Delivery Style Vegan Pizza with Soft Garlic-Herb Crust (Hungry Howie’s Copycat)

Now that Valentine’s Day is over we can continue to make American junk food right? Oh, what were we thinking, pizza’s appropriate for any occasion. We’ll be real honest with you guys, we have two pizza recipes on the blog, but uh… they’re both gluten-free, meaning they don’t contain the same pazazz as wheat dough pizzas. And by pazazz we’re of course talking about chewiness, fluffiness, flavor, and elasticity, traits that we’ve yet to find in gluten-free dough. We’re not saying it’s impossible, just that we haven’t experienced it yet. Moving on from years of old, we now embrace the powerful food technology that is gluten along with all the wonderful gifts it brings to the table.We embrace pizzas of all types – paper thin, fluffy & thick, deep dish, heck, we even support square pizzas – but we want to take this recipe to focus on the soft, pillowy, and flavored crust variant we grew up with. If you were raised in the South near a Hungry Howie’s, you know exactly what we’re talking about. $5.99 large cheese pizza with garlic herb crust for life.

To achieve that style, we’re going to need to understand a few concepts. Let’s dissect the anatomy of this dough, shall we?

• Fluffy doughs contain more air than thin doughs (duh), so after the first rise, when the crust goes into the pan, we let it proof for another 30-45 minutes, so that yeast can do its magical voodoo and whip some gas into the dough before we bake it. This will lend a puffy & airy texture.
• In comparison to strong & highly elastic New York style doughs, which contain nothing more than flour, water, salt, yeast, and a scant amount of olive oil, this dough needs a finer & richer consistency. In order to tenderize things, we add a generous dose of olive oil for lubrication as well as sugar for sweetness and softness. Think of this dough more like a brioche bread than a rustic Italian loaf.

• We use instant yeast because it doesn’t have to be “activated” in warm water & sugar the way active dry yeast does; all you have to do is mix it right into the dry ingredients. We got a giant package that’ll probably last us two years in the restaurant supply section of our local Oriental market for only $5. Now that’s a better than tedious, single serving packets anyway you look at it.
• Unlike traditional pizzas, we bake this one in a cast iron pan instead of a pizza stone. Why? Well, for one, how many of us actually own pizza stones? Two, if you do own one, the only way to get your pizza in and out of the oven is via a pizza peel (that large stick thing with a circular surface on the end of it) which is just more specialty equipment you have to find space for. It’s okay though, because cast iron creates a brown crust all the way around due to its even heat distribution. Plus, it’s what the folks at Hungry Howie’s use for their pizzas as well!
• To enhance every bite with savory goodness, we coat the entire bottom & rim of our dough with a simple garlic-herb seasoning. Sometimes, the seasoning even burns in the slightest bit, which actually boosts the flavor even more. Another solid tip from our friends at HH.

When it comes to sauce, cheese, and other toppings, the choice is up to you. For us, we used a tomato sauce straight from the can (ratchet, I know), mozzarella from Daiya Foods, vegan pepperoni from Yves, and some fresh basil leaves. Pretty simple and cheap, but again, this isn’t supposed to be some gourmet Italian flatbread, this is meant to give you that home comfort. Our advice: follow your tastebuds, because if you want crumbled up Italian sausage from Beyond Meat, white sauce, caramelized onions, cheddar cheese, barbecue sauce, pineapples, or even mayonnaise (10x better than it sounds), you can’t let social prejudices stop you.

Also! This dough can be easily doubled to make another pizza or maybe even something sweet… perhaps cinnamon sticks? We don’t normally reveal sneak peaks of future recipes, but our recipe for cinnamon sticks uses the exact same dough, so if you miss those sweet, buttery, and bready confections from Domino’s, go ahead and double this recipe, store half in the fridge, and save the rest for later!

Are you as hungry as I am? I can’t even write about pizza without drooling a ‘lil bit. Here’s a quick overview before we set you loose on the recipe! This pizza is:

• Easy to make
• Affordable
• Pillowy, chewy, airy, & soft
• Savory, garlicky, cheesy, & yeasty
• An identical take to Hungry Howie’s Garlic-Herb Crusted Pizza
• Vegan

If you like what your eyes are tasting, then share this recipe with your friends on Instagram, Facebook, or Pinterest at @noeggsorham! For more flame-emoji photos, geeky food talk, and mouth-watering dishes, subscribe to our email list. Tag us in a photo when you create one of our recipes at home so we can share it!

“DUDE. WHO TOOK THE LAST SLICE OF ‘ZAH!? YOU KNOW THAT SLICE HAD MY NAME ON IT!”