Pesto Pizza with Gardein "Chicken" and Tomatoes

This is my second time making pizza at home and I can see that I've improved a lot from the last time I attempted. My problem last time was that I did not knead the dough for as long as I should. The result was the dough wasn't as smooth and was left feeling really sticky.
Another thing that I changed was I rolled my pizza dough straight on the pizza pan. It's a lot faster and easier, since you don't have to transfer the dough from the rolling board to the pan.

If you haven't tried Gardein's chicken strips yet, I recommend you do. This was my first time and I was so surprised at how much it smelt and tasted like real chicken. I try not to buy a lot of pre-made, processed "meats" but it was so good that I think it might just become one of my guilty pleasures of eating with some sweet and sour sauce mmmm! : ]

Okay, okay back to the pizza. I left it simple and just added the "chicken" and tomato slices but feel free to load on the different toppings. I used a 13" pizza pan and that gave out 6 decent sized slices. It baked for a little under 20 minutes, so keep an eye on it after 20 minutes to make sure the cheese doesn't burn.

Enjoy!

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Ingredients
Pizza Dough

* 1 (.25 ounce) package active dry yeast
* 1 cup warm water (110 degrees F/45 degrees C)
* 2 cups whole wheat bread flour
* 2 tablespoons olive oil
* 1 teaspoon salt
* 2 teaspoons brown sugar

Basil Cilantro Pesto ( Recipe from Veganomicon )

* 2 cups loosely packed fresh basil leaves
* 1 cup loosely packed fresh cilantro
* 1/3 cup slivered or sliced almonds
* 2 cloves garlic, crushed
* 2 Tb fresh lemon juice ( about 1/2 a lemon )
* 1/2 tsp salt
* 1/4 cup olive oil

Toppings

* 1 package of faux chicken strips ( such as Gardein or Morningstar )
* 1 beefsteak tomato, sliced
* 3/4 to 1 cup thinly shredded vegan cheese ( such as Daiya 'Italian' cheese )

Directions
Dough
1. In a small bowl, dissolve yeast in warm water. Let stand until creamy, about 10 minutes.


2. In a large bowl, combine 2 cups bread flour, olive oil, salt, sugar and the yeast mixture; stir well to combine.

3. Knead for about 5 minutes, until a smooth dough is formed. Cover and allow to rise until doubled in volume, about 30 minutes.


Meanwhile start making your pesto...

4. Place the basil, cilantro, almonds, garlic, lemon juice and salt in a food processor and blend until pasty, scraping down the sides occasionally. With the food processor still running, slowly drizzle in the olive oil. Blend until relatively smooth and no large chunks of almonds are left. Set aside.


5. Cook the "chicken" according to directions on package and set aside to cool. Once cooled, use a sharp knife to roughly chop each chicken strip, until it starts to resemble shredded chicken.


Preheat oven to 400 F

To assemble the pizza

6. By now the dough should have risen to double its size. If not, wait a couple minutes longer. When ready, turn dough out onto a well floured surface. Form dough into a round and roll out into a pizza crust shape.


7. Pour pesto over the crust and spread.


8. Sprinkle half a cup of shredded cheese over the sauce. Place the shredded "chicken" and tomato slices over the cheese. Finally sprinkle another 1/4 cup cheese over the toppings.


9. Bake in preheated oven until golden brown, about 18 to 25 minutes or until your cheese is melted and the crust has hardened.