There’s a long standing joke, “how to you know if someone is vegan, they’ll tell you” but what’s not a joke is what do you feed everyone when you find one not only in your midst but coming to dinner.

Do you just put chicken stock in the risotto as usual and just not mention it? And before all the vegans come down on me, no I didn’t do that.

It is tough for someone who has never cooked without butter, cream, eggs, cheese, before, even leaving out the meat so I took to Twitter X for suggestions and someone told me about these Vegano Pizzas from Crosta Mollica. Initially horrified anyone could consider eating pizza without cheese, pizza is possibly my favourite thing to eat, a reason to visit Italy and as a Canadian New York for massive slices of pepperoni cheese laden delight.

Fair to say I love my pizza.

I went to Waitrose and I found these little treasures in the frozen section. You get two in a pack and you slap them in the oven for 10 minutes. It’s the easiest supper I’ve ever made. I served olives and focaccia to start with balsamic and olive oil and fresh fruit salad for dessert. I also discovered something called Coconut Cooperative which is a creme Fraiche or cream ice cream substitute and it didn’t taste too bad as accompaniment to the fruit salad, not as sweet as ice cream or as heavy and decadent as fresh cream but if you like crème fraiche it’s definitely similar.

But it was the Pizza Vegana, Crosta Mollica (there’s also another option the Siciliana with spinach, olives and capers) that really was the star, it tasted absolutely delicious and it even looked homemade when it came out of the oven. I served it with salad. And you know what, what started as a stressful project, the meal actually turned out great and everyone really enjoyed it.

I surprised myself, the pizza lover who couldn’t imagine pizza without cheese, I may even buy these Vegana Pizzas again. And I definitely want to try the Siciliana from Crosta And Mollica. It could be even better as I love olive tapenade and salty capers.

I remember reading an article in the guardian a while back about how aggressively meat eaters condemn non meat eaters for their “holier than thou” status, the reasoning, their discipline and principals make us feel guilty and less than, in much the same way a non drinker gets pushed into alcohol at a party because the other guests getting legless don’t like being reminded their choices are maybe not the smartest or healthiest. I gave up drinking after a health issue a few years back and telling people you don’t drink in social settings often causes responses like “you don’t?” Or “go on you can have one” or for the less subtle/more curious “did you have a problem?” So I do have understanding when it comes to giving things up, others may not be ready to.

My guest was charming. Looked really healthy and young for his age, close to mine and it got me thinking maybe there’s something in this giving up meat and dairy. Not saying I’m doing it but the Vegano pizza from Croatia Mollica is definitely a start. Food for thought.

I have included the link to the article I read, which at the time I remember thinking tosh. It’s eight years old and when I reread it I realised my opinion has shifted quiet dramatically.

In contrast here’s another article entitled “why do people hate vegans”

https://www.theguardian.com/lifeandstyle/2019/oct/25/why-do-people-hate-vegans

I used to be the latter. Now I am moving towards the former. Take your pick.