Pineapple and Vegan Ham Deep Pan Pizza

Written by McDonald, T.  |  Date 7th of November 2022

Some people hate the idea of pineapple on a pizza, but I love it.  I used a deep pan base, Pioneers vegan ham and Ilchester vegan cheese to make a great pizza.  Most of the work is in the waiting for the dough.

Notes

• I used Ilchester vegan melting mature, but you can use any vegan cheese you like as long as it melts.  In hindsight, I would have used Applewood vegan cheese because I like it more. 

• It is OK if it doesn't rise that much because it is a pizza base. Yes, you can freeze any extra dough if you made too much.

• You don't need to go over the top with the kneading. Gentle stretching is the way to go.

• While you are kneading, you will find that the dough keeps sticking to the work top or board that you are using.  Whatever you do, resist the urge to add more flour.  Instead, use your dough scraper to scrape it off the surface while kneading.   If it is sticking to your hands a lot and stopping you from kneading, you have added too much water and you will need to add a little more flour, but not much.  Hydration is at 58%

  Working out hydration, 350g of flour x 0.58 hydration = 203ml 

It is perfectly OK to add herbs to the dough.

Deep pan base: One 12 inch (30.48 cm) pizza or two 6 inch (15.24 cm) pizzas.

Total Time 1 hours and 40 minutes from start to finish approximately.  

• Preparing time, 1 hr and 20 minutes  
  
• Cooking time between 15–20 minutes 
  

Ingredients

• 150g strong wholemeal bread flour
• 200g of all-purpose flour
  
• 1 tsp golden caster sugar
• 0.5 tsp salt
• 0.5 tsp instant yeast
• 203 ml warm water 
  
• 2 tbsp olive oil + 1 tsp for baking 

Tomato sauce for the base

• Tomatoes x 2
• 5 cloves of garlic
• Fresh coriander, basil, and sage  
• Salt
• Brown sugar x 1 tsp

Toppings 

• Ilchester Vegan cheese
• Pineapple chunks 
• Vegan ham
  
• Olives 
• Onion 
  

Apparatus

• Mixing bowl
• Whisk
• Measuring Spoons
• Wooden spoon
  
• Spatula 
• Basting brush
• Blender
  
• 30 cm/12 inch baking pan or similar size

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Method 

Step 1 – Make the base

1. In a large mixing bowl, add both flours, salt, sugar, yeast, and mix with a whisk.

2. Add the water a bit at a time and 2 tablespoons of oil, then stir together until you get a shaggy dough.

3. When the dough comes together, transfer to a floured board and gently knead 10 – 15 times until combined. Depending on the flour you use, you might end up with a much stickier dough, in which case it is OK to use a little more flour just to knead it a few times.  When kneading, you will not need to put a lot of effort into it, or it will stick to the surface and your fingers.  Keep using the scraper to scrape it off the surface and knead. If it keeps getting sticky, it is because you are kneading it too much, so stop.

4. Transfer the dough back to the mixing bowl, cover with a clean tea towel and let it proof (rise) for an hour in a warm part of your kitchen.

Step 2 – Shape the pizza base and make the stuffed crust

1. Use 1 teaspoon of olive oil in a 30 cm/12 inch rimmed baking tin or similar size.  I used my square roasting tin.  Use a brush to spread the oil all over the tin.

2. Before transferring the dough to the baking tin, shape the dough out with your hands into a circle or the shape of the tin you are using. Gently roll it out with a roller and place in the tin.  Now press the dough down into the pan with your fingertips to create a rim around the edge, making a crust that is higher than the rest. 

3. Use your fingers to press the dough all around the tin. The idea is to spread it out and flatten it down. 

4.  Add the cheese and tomato ketchup to the crust.  

Press the dough into the pan and create a rim.

 

Keep pressing until it lifts at the edges.

 

Add the filling to the stuffed crust.

Fold over to create the stuffed crust.

Step 3 – Make the tomato sauce  

1. Add two diced tomatoes, 5 cloves of garlic, herbs, and onion to a blender and blend to a paste.

2. Poor into a container and add tomato paste.  The tomato paste from a tube will give the sauce its traditional red colour.

3. Add sugar if needed and mix. 

After blending, the mixture will unappealing.

Adding the tomato paste will make it red.

Step 4 – Toppings

1. Spoon the tomato paste you made onto the base. 

2. Add some grated vegan cheese.

3. Add the mushroom, pineapple, ham, onions, and olives and bake in a preheated oven at 200C for 12 to 18 minutes.   Remove for the oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes.



Tomato and cheese topping base.






Add other toppings.

Results

Wonderful pizza and will keep for the next day if you have any left over. The Ilchester melting cheese melted great; however, when I make this again, I will use the Applewood, which I liked more. 

 

I hope that you liked this blog and if you do try this recipe, please let me know how you got on and what it turned out like. You can leave a comment in the comments below.