Last Updated on February 14, 2021

It’s pizza time! This Maitake with Basil & Arugula Miso Pesto Pizza is an Japanese-inspired pizza. It’s made with umami-packed maitake mushrooms, aromatic scallions and shallots with savory basil & arugula miso pesto. It’s vegan as usual with no fake cheese and tomato sauce!

The Dough

For this recipe we use a bag of dry mix named Classic Original, Organic Dough Dry Mix from the U.S. based company named Feel Good Dough.

It’s very convenient and easy to make which is perfect for beginners or aspiring bakers! We have made Eggplant & Onion Pizza using this dough and saved the other half in the fridge. If you want to know more about the dough and the recipe, you can read the post here.

Japanese Pizza

If you’ve been to or lived in Japan, you may have noticed there are many places that sell pizzas. Yes, the Japanese people eat other foods besides Japanese food. In fact, we’ve talked about this topic multiple times on our recipe blog. To name a few, curry, pasta, pizza, burger, Korean food, Chinese food etc., there is a Japanese version of pretty much everything!

Now, are you curious to know what Japanese Pizza flavors are? Here are some common flavor examples of pizza (unfortunately non vegan) that you would find in Japan;

• Crab Gratin Pizza
• Shrimp Mayo Pizza
• Shrimp Mayo Spicy Cod Roe Pizza
• Tuna Mayo Pizza
• Char Grilled Chicken Teriyaki Mayo Pizza
• Char Grilled Beef Rib Japanese BBQ Pizza
• Potato Mayo Pizza
• Korean BBQ Beef Pizza

As you can see, seafood pizzas are very popular over there. Also, some of the common ingredients (toppings) for the pizzas in Japan are mayo, nori seaweed, and soy sauce, and white sauce. The Japanese people prefer white creamy sauce (including mayo) over tomato sauce, which is safe to say that’s a fact.

In case you’re wondering, standard pizzas like cheese pizza and pepperoni pizza are also available.

Basil & Arugula Miso Pesto

Now, our version of Japanese pizza sauce is a pesto made with basil, arugula, and miso. It can be more Japanese-like flavor if you use shiso leaves which are considered as Japanese basil (not quite the same but very aromatic.) Unfortunately, we don’t have shiso available where we live so we simply use basil leaves instead. When you combine basil with arugula, it’s not too intensively basil-y and gives a bit of a spicy edge. Since organic basil is more expensive than organic arugula, it can be a bit more budget friendly than using only basil.

Now, the use of miso is what makes this pesto more interesting. To be honest, it’s not too dominant but you can definitely taste it in the background. It matches the theme of Japanese style pizza and complements the toppings like maitake mushrooms.

The Toppings 

• Maitake Mushrooms
• Scallions
• Shallots

Maitake appears quite often in our blog such as rice or side dish. We love the umami flavor and the texture that is delicate yet crunchy! The maitake mushrooms on pizza is just as delicious as the other recipes we made.

Now, you may say scallions and shallots have similar flavor. Yes, we agree but we use both for a different reasons. The scallions are to add a slightly onion-y taste and the shallots are for a hint of sweetness with a slightly garlicky flavor.

Don’t forget to season the toppings with salt and pepper with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil before popping it in the oven!

The Cooking Time

When baking pizza at home, the baking time and the temperature varies from one oven to the other. While the instructions on the dough package recommends “425°F at 10-12 minutes”,  for our oven with the pizza equipment we have (which is just a baking sheet. lol.), baking at 450°F at 30 minutes was perfect. So, you may also want to adjust those accordingly.

Print Recipe

5 from 14 votes

Maitake with Basil & Arugula Miso Pesto Pizza

It's pizza time! This Maitake with Basil & Arugula Miso Pesto Pizza is an Japanese-inspired pizza. It's made with umami-packed maitake mushrooms, aromatic scallions and shallots with savory basil & arugula miso pesto. It's vegan as usual with no fake cheese and tomato sauce!

Prep Time15 minutes mins

Cook Time30 minutes mins

Total Time45 minutes mins

Course: Entree, Lunch, Dinner

Cuisine: Japanese Inspired, Italian Inspired, Vegan

Servings: 2

Author: Plant-Based Matters

Ingredients

Basil & Arugula Miso Pesto

• 2 cups tightly packed basil leaves
• 2 cups tightly packed baby arugula
• 1 garlic clove chopped
• 1/2 tbsp freshly squeezed lemon juice
• 1/2 tbsp miso paste
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

The Rest

• 1 bag Feel Good Dough Classic Original Organic Dough Dry Mix (The bag makes two 12-inch thin crust pizzas. This recipe is for one 12-inch pizza)
• 8 oz maitake mushrooms trim the bottom and shredded
• 2 scallions thinly sliced diagonally
• 1/4 cup thinly sliced shallots
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp black pepper
• 1/2 tbsp extra virgin olive oil

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 425-450°F.
• Meanwhile, prepare arugula & basil miso pesto. In a food processor, combine basil leaves, baby arugula, garlic and lemon juice. Pulse until basil and arugula leaves are finely chopped. Scrape the side if necessary and pulse again. Next, add miso paste and salt then pulse again. Lastly, leave the food processor on slowly pour extra virgin olive oil until well blended. Set aside.
• Start preparing the dough. To do this, simply follow the instructions on the package. After kneading, use a half of the dough for this recipe and save the other half for later. Use a rolling pin to roll out the dough into roughly 9 by 12 inches rectangular shape (to fit a baking sheet.) Transfer the dough to a parchment lined baking sheet.
• Spread the pesto on the surface of the dough. Then layer with maitake, scallions, and shallots then with salt and black pepper. Drizzle extra virgin olive oil over the whole pizza. Bake it in the oven at 425-450°F for 25-30 minutes until the dough is fully baked.
• Serve immediately

Notes

• Adjust the baking temperature and the time for the best result depending on your oven. In our oven, baking pizza at 450°F for 30 minutes seems to work better than at 425°F for 10-12 minutes which is the recommended temperature on the package.
• If you have proper tool like a pizza stone, you may also need to modify the baking temperature and the time accordingly.
• Feel free to substitute with your choice of pizza dough.

Did you make this recipe?Mention @plantbased_matters or tag #plantbased_matters!