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How can I make pizza without cheese? Isn't cheese the most important thing on pizza? It allows pizza toppings to stay in place. I tried without cheese, and on bread, but the toppings did not stay in place.

aquari
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  • The part about "topping not staying intact" is a duplicate of https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/93061/making-pizza-toppings-stay-intact-without-using-cheese?rq=1. – rumtscho Oct 23 '18 at 16:49
  • Is it the taste of the cheese or the texture of melted cheese which your mom objects to (or both)? – brhans Oct 23 '18 at 17:44
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    Possible duplicate of [Making pizza toppings stay intact without using cheese](https://cooking.stackexchange.com/questions/93061/making-pizza-toppings-stay-intact-without-using-cheese) – Luciano Oct 24 '18 at 13:30
  • Some suggestions in comments on [this question](https://cooking.stackexchange.com/q/91337/69382) – Ess Kay Oct 24 '18 at 14:36

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Depending on how much she doesn't like cheese, and what she doesn't like about it, you have a few options. You may even be able to preserve the appearance of pizza.

  • Ricotta is sometimes used (even without tomato sauce and with a green vegetable); while technically cheese it doesn't have the texture or the taste you'd normally think of as cheese, but will help things adhere.
  • Some of the vegan cheese substitutes now melt like cheese, and some taste like cheese, but few do both - a careful reading of reviews may find one that fails to match cheese in the way she doesn't like.

But assuming they don't go far enough, you'll have to get more creative. Folding over the edges of the dough will help stop things falling off. A much thicker sauce is also useful; with some (e.g. corn) starch in it, it will thicken further around the topping as it cooks. Mixing the toppings into the sauce will help stop them overcooking. Flatter toppings like sliced tomato/sausage, or bacon cut from rashers rather than cubes, will also stick better than round things. Or go cross-cultural, and use refried beans under salsa for a "Mexican pizza" that's neither Mexican nor pizza.

A fairly thinly topped base with more on the side than you'd normally expect would be a practical way to serve it, if you're still worried about things staying put.

There are plenty of ideas for pizza without cheese. Most are vegan, but you can adapt them assuming you're not.

Chris H
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Maybe try some whisked up eggs, like an egg wash to hold your ingredients down. You could also try a bechamel sauce if you're okay with dairy.

StevenXavier
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    Egg whisked with a bit of salt and black pepper used to be a very common substitute for cheese on top of "pizza" in the city I grew up, mostly because cheese was quite expensive. Technically it was more like an egg pizza but using whisked egg and no cheese. – Ess Kay Oct 25 '18 at 09:14
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You could always serve her buttered garlic breadsticks with lots of dipping sauce. (I put anchovies in mine, almost better than pizza!) Add a salad and she won't even notice the pizza at the table.

elbrant
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