Tempeh Pizza

When I first got back to town I was craving pizza. We had just been to Portland where wonderful pizza abounds (our friends even have a few pizza restaurants). I realized I've never had good pizza in California. None of the pizza shops around here are gourmet or fresh enough for my taste. I've tried several and all the reviews I've read mention doughy, cheesey and otherwise bland pizza.

We even went out to dinner last week to try the pizza at a local brewhouse, because Andrew remembered the pizza being good. It was alright, but not great.

I asked my neighbors (who moved here from Boston) if they knew of any good pizza places. Nope. Homemade is the way to go.

Since I've been back from traveling this summer, I've been relishing my kitchen time. I love cooking. And I had forgotten: I know how to make pizza!

While home on Maui, I picked up some tempeh at the local health food store (I heart Mana Foods!). It really broke up my tofu rut. I found out that Andrew had never even tried it.

We're a mostly veggie household (pescatarian to be exact) so yummy forms of meatless protein are to be celebrated.

I was thrilled when my cousin sent me a link to a lovely blog called 101 Cookbooks. They were featuring a tempeh sandwich.

I made the TLT as featured... When I tried it I realized the way the tomatoes and the marinaded tempeh were prepared was worth remembering. Both were soooo delicious, I made a bunch extra.

And tonight we threw together a pizza with:

(Almost) whole wheat dough (TJs)
Bell peppers from the garden.
Oven roasted cherry tomatoes (yellow and red--from garden and farmer's market)
Goat Cheese (Mmmmmmmmmmm)
A sprinkling of mozarella
Tempeh that had been marinated in adobo sauce, balsamic vinegar, shoyu, maple syrup and olive oil from the Tempeh Lettuce and Tomato recipe.
parsley, basil, and oregano fresh from the garden

It was a great combo. Worth writing about even. And Andrew observed, "WOW, this is awesome sausage."

I think tempeh has become our latest household staple.