With potato, marinara, pesto, homemade cheese, and a flavorful herb crust, get your pizza stone ready because it's pizza night!Yield: one 13-inch thick crust pizza
First, make the vegan mozzarella. Though it isn't required, the optional agar does make it easier to handle for stuffing the crust.
While the cheese is chilling, make the pizza dough. Set aside in a warm, draft-free spot until doubled in size (about 1 hour).
Place pizza stone in oven and preheat to 500 degrees F.
Prep the toppings:
Wash the potatoes and place them in a pot. Add enough water to cover the potatoes. Bring to a boil, cover, reduce heat, and simmer the potatoes until just fork tender, about 15 minutes. Transfer potatoes to a plate to cool. Cut into thin slices.
If you haven't already, prepare the pesto.
Assemble and bake the pizza:
After the dough has risen, move it to a lightly floured surface. Using the pads of your fingers, gently move around the perimeter of the dough, pressing out to increase the dough in size. For a 13-inch pizza, stretch the dough to 16 inches in diameter, allowing for folding the edges over the cheese.
Reserve about a third of the cheese for the top of the pizza. Cut the rest into ½-inch-thick strips or pieces. Distribute the cheese around the perimeter of the dough, about one inch from the edge.
Reserve about ⅔ of the pesto to add after baking. Spoon a small amount of pesto onto the cheese (see photo in post). Fold dough over the cheese and pesto, lightly pinching/pressing down to seal the inner edge. It's important that the cheese is sealed in on all sides, or it will leak out.
Remove the hot stone from oven. If using a pizza peel, transfer the dough as you normally would. If you don't have a peel, gently fold the prepared dough in half (like a taco shell laying on its side) to make it easier to transfer to the stone. Carefully place dough on stone and unfold. *Keep in mind, where it lands is where it has to stay! That's why careful placement is important. Top with sauce, sliced potato, and the remainder of the cheese (simply pinch off pieces and dollop it on top).
Bake until the crust is golden brown, about 18 to 20 minutes. If needed, broil for 1 to 2 minutes to brown the top. Allow the pizza to cool for a few minutes. Top with the remaining pesto, and sprinkle with crushed red pepper.
Notes
Store leftover pizza in an airtight container in the refrigerator for up to 4 days.