Pizza topping ideas

(picture is also from the original poster, jordanpattern at the ppk)

Pizza's a great use-up-what's-been-in-the-fridge-nearly-too-long meal, and also, a great thing to do and freeze, so that when you're out of ideas and time or energy, it's there to heat up with a cup of soup or a aalad. but I can never think of the best combinations when I make it - quite often, I do pizza toppings with not much prior thought - so cannot recreate them, later. That probably won't change. That's how it is with me and pizza. but I'd like to collect some sorta general ideas that can be inspirational, as a go-to when time is short and veg are long.

from PPK:
"thin crust with hummus, red onions, roasted garlic, kalamatas, red pepper, and kind of a pesto-ish thing made with parsley"

I'm pretty into cornmeal crust because it's incredible stuff. but whole foods HAD this great crust, which I could sometimes get - emphasis on the sometimes. I thought, then, that I should find my own recipe. what's so difficult, right? right. no dice so far. the whole foods crust was thickish, packed with cornmeal, and impossible to overload with toppings - I've never ever had a bad one.the recipes I've found are good, but they are more conventional crust, with cornmeal added, then they are cornmeal crust. I'm also kind of picky about pesto, so curious about this one. afternote: I have found it! - the best homemade cornmeal pizza crust.

we tried a lovely caramelized onion, walnut & sage pizza topping the other day, though of course I'd like to tweak it next time. recipe here, amended by me, is originally from recipezaar:

1 tablespoon olive oil, plus more
olive oil, for brushing pizza dough
2 large sweet onions, thinly sliced
1/2 teaspoon salt
ground black pepper
4 garlic clove, minced
spelt-cornmeal pizza dough
1/2 cup walnuts, coarsely chopped
1 T dried sage
1/3 c roasted red peppers, diced
1-2 tablespoons water or veg broth, as needed
1/2 recipe bechamel sauce*

Directions

1.Warm 1 tbsp olive oil in a medium skillet.
2.Add onion slices, salt and pepper.
3. Sauté over medium heat, gently scraping the pan to keep the onions from sticking as they caramelize.
4.After about 30-35 minutes the onion should be golden and very sweet.
5.Add garlic and sauté another 5 minutes until fragrant.
6.Add a splash or two of water or broth if the pan gets too dry as the onion/garlic mixture caramelizes.
7.Set onions aside to cool a bit.
8.Preheat oven to 450°F.
9.spread the bechamel on the prepared pizza crust (not too much, you want a creamy taste and texture here).
10.Spread onions evenly over the dough and sprinkle on the chopped, roasted red pepper, sage leaves and chopped walnuts.
11.Bake pizza for 10-15 minutes, until the crust is golden.


* BECHAMEL
1/4 c vegetable oil
1/4 c flour
2 c soy milk
salt and pepper to taste

Heat oil in a saucepan over medium heat. When the oil is hot, add flour and mix well for one or two minutes. Don’t let it burn. Then, slowly add soymilk, stirring constantly with a whisk to prevent lumps, until the desired consistency. You can add more soymilk if you find the sauce too thick. Then add the seasonings and let simmer on low heat. Thicken as needed with a T or so of nutritional yeast (desired consistency is yogurt).

Jackfruit BBQ

"Rinse and drain the jackfruit. Saute in a pan in a little oil, then add 1 bottle of your preferred BBQ sauce, a little water, a dash of vegan Worcestershire and liquid smoke. and simmer on very low for 1-2 hours. I added chopped seitan but that's optional. The jackfruit has a shredded texture, but is a little soft to me, so I added the seitan." - from Pamela Cooks (and thank you very much - I found canned jackfruit at an asian grocery store yesterday (along with a ton of other wonderful stuff, so decided to try this weird thing).

Note: I finally got around to making this. I must say I'm not all that nuts about this recipe, though it was easy and tasty. It was tasty because I used the bbq sauce I'd made - that's all you taste, really. Not the 1 1/2 onions you sautee, which should be more assertive, and certainly not the jackfruit, which appears to be important mainly for its texture. Next time I'll just make the bbq tofu with coleslaw - now THAT was great.

toenails, pegs, jasmine rice

cooking is an interesting activity, and that adjective is far too colorless to describe the multiple meanings of cooking. by using the term activity, I place cooking among so many other activities, like aimless wandering, reading, driving to work, or cutting my toenails. each of these could well deserve its own exploration, each is packed full of culture and history and even scripts (don't cut your toenails at work, don't leave the parings on a counter or floor). but cooking is somehow broader in import and content. it is that I take an assemblage of elements, and by cutting, mashing, sauteeing, and combining them, I create something else. there is the child joy of red&green&yellow, primary elements against a blue plate. there is the moment of planned discovery, and discoveries that are more unexpected (and not always pleasant). like writing, there is a gap between what is meant, and what results; in the gap lives care and skill and compromise, slapdash hurry and slow care, tastes and onion stinging eyes. dinner is a set piece carved out of a larger marble, a table held together with handmade pegs and one leg that may be crooked. my rice tonight was mushy - I keep forgetting that jasmine rice cooks much faster than other rice I use, so the butter 'chicken' I made, together with homemade naan, sat on mushy rice - there, the crooked leg - and it was meant, as I (usually) mean my cooking to be, to be a pleasure that demanded attention, time aside, focus on each and every and altogether.