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Vegetarian pizza

By , About.com Guide

Pizza is a favorite for every one around the world of all ages, vegetarian or not! Pizza makes a great meal for new vegetarians since it's already a familiar food, and, the variations on vegetarian pizza are endless. Here's a few unique vegetarian and vegan pizza recipes to try. Enjoy!

1. French Bread Pizza

Use French bread to make quick and easy individual pizzas or pizzas for kids. These French loaves are sliced in half, smothered in pizza sauce then filled up with a variety of vegetarian pizza toppings, including mushrooms, bell peppers, onions and olives and, of course, plenty of mozzarella cheese. The kids will love these msotly healthy vegetarian pizzas on French bread.

2. Vegetarian "Pepperoni" Pizza

Use a store-bought vegetarian pepperoni substitute to make this simple, classic pepproni pizza - only it's completely vegetarian! Those little pepperoni slices sure do look authentic, don't they? If you liek a  simple vegetarian pizza or miss meat, this is an easy recipe to try. Just dough, cheese, and vegetarian pepperoni as a topping. That's it!

3. Gourmet Pumpkin and White Sauce Pizza

This is a truly gourmet vegetarian pizza. It does take a few extra steps, but the result is a restaurant-qualtiy gourmet vegetarian pizza. Roasted pumpkin, tossed with a vegetarian pesto tops this pizza alongside cashew nuts and a blend of cheeses. This one is much better than any take-out pizza you'll ever find!

4. Vegetarian Barbecue "Chicken Wing" Pizza

Use store-bought vegetarian barbecue "chicken wings" to make this heaty pizza, topped with mozzarella cheese, fresh cilantro and a squeeze of lime juice. Meat-lovers will be absolutely grateful to have discovered this "meaty" vegetarian pizza.

5. Meatless Mexican Taco Pizza

This vegetarian Mexican taco pizza uses kidney beans and salsa instead of pizza sauce for a vegetarian taco pizza that kids will surely love! For a vegan version, you could use a soy vegan cheese. Taco pizza isn't quite traditional Italian fare, but it makes a nice twist from regular pizza toppings and sauces.

6. Mediterranean Pizza with Pesto and Artichokes

This is one of my most popular vegetarian pizza recipes. It's a Greek-inspired pizza, with pesto instead of tomato sauce, chopped artichoke hearts and Greek olives as a topping. Even though it's a gourmet pizza, it's just as simple to prepare as a regular vegetarian pizza - only the toppings and ingredients are gourmet - not the amount of work involved!

7. Gourmet Savory Apple and White Cheddar Pizza

If you've ever tried a vegetarian apple pizza at a pizza parlour and wanted to try it at home, here's how. Thinly sliced apples are baked in the oven with white cheddar cheese and just a touch of cinnamon and honey. With lots of apples, this vegetarian pizza is also low in calories too, believe it or not! Only 270 calories per slice. But you probably won't eat just one slice of this divine pizza!

8. Asparagus Pizza with White Sauce

For an American take on the classic Italian pizza, top off a vegetarian pizza with a white cream sauce, asparagus, and white cheddar cheese.

9. Dessert Pizza - a pizza with fruit!

This fruit pizza recipe is made with a sugar-cookie crust, and topped with cream cheese and fresh fruit. Fruit pizza is a snack or dessert pizza for the kids.

10. Hummus and feta pizza

From About.com's expert on cheese comes this Greek-inspired vegetarian pizza made on pita bread spread with hummus instead of tomato sauce and topped with kalamata olives, feta cheese and red pepper flakes for spice.

11. Homemade pizza dough recipes

A store-bought or ready-made dough works just fine, but there's nothing like a homemade pizza dough to add that special touch to a homemade vegetarian pizza. And, if you're vegan, you'll most liekly need to make a hoemmade dough. Scroll through a variety of homemade pizza crust recipes, including a vegan doughs, whole wheat, cornmeal crusts, and more.

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