The Philly Recipe Project: Vegan Pizza Pretzel

The Philly Recipe Project: Showing you new ways to use delicious vegan products local to Philly at home!

A vegan take on a Fishtown and Port Richmond corner-store classic

The pizza pretzel is a hidden staple of many delis in the area! A well kept secret, but a go-to nostalgia laden meal for any person who grew up in Fishtown or Port Richmond. We created this recipe to fill a pizza-pretzel sized hole in our bellies.

Rather than featuring one specific ingredient, this recipe highlights an entire store- the incredible Kensington Community Food Co-op! If you have visited KCFC, you know that they offer a huge variety of local products and produce. You may have even noticed the tons of clearly marked vegan options they have!

You can get all the ingredients listed for the vegan pizza pretzel at KCFC! Flour from Small Valley Milling, Vesper Bros. Foods sauces, and American slices from Good Planet Foods made for some especially delicious results in this recipe!

Ingredients:

1 pretzel or 8 pretzel nuggets
1/4 cup Vesper Bros. Foods marinara sauce (or pizza sauce)
1-2 Good Planet Foods American slices (Follow Your Heart Provolone also pictured, but results are not as "authentic")

Pretzels:

4 1/2 cups Small Valley Milling pastry flour
1 1/4 tbsp dry active yeast
1 tbsp sugar
4 tbsps vegan butter, softened
1 1/4 cups non-dairy milk, warm
1 tsp salt

For boiling:

2 cups water
1/4 cup baking soda
1 tbsp salt

Pretzel Instructions:

1. In a large bowl, whisk together flour and salt. Melt sugar in warm non-dairy milk, then add yeast. Once yeast has bloomed, drop vegan butter into warm milk and yeast mixture and mix to melt it. Pour bloomed yeast and liquid into dry ingredients and knead using a mixer or your hands. Knead for at least 5 minutes, or as long as it takes for a smooth dough to form.

2. Proof dough for 1 hour in a large oiled bowl. Push all air out of dough and and divide into 12 equal pieces.

3. Roll each piece into about 20 inch long ropes. To shape pretzels, twist the two ends, seal the twisted ends to the halfway point of the resulting loop, then pull the top and bottom loops of the pretzel straight out on each end. See photos. You can connect the pretzels 2 or 3 at a time as you form them. (If you don't feel like shaping the entirety of the dough into pretzels, you can cut remaining ropes of dough into 2 inch nuggets.)

4. Allow pretzels to proof for about 20 minutes.

5. Preheat oven to 375°F.

6. Combine water, baking soda and salt in a pot wide enough to dip your pretzels into. Bring to a boil, then take off the heat. Dip proofed pretzels completely in the liquid for 15-20 seconds using a slotted spatula (easiest) or spoon. Drain well, then return to lined baking sheets.

7. Sprinkle pretzels with sea salt. Bake for 20 minutes or until golden brown.

Pizza Pretzel Instructions:

1. Place pretzel in microwave safe bowl. Cut or break up if desired. Spoon marinara sauce onto pretzel.

2. Top marinara coated pretzel with 1-2 slices of vegan american cheese.

3. Microwave for 45 seconds on high, or until cheese has melted. Tip: place a small dish of water (1-2 tbsp) into the microwave along with pizza pretzel to help melt the vegan cheese.

4. Eat up!!