Venture into Spelt Country

Zucchini is currently kind of an epidemic in my fridge. In all seriousness, this, the most persistent of squash, is showing up in almost everything that I make.
Do you have this problem?
Fight back with zucchini bread.
I don't know about you, but I haven't had the stuff since 3rd grade with Mrs. Nicholson. Even then, all that I remember about it is that it was delicious and I wanted more. So in the face of this mass zucchini takeover, I decided to finally satisfy 9 year old Vanessa's craving.
Now, in an effort to be healthier- or at least, more nutritious, I used spelt flour. This is my first time using it, and to be totally honest, I have no idea how this is healthier than unbleached flour. I did hear, however, that it was tastier, and tastier was more a driving force than the health part. I mean, we're vegan. Come on now.

I adapted this from The Compassionate Cook (the first vegan cookbook I ever got, and the one I turn to the most) changing the flour type, sugar, and oil levels. This recipe makes 4 of those cute little tiny loaf pans that I really have no idea why I have. Actually, it made 3 tiny monster overflowing loaves-

Come play with us, Danny...

I recommend using 4. Barring that, try your hand at 2 regular size loaves.

Zucchini Bread

2 cups Zucchini (grated)
3 cups Spelt flour
3/4 cup sugar
1/2 cup maple syrup
1/2 cup soy milk
3/4 cup vegetable oil
3 tsp Egg Replacer
1 tsp salt
1 tsp vanilla
1 Tablespoon baking powder
1 tsp nutmeg
1 Tablespoon cinnamon
1 cup walnuts

Preheat the oven to 350º F and grease the loaf pans.
Mix the dry ingredients together in a large bowl (except the walnuts) and mix the wet ingredients in another.
Add the wet to the dry, and the walnuts, and mix until just combined.
Fill the pans of your choice. For large loaves: 50 - 60 minutes, and for smaller 30-40 minutes, or until a toothpick inserted comes out clean.
As it turns out, the spelt in this recipe behaves a lot like all purpose flour. The dough rose fine, and it wasn't overly dense, dry, or crumbly. In fact, it was a bit tastier, I'd say almost nuttier- but in a very subtle way. So for those of you wanting to venture out into the world of alternative flours, why not give it a shot?


Indulge your childhood memories, clear out your fridge- everybody wins.

White Pizza with Dual Color Zucchini

I came across this recipe a bit ago and thought to myself: When was the last time I had white pizza? Was it at Sal's as a 7 year old? Really?
Well, it's quite possible.
It's definitely been longer than since I last had a donut.

Since I saw that, I have been planning and plotting. The key to this recipe is the very thinly sliced zucchini artfully layered across the surface. That way there's no pre-cooking, and no overly raw crunchy zucchini on top of your otherwise perfect pizza.
Now, I thought I would be clever because I have a food processor with mandolin disc blades to do the hard work for me. A food processor that has pretty much been following me where ever I moved since 2001. Well, you see, if you don't have this one plastic stem-like attachment, you pretty much just have a shiny disc blade that no matter how hard you try to cram it into your Cuisinart, just won't stay. You may lose a finger trying to do that too, if you're not careful. Those suckers are sharp.
If you find yourself in the same situation, I advise you to make peace with your knife skills now.

Ready?

White Pizza with Dual Color Zucchini

1 Recipe of Pizza Dough (I picked up a ready made one from Trader Joe's- super simple)
Cornmeal for dusting
2 medium zucchini (one gold, one green)
Juice of 1/2 Lemon

Pseudo-Ricotta
1 16 oz Tub of Tofu
1 tsp salt
A few grinds of cracked black pepper
3 Tablespoons of toasted pine nuts
1/4 cup + 1 heaping tablespoon of Tofutti Cream Cheese
2 - 3 Tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil

Preheat your oven to 450 °F
If you have a pizza stone, you're in luck! If not, you can use a silpat lined cookie sheet.
Lightly dust the silpat with some cornmeal.
Stretch out you dough to the desired shape and let it relax a bit while you chop the veg.
As above, if you're lucky enough to have some sort of mandolin, employ it now- aim for 1/4 inch slices. Elsewise, get in some quality time with your chef's knife.

For the Tofu Ricotta:
This is something I came up with over Christmas a few years back. It's not exactly ricotta, as my Italian mother will inform me of each time, but the tangy-ness from the tofutti cream cheese, and the body from the pine nuts makes it a damn fine substitute, if I don't say so myself.
Drain the tofu (like we did here) and crumble into a food processor (a blender could also work here)
Add all the ingredients except the oil, and pulse to combine.
Drizzle in the oil while blending, and process until you've got a smooth texture.
Spread a layer of the tofu ricotta over the pizza dough- don't lay it on too thick, or your dough will remain somewhat gooey.
Layer on your zucchini slices. You can be fancy, or you can be utilitarian, knock yourself out.



Drizzle the top lightly with olive oil, a bit the juice from the half lemon, and a few grinds of cracked black pepper.


It might be a breadtangle of pizza...
Bake for 15 - 20 minutes, rotating the pizza after 10 minutes.


I'm now inspired to get the missing piece for my Cuisinart, just so I can do this more often. Either that, or my knife skills will become legendary. Legendary.