In my search for familiar food that doesn’t need dairy, it’s been hard to find a satisfying pizza without cheese, and the non-dairy cheeses out there just don’t satisfy me. I’ve tried the most highly rated, but nothing hits the spot, so I’ve tried things that are like pizza, but different. Focaccia, of course, but still it’s just bread, even with olives and garlic and herbs. Good, but not pizza.
I ran across potato pizza by accident once, but brushed it off as too weird until I needed something very different from traditional pizza, and this hits the spot. There are many recipes for potato pizza, but I like the one from Smitten Kitchen. The author goes into a lot of detail about how and why to do each step, and the results are terrific.
The two key steps are slicing the potatoes very thin, and soaking them in salted water until floppy. On my mandolin, I used the 1/16″ setting, but unlike the original recipe, I used two large, peeled Idaho potatoes, and a whole wheat crust. For a little green, I roasted some grated zucchini and onion and sprinkled it over the potatoes before cooking.
The recipe is not very complicated, but the discussion at Smitten Kitchen is kind of long. I think it’s worth reading it all and making the pizza to suit your needs–even if that includes some cheese.
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