Thick crust potato, mushroom pizza with spinach, sauerkraut pesto

Ingredients

For the dough
2 1/4 cups wheat bread flour
1 cup warm water (1)
1T yeast
1t sugar (2)
1/4t of coarse sea salt
1t garlic powder
2t corn meal

For the pesto sauce
1/2 cup loose unpasteurized sauerkraut
1T sauerkraut vinegar
1/2t dried oregano, rubbed
1T fresh garlic, minced
3T olive oil
2t white miso
1/4 cup nutritional yeast
1 cup packed spinach
2T fresh basil
1 scallion, minced
1T tapioca flour dissolved in 1T water
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

For the toppings
2 medium yellow potatoes, spiral cut or shredded (about 1 1/2 cups or about 250g)
2T cooking oil
1/2t coarse sea salt (or to taste)
4 medium cremini or white mushrooms (about 75g)
1T nutritional yeast
Sea salt and black pepper to taste

Directions

Make the dough, and once it has risen, the potatoes, the pesto and toppings. Mix the flour and garlic powder. Mix the water, yeast and sugar together according to the temperature directions provided by your yeast.

When the yeast proofs, add the olive oil and sea salt and whisk. Add the wet ingredients to the dry. Mix thoroughly until the dough forms. Knead for 5-10 minutes. Let the dough rise for at least an hour in a lightly oiled bowl cover with a warm, wet tea towel, punching the dough down periodically.

When the dough is ready, roll it out on a floured board into a large 12″ circle. Let the dough rise for a 5 minutes or so while you make the toppings and the pesto. Preheat the oven to 500F (or 450F if that’s as high as your oven will go). The heat is important to the rising of the dough, to cooking the potatoes, and to activating the tapioca.

To make the pesto, puree the sauerkraut, its vinegar, the oregano, garlic, nutritional yeast, miso, and oil until smooth. Mince the basil, scallion, and spinach. Combine the greens with the sauerkraut in a bowl. Whisk the tapioca flour and water, and then add to the greens, stirring to combine thoroughly. Season to taste.

Using a mandoline, spiralizer, or box grater, slice or shred the potatoes quite finely. Stem and slice the mushrooms very thinly (about 1/8″). The toppings should be very thinly sliced to ensure they’ll cook thoroughly and evenly. Toss the potatoes and mushrooms in the oil and salt.

When the sauce and toppings are is ready, sprinkle either a large pizza stone (preferred) or a lightly oiled round pizza pan about 12″ with the corn meal. Add the dough. Top with the pesto, leaving slightly less than an inch around the sides. Add the toppings evenly. Bake the pizza on the middle rack for 15 – 20 minutes. Broil for another 5 minutes, or until the dough is starting to brown lightly. Ovens vary; use the colour and texture as a guide.

Remove from the oven, add the nutritional yeast, and season to taste. Let stand 5 minutes to cool, slice, and serve.

1. Follow the directions for your yeast.
2. I use a cane sugar refined without the use of animal bone charcoal.