When it comes to eating out, it can be hard to find a restaurant that is vegan or veg friendly, especially in my neighborhood. Although there are more vegan restaurants opening up in the Miami area which is great, they are all located about 30 minutes to 1 hour away from where I live. Not convenient for me at all and my family usually doesn’t want to drive too far to go out and eat. I on the other hand will travel for good food.
I used to commute anywhere from 45 minutes to 1 ½ hours every day to get to my job, so I was closer to those restaurants and would go to them when I didn’t bring my lunch. One restaurant in particular that quickly became one of my favorite pizza restaurants was Mellow Mushroom because of their Holy Shiitake pizza.
From my first bite into this pizza I was in pizza heaven. The melted cheese mixed with the mushrooms and aioli sauce made it creamy and savory. The taste of garlic covered the entire pizza including the crust but it wasn’t overpowering.
Since Mellow Mushroom offers vegan options, especially vegan cheese, I immediately put it on my mental list of restaurants I could eat at. Even though the pizza is delicious, the prices of their pizzas were a little high so I couldn’t eat there as often as I would have liked. Then I thought how could I still enjoy this pizza without breaking the bank? I’ll recreate my own version at home.
Mellow Mushroom’s Holy Shiitake Pizza
I researched the ingredients of the Holy Shiitake pizza on the Mellow Mushroom website and they include an olive oil and garlic base, shiitake mushrooms, button mushrooms, portobello mushrooms, caramelized onions, mozzarella cheese, montamoré cheese garlic aioli, black truffle oil, and topped with shaved parmesan cheese and chives.
No wonder the pizza was so creamy! It’s because of the combination of the three cheeses.
My Version of the Holy Shiitake Pizza
To veganize this recipe I first swapped out the cheeses for some vegan mozzarella and vegan gouda cheese. To get the vegan cheeses to melt just like real cheese you must bake the pizza at a very high temperature. I recommend baking the pizza between 425°F and 450°F.
I found a blend of gourmet mushrooms in Whole Foods that includes oyster mushrooms, baby bella mushrooms, and shiitake mushrooms that I thought would go well in my pizza. I discovered that by seasoning the mushrooms with some adobo seasoning while sautéing them with onions adds extra flavor. You can get the recipe to my adobo seasoning here.
I eliminated the black truffle oil from my recipe for three reasons. The first reason is that I didn’t have any black truffle oil in my pantry to use. Second, I wanted to use ingredients that are easy to find and that you don’t need to go on a manhunt to get. The third reason was that I didn’t want the pizza to be too oily. Black truffle oil in addition to the olive oil mixed with garlic seemed like a lot of excess oil that I didn’t need to consume.
I used my recipe for a vegan garlic aioli sauce to top the pizza which you can get here.
This garlic aioli mushroom pizza is one of my favorite recipes on this blog to make. I’ve made it so many times and I don’t get tired of eating it. If you love mushrooms, garlic, and cheese you will definitely enjoy this pizza.
Vegan Garlic Aioli Mushroom Pizza
Get the printable recipe here.
Yield: 8 servings
Ingredients:
1 whole wheat pizza crust
2 tablespoons olive oil
2 tablespoon garlic minced
1 package mushroom blend (baby Bella, shiitake and oyster) sliced
½ onion sliced
½ cup vegan mozzarella cheese shreds
3-4 slices vegan gouda cheese slices enough to cover the entire pie
garlic aioli sauce for drizzling (add 1/8 teaspoon black pepper to the aioli recipe)
Directions:
1. Preheat oven to 450°F
2. Make the garlic aioli sauce, add 1/8 teaspoon black pepper, and store in the refrigerator.
3. In a small bowl combine the olive oil and garlic until it is a spreadable consistency. If there is excess oil add more garlic to the mixture. Set aside.
4. In a medium size pan over medium high heat sauté the onions and mushrooms for 10 minutes.
To assemble the pizza:
1. Spread the garlic and olive oil mixture on top of the pizza crust.
2. Slice the gouda cheese slices in half and place throughout the pizza.
3. Place the cooked onions and mushrooms on top of the gouda cheese.
4. Top the pizza with the shredded mozzarella cheese and drizzle the garlic aioli sauce.
5. Bake for 10 minutes.
6. Remove from the oven and serve.
