Wednesday, April 13, 2011

Bogan Pizza, Boutique Pizza

One of the things I love so much about pizza (aside from the delicious, delicious crust) is how versatile it is.

Case in point:

This cheeseburger pizza is probably the biggest bogan of the pizza world (though my frank & beans pizza might give it a run for its bogan money).  TVP soaked in Massel beef stock, soy sauce and vegemite to make it taste hamburger-y; sliced up dill pickles; American-style yellow mustard & tomato sauce instead of a typical pizza sauce; and piles of vegan cheese sauce.  This combination is messy, not terribly healthy, and probably listens to Jimmy Barnes while drinking beer in the driveway after work.  But it's so, so yummy.  It tastes like McDonald's - which is, admittedly, not something I want to re-create on a regular basis, but every now and then a certain amount of junk is required in life, I think.

On the other hand, this antipasto pizza is understated, and if it were a person would shop locally (even though it costs more!), drink organic wine, and host fancy-dress dinner parties every second month.  It was topped with no sauce - just olive oil & garlic; marinated artichoke hearts; sundried tomatoes; just-wilted spinach (from the garden, no less); roasted capsicum strips; and kalamata olives. 

Both, in isolation, would be annoying to hang out with.  The first, a bit boorish, the second far too wanky.  But since pizza crust is so amenable to being dressed up or down, I can hang out with both just often enough.

(Though when I told Andy about this post he just called me a promiscuous pizza eater...)

12 comments:

Carissa said...

I love artichokes on pizza. YUM! Can you please come to my page and vote for me on PETA??? THANK YOU!!!!

Emma said...

'probably listens to Jimmy Barnes while drinking beer in the driveway after work'

Baaaaahahahahahaha. This whole post just cracked me up.

And both pizzas sound amazing. I'm pretty sure we are due for another pizza night. What recipe do you use for your crusts, or do you buy them? I want to make a thinner crust pizza next time.

x said...

Haha, this is such a great post! I would really like some pizza now :D

Hananh said...

Oh Theresa! I haven't eaten or wanted pizza in years and years and years, but then you talked about vegemite and pickles and faux-mince and ZOMG! By some strange, strange serendipity, yesterday I bought santiarium veggie mince and vegemite for the first time ever (well, the mince was first time ever, the vegemite I used to have when I lived at home, but haven't had in ages). You is so smart!

Anonymous said...

Great post!

My husband call me a pizza heathen. i love avocado on mine.

Ravenna

Theresa said...

Emma - we started off with the recipe from Vegan with a Vengeance, but it's changed a bit now. Basically, it is 300ml water, 2 T. olive oil, 3Tbsp. sugar, 1Tbsp. salt, 3 cups flour, 1 big Tbsp. gluten flour, and 1 scant Tbsp. yeast. We mix it up in the bread maker, but it's also good mixed by hand. I think the lots of sugar and salt makes it nice and stretchy, and if you let it rest for about 30 minutes after the first punch down (or up to 90 minutes) it's easy to roll it quite thinly. I stretch mine with my hands, press it out, and sometimes toss it up into the air. Then bake at 230 for about 15 minutes.

Hannah - let me know how it turns out if you decide to turn your veggie mince into a bogan pizza!

K said...

Love the look of the first one!

I love experimenting with flavours have tries apples on pizza and mashed potato, gravy and sausages too.

Susan said...

Cheezeburger pizza... I want it.

vegan.in.brighton said...

I would be down with drinking some beers & eating some of that hamburger pizza!

Lori said...

People give me tons of crap for it, but I ALWAYS prefer my pizza sauce-free. I think the concentrated tomato taste completely overpowers the cheese and everything else D: Or maybe I'm just weird. lol

vko said...

Hehehe, I love pizza every which way and I would def have all of those on a fun friday night ;)

Vaala ◪ said...

Hehehe...this post made me laugh! But a bogan pizza? I must try this! I can see the boys loving it.