but until then, this would more than suffice.

The good and the not so good: Jamie's beer batter (left) was light and bright; see the contrast with the too-eggy batter? 

Cauliflower, battered and fried.

450 g cauliflower, cut into florets
1 cup flat-leaf parsley, leaves only
11/2 cup all purpose flour and 2 tbsp more for dusting

200 ml ice-cold beer

1 tsp roasted ground cumin

1/2 tsp turmeric

1/2 tsp chilli powder

1 tsp salt

5 whole black peppercorns, crushed and pounded

Steam cauliflower florets for about 10 mins or until slightly tender (till you can poke a fork through them).

Make the batter: mix the flour, salt, pepper, spices together. Add the beer, a little at a time and stir till all ingredients are well incorporated. It doesn't matter if the batter is slightly lumpy. The consistency of the batter should be like that of double cream. Add more beer if necessary.

Lightly dab the cauliflower florets with a clean dishcloth and dust them with the 2 tbsp flour. Dust some flour on the parsley too.

Head about 2cm oil in a skillet. When hot, dip the cauliflower in the batter and then slide it into the oil. Keep the bowl with the batter close to the skillet so you don't drip the batter on your counter top.

Fry for about 2 mins or so per side or until the batter turns a lovely, golden yellow. 

Drain on paper towels and repeat. Do the same with the parsley but be mindful that these cook quicker than the cauliflower.

Dust with some sea salt. Jamie squeezes a lemon over them but they taste great even without the lemon. 

Summer Garden Vegetable Soup

I had zucchini on hand the other night and decided to try this soup.  I loved it!  And with fresh garden produce it would be that much better.  I think you could even leave out the milk for a brothy - less creamy version.

Summer Garden Vegetable Soup
3 medium zucchini, chopped into bite-size pieces
4 medium tomatoes, chopped into bite-size pieces
2 tablespoons minced fresh parsley
1 teaspoon dried basil (or 1 tablespoon fresh basil, chopped)
2 tablespoons butter
1 medium onion, chopped
¼ cup flour
1 teaspoon salt
1/4 teaspoon pepper
3 cups low-sodium chicken broth
1 teaspoon lemon juice
1 (12 oz.) can evaporated milk (can use fat-free or low-fat)
1 ½ cups frozen or fresh corn kernels
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
In a large pot, melt the butter over medium heat. Add the zucchini, basil, parsley and onion and saute, stirring occasionally, for 2-3 minutes. Add the flour, salt and pepper and stir and cook for one minute. Gradually add the chicken broth, whisking or stirring constantly. Add the lemon juice; mix well. Bring the soup to a simmer, stirring to prevent sticking, and cook for 2-3 minutes, until the zucchini is tender but still has some bite to it (it will continue cooking for a few more minutes). Add the tomatoes, evaporated milk, and corn.
Bring the soup to a boil and reduce the heat to medium-low. Cover the soup and simmer until the corn and zucchini are tender. Stir in the cheese just before serving.

Vegetarian Wan Tan noodles

It's been a long while since I had Wan Ton (Tan?) Mee. In fact, I think I've had it only once since I became a vegetarian 21 years ago (good lord, that's a heck of a long time. And did I just reveal how old I might be?). I don't know what it was exactly that made me want to eat it again recently but I decided that instead of heading out to the Chinese vegetarian shop, I'd try making it myself.



You can find this dish all over the country but the presentation and preparation of it may differ slightly in different states -- the Wan Ton Mee you find in Penang is not the same as the one in Johor, for example. However, there are two broad types of wan ton noodles: soupy and dry. I have always preferred the dry noodles as it has a sweetness (just slight) that is so different from any other noodle dish I've tasted. The dry noodles however do come with a light wanton soup on the side.

It's pretty easy to make but there are several things that differentiate a good plate of wan ton noodles from a really good one: First, its pretty important how you cook the noodles and for how long. Just like spaghetti, they should not be too mushy nor too hard. Oh, and they're cooked in boiling water, like the italian counterpart.

Next: the sauce in which you season the noodles determines its taste. You need a balance of sweet and salty. And not too much oil.

Having said that, it's not that hard.


Wan Ton Mee

Noodles

1 roll wan ton noodles

seasoning :

2 tbsp vegetarian oy

ster sauce

3/4 tbsp soy sauce

1 tsp sesame oil

1 tsp honey/sweet soy sauce

pepper

Cook noodles in boiling water for about 3 mins or until it ceases to stick together. Remove and blanch in cold water. Put the noodles back in another pot of boiling vegetable s

tock and cook another 3-4 mins or till it reaches the right texture. Meanwhile, mix all ingredients of seasoning in a bowl. When noodles are ready remove from fire and drain. Toss it in the seasoning till well coated.


Wan Ton soup

1. Mash some tofu and season with salt, pepper and light soy sauce. Add chopped chives and carrots and mushroom if you wish. Fill wan ton wrappers with filling and fry.

2. For he soup, boil vegetable stock and season. Add wan tons once soup is done and removed from fire.

Vegetable

Though its best to use a leafy vegetable, I used broccoli. Blanch the vegetable in the stock used to cook the mee.

Assemble and garnish with grilled vegetarian char siu .

Roasted Vegetable Puff

Marty and I have been making sandwiches for sale for over a year. Every Monday for close to 16 months (save for the weeks we are both out of town), we deliver our Crazy Juliet sandwiches to our colleagues. It's been great. But lately we've been feeling a little sandwiched-out. We needed some time apart, us and our sandwiches. We needed something fresh. So, we started introducing pies, puffs and quiches to our weekly menus.

As such, I've been experimenting with various vegetarian puffs and pastries. It's been quite challenging, really. After all, how many types of vegetarian pies and puffs can there be? Pies and/or puffs that are substantial enough for lunch. Pies and puffs that won't go soggy by lunch time (we deliver them around mid morning). It's been a ride.

So my kitchen became a test kitchen for all kinds of vegetarian pies and puffs. The first one to graduate from the test kitchen is this Roasted Vegetable Puff. This is really a very basic vegetable puff. It has no exotic vegetables or cheese to boast off. In fact, as horrific as this may sound, I used processed mozzarella cheese. I don't usually buy processed cheese but I had a packet in my fridge from I can't remember when which I wanted to use up.

Still the puff was really good, proof that the simple things in life are usually very, very good.

The secret? Good puff pastry and roasted vegetables.




Puff pastry is rich, flaky, buttery and soft. It is good enough to be eaten on its own (think croissants) but is also lovely as a light crust to coat a pie, sweet or savoury. I tried making puff pastry once and it was awfully satisfying: I'm not gonna kid you and say it was easy. No, it was pretty laborious. The wonderful
flakiness of the pastry comes from the many layers of dough and butter that is folded and folded and folded some more (sometimes more than a hundred folds go into a block of puff pastry). I made it because I was curious about the process and I wanted to see how successful my home made puff pastry would turn out. It was, thankfully, a success. But, I never have made it again because it's so much easier to buy good pre-packed, ready-made all-butter puff pastry.

Now the other reason this vege puff is so tasty is because the vegetables were roasted. I don't know about you but I love the flavour of roasted vegetables. They taste sweeter as they caramelise so nicely in the oven. All you need is to coat them in olive oil and then season them with salt and pepper. That's it, really. That's all you need.



I selected my vegetables carefully. Potatoes would be an easy way to make the puff filling but I am not a huge fan of spuds and so I struck them off the list of possible ingredients. Spinach? Nah. Carrots? Next time. Red peppers? Nah.

Here's what I ended up with: eggplant, broccoli, pumpkin, cauliflower and mushrooms.

Oh! And the cheese, of course.



ROASTED VEGETABLE PUFF
Makes 4

2 cups broccoli florets
1 cup cauliflower florets
1 cup pumpkin, cut into 2cm cubes
1 cups mushrooms (shiitake, Swiss brown, button..) halved or quartered (size should match the pumpkin)
1 medium eggplant, sliced, salted and drained.
1 cup shredded Mozzarella Cheese (or 4 slices of the processed stuff that I used)
Olive Oil
Salt and pepper
1/4 cup vegetable stock
1/2 tbsp corn starch diluted in 2 tbsp water.
1/4 cup milk

Puff pastry


Preheat the oven to 200C.

Mix all the vegetables in a bowl and coat them in about 2 tbsp of olive oil. (The vegetables should be cut around the same size so they cook equally.)

Transfer the vegetables to a rimmed baking tray: make sure they are laid out in one layer (to make sure they roast evenly). Season with salt and pepper.

Bake for about 40 mins, turning them over midway.

Let the vegetables cool.

Heat the stock in a small saucepan. Add the diluted corn starch and stir over low heat until the stock thickens — about 5-7 mins over low heat. Turn off the heat and add the vegetables into the thickened stock. Leave to soak/

Meanwhile, lightly flour your work surface and cut the puff pastry into 8 squares. My squares were about 8cm x 8cm.

Place one square on your floured work surface. Spread your cheese on the square ad then spoon the roasted vegetables onto the square (don't scoop out too much juice or the puff will get soggy), leaving about a 1/2 cm boarder on all four sides. Brush the boarder with milk.

Take another  square and place it atop. You may need to gently (I stress, gently) stretch the pastry over the filling so that the top and bottom squares meet. Press the edges together and seal with a fork (this gives the puff a nice patterned edge).

Make a slit on the top of the puff for the steam to escape when baking. Now, brush the top of the puff with milk.

(If you want to decorate the puff, use a small biscuit cutter in any shape you like: 8 cut outs in total/ 2 per puff).  Place the cutouts on the puff (how you arrange them is up to your artistic vision) and brush the shapes with milk as well.)

Repeat with the other 3 puffs.

Bake for 15 to 20 mins or till the the puffs and nice and golden and the flaky layers have risen.

Mashed aubergine salad

Another aubergine (egg plant) recipe? You must think I am mad. Yes, every week when I go shopping if I see aubergines on offer I must bring some home. I bought four yesterday. I wanted to use half straight away because of limited fridge space and the other half later in the week.

So what tickle my tastebuds this time? I want something guilt free (reasonably low fat), easy to make and tasty. Thought of baba ghanoush but I was reluctant to turn on the oven to roast the aubergine it's too warm. So back to oriental recipe. Then I thought of mashing it then dress it with oriental sauce. Quite yummy, soft and easy to eat.

So here is what I did. It's simply called mashed aubergine salad 'bun chair nee 拌茄泥'. Once the aubergine is mashed it's not a lot so I cooked two at once.




Ingredients:

2 aubergines (egg plant) about 700+ g

Sauce (dressing):

1 tbsp light soy sauce
1 tbsp Chinkiang black rice vinegar
1.5 tbsp oyster sauce (vegetarian version* or original)
1 tbsp finely chopped garlic, about 2 cloves
1.5 - 2 tsp sugar
2 tsp sesame oil
2 - 3 tsp chilli oil best with a bit of the chilli solid at the bottom of the jar

* other names for vegetarian oyster sauce is stir fry sauce or mushroom (oyster) sauce.


Garnish:

1 stalk of spring onion (scallion)
a little coriander (cilantro)
1 small longish piece of ginger


Method:

Using a pointed sharp small knife score the aubergine skin lengthwise into very fine thin strips. The reason why I score the skin is when the aubergine is cooked and then mashed the skin will form into long thin shreds. If you do not score the skin it will leave as big pieces. Remove the stalk and cut the aubergine lengthwise into halves. Straight onto a steamer rack. Steam for about 20 - 25min or till very soft and tender. Remove and leave to rest for few minutes, there may be some juice running out remove this juice. Then using a fork or a pair of chopsticks lightly tease/ mash/ fork through the aubergines into shredded mash. Do not mash it too fine.

Here is a picture when the aubergines just been cooked.



While steaming the aubergines, make the sauce. Mix everything together and leave aside.

Finely shred (about 2" long) the spring onion and ginger. Cut coriander into 2" long. Tip: Soak the finely shredded spring onion in cold water the fine shreds will curl up prettier as garnish.

To assemble the dish. Pile the mashed aubergine onto a plate. Pour on the sauce/dressing. Either scattered the garnish all over the aubergine or pile it up high at the centre like the picture shown.

Serve warm or cold.

Tomato egg fried rice

Simple lunch today, tomato and egg fried rice. Tomato and egg are such good combination, universal favourite. I am sure there is at least one dish made with tomato and egg in every country. Just Chinese dishes I can count at least half a dozen classics with just two simple ingredients like:

Stir fried egg and tomato 西紅柿炒雞蛋/ 番茄炒蛋
Omelette crepe and tomato soup 番茄煎蛋湯/ 西紅柿煎蛋湯
Tomato and egg geda soup 西紅柿雞蛋疙瘩湯
Tomato and egg drop soup 番茄蛋花湯/ 西紅柿蛋花湯
Steamed tomato and egg custard 番茄蒸蛋/ 西紅柿蒸蛋
Tomato and egg omelette (Chinese style) 番茄煎蛋/ 西紅柿煎蛋
Tomato and egg jiaozi dumpling 西紅柿蛋餃子/ 蕃茄蛋餃子
Tomato and egg fried rice 西紅柿蛋炒飯/ 蕃茄蛋炒飯

Tomato and egg fried rice is very simple. There are two versions, one with tomato ketchup and this recipe is just with fresh tomato. Tomato is best using red but very firm tomato, soft tomato gives a mushy and unappealing fried rice. I always use on-the-vine tomatoes more meaty, colourful and flavourful. Ensure the rice is quite dry. Soft mushy rice or wet rice never made good fried rice. Loosen the rice before cooking. Keep the heat as high as possible to avoid rice sticking or rice stewing with the tomato. Heat wok with an even layer of oil till smoking (but not smelling burning) will ensure non stick wok fried rice.

Ingredients:  this recipe is enough for two or 1 very very hungry person

about 2.5 cups of cooked rice, loosen (best use overnight rice)
2 eggs
2 - 3 firm and red tomato, cut into small pieces
1 - 2 clove garlic, chopped
some chopped spring onion
dash of soy sauce
pinch of ground pepper
some cooking oil
dash of sesame oil

Method:
Add a little soy sauce to egg, beat.
Heat some oil and swirl around the wok or pan. Wait till smoking, pour the egg spread it out thin, wait for few seconds till set and lightly brown on the bottom then keep stirring to break up the egg. Fry egg till surface is a bit brown, this gives lots of flavour. Remove.
Add a bit more oil and garlic. Stir till fragrant. Add rice stir till heated through. Add dash of light soy and pinch of ground pepper.
Stir in scrambled egg and tomato pieces. Stir for a short while till heated through.
Add chopped spring onion and dash of sesame oil.
Sprinkle a little chopped spring onion as garnish.

Vegetarian Pizza with Eggplant And Goat Cheese Recipe

For the grilled Eggplant:
 Ingredients : 
2 large Japanese eggplants
1 to 2 tablespoons Olive oil
1 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/2 teaspoon ground black pepper

For the sautéed White Mushrooms:
Ingredients :
8 ounces White mushrooms
1 1/2 tablespoons Olive oil
1/4 teaspoon Kosher salt
1/4 teaspoon ground black pepper

For the Pizza:
Ingredients : 
1 bunch baby broccoli (broccolini)
1/2 cup frozen corn kernels, thawed
Pinch kosher salt
Pinch ground black pepper
1/2 small, thinly sliced red onion
4 halves or 4 tablespoons julienne strips of sun-dried tomatoes in
olive oil
1 pound traditional or honey-wheat pizza dough
6 tablespoons marinara/pizza sauce
2 1/2 cups grated Mozzarella cheese
2 eggplants, cut per the recipe
1/2 cup sautéed White Mushrooms
2 ounces Goat cheese (Chevre; optional)

TO MAKE THE GRILLED EGGPLANT:

Cut the stem ends off the eggplant, then cut the vegetables lengthwise into 1/4-inch-thick slices. Lay the slices on a cookies sheet and brush lightly-but thoroughly-with olive oil. Sprinkle with salt and pepper. Turn the slices and repeat.

Heat a charcoal or gas grill.

Grill for about 2 minutes on each side, or until well marked and quite tender (you may not need to leave them for the full 2 minutes on the second side). Use tongs or a grilling spatula to remove the vegetables to a large platter or cookie sheet.

TO MAKE THE WHITE MUSHROOMS:

How To Prepare :
1. Wash, dry and trim the mushrooms. Slice them 1/4 inch thick.

2. Heat the oil in a skillet over high heat until it begins to smoke. Add the mushrooms and toss to coat them with oil.

3. Lower the heat slightly and cook the mushrooms, stirring occasionally, until all of the liquid has evaporated and the edges begin to brown, 9 to 10 minutes.

4. Turn off the heat and sprinkle the mushrooms evenly with salt and pepper.

5. Use immediately, or cool and refrigerate for up to 3 days.

TO MAKE THE PIZZA:

1. Place a seasoned (or oiled) pizza stone in the middle of the oven and preheat to 450 degrees Fahrenheit for at least 30 minutes.

2. Cut away the bottom of each broccoli stem at an angle. Starting from that point, cut the stems into 1 1/2 -inch pieces, always maintaining the same angle, stopping 2-3 inches from the tops.

3. Blanch the broccolini in rapidly boiling water for about 1 minute. Using a wire skimmer, remove the broccolini and immediately plunge it into an ice-water bath to stop the cooking and retain the bright green color. Once the broccolini is cool, drain and pat dry.

Heat a small, heavy frying pan over high heat. Place the corn
kernels in the pan and roast them, stirring often, for about 10
minutes. Remove from the heat and sprinkle with salt and pepper.

4. Separate the rings of the onion. Drain the tomatoes well and cut halves into julienne strips.

5. Roll and shape the dough into one 13-inch or two 9-inch circles and place on a floured pizza peel. If you are more comfortable working with one piece of dough at a time, you can shape and dress the second piece while the first is in the oven. If making 2 pizzas, split all the toppings in half.

6. Spread the sauce to within 1 inch of the outer edge of the dough. Reserve 1/3 cup of the mozzarella and distribute the rest over the sauce, reserving a small amount, to within 1/2 inch of the outer edge of the dough. Spread the eggplant over the cheese, followed by the mushrooms, onion rings, and sun-dried tomatoes. Sprinkle the corn over the other vegetables and top with the broccoli.

7. Sprinkle the remaining mozzarella over the pizza. If using goat cheese, break it into small pieces and distribute over the pizza.

8. Transfer the pizza to the oven to the oven and bake for 8 to 10 minutes, or until the crust is golden brown and the cheese at the center is melted and bubbly. Slice and serve.

Service : Makes One 13-inch Pizza or Two 9-inch Pizzas