Find out what it is about cheese that your guest can't eat. Is it the dairy, or perhaps an aged cheese but a fresh cheese os OK. At any rate there is non dairy vegan cheese.....so you might have some of that on a special pizza for that guest.
Linda C

I don't know much about pizza but this was interesting, so I searched "cheeseless pizza" and found various recipes.

The link below looks like a pretty conventional one, which might be good. If you're only going to make one pizza for miss I-can't-eat-cheese, it should be a pretty "safe" pizza. Just in case she also can't eat anchovies, meat, etc.

I figure, there are two ways to handle this person. You can serve them some awful cheese-free cardboard scrap, to just meet your minimal hostess obligations to feed her guests, and hope that she and her food restrictions take the hint and never darken your door again. Or you can embrace her cheese-free existence, make a special effort on her meal, and
give her a wonderful and memorable experience. I'm a grouch and would do the former, but you're a good person and will do the latter. So, how about making her her very own personalized pizza with the toppings that she likes, using the linked recipe or a similar one as a base?

Please let us know how your pizzas turn out and what you end up doing for the cheese free pizza.

I'm getting more into homemade pizza. I've always thought of pizza as high-calorie, unhealthy stuff. Maybe the standard take-out pizza is, I don't really know. But I plugged the dough and sauce recipes we use into a calorie count app, and here's what I came up with. One slice (an eighth slice of a 12 inch diameter pizza) has 110 calories, 5 grams protein, 2 grams fat, 20 grams carbs. That includes mozzarella cheese made from skim milk (3/4 cup per pizza), and plenty of sauce, but no other toppings - this is the "base pizza" if you will. Seems pretty reasonable to me.

Here is a link that might be useful: Cheeseless Pizza

Being another Miss I-can't-eat-cheese and shouldn't-eat-tomato sauce either, I can recommend using roasted garlic (complete with it's olive oil) spread on the dough, then top with caramelized onion, sliced olives, mushrooms and pepperoni or prosciutto (if she will eat meat). Most of the fake cheese is pretty yucky and ruins the pizza (Daiya is the best IMHO, and still not very good...).

One of my favourites (and worth the subsequent personal misery) is olive oil, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, sliced pears and gorgonzola.

I agree that artichoke hearts are great on a cheeseless pizza. When I was a child and teenager, I always ordered pizza without cheese - mainly because I did not like the cheese back then, but also because it upset my stomach, although I had not made that connection back then since I always avoided dairy.

Another great topping is a medley of wild mushrooms, sauteed with garlic and onions. Here's a menu from my favorite pizza restaurant (I used to live down the street from it), and most of its pizza toppings would be good without cheese. Think of it as a piece of toast or cracker and what you might like on that. I think crumbled up Italian sausage would be great, providing it isn't overcooked. Bacon, tomato, and spinach is another good combination. You can always have grated Parmesan cheese on the side for others to add to their portions.

Lars

This filling for a double-crust pizza should be just as good as a topping for a traditional pizza. I agree with Eileen's warning not to omit the anchovies. (If you Google "pissaladiere", you'll find similar recipes for a French version of pizza without cheese.)

SELVAGGIO'S ONION PIE - Eileen Launonen CF

2 frozen pizza doughs, brought to room temperature
3 to 4 lbs. of onions, sliced thin (I use Vidalia)
1 cup green olives with pimento (NOT pits), chopped
1/2 cup olive oil (the better the brand the better the recipe)
1/4 cup ketchup
1/2 cup raisins
4 anchovies, chopped
1 cup pignoli nuts (pine nuts)
Pepper to taste

In a very large pan put olive oil, saut� onions until very soft�don't caramelize�add remaining ingredients and cook to combine.

Take one dough and place in a lightly olive oiled pan (Sicilian pie style). Place the onion mixture on top of dough; now take the remaining dough and put on top�pinch sides closed as best can be done. Poke a few holes in the top for venting. Slather the top with olive oil and bake at 350 degrees until golden brown. Serve warm or at room temperature.

ANCHOVY HATERS ALERT: DON'T omit this. It�s crucial to the taste, yet it melts and I swear you'll NEVER taste it! I HATE ANCHOVIES!!! Yet I can eat this with NO problem!!!

Thanks for these great ideas! My friend Herb has a dairy allergy, and since I like him, I'm happy to make some cheeseless pizzas, plus as John said, they may have fewer calories!

John, my DH and I are calorie-counting these days (ugh) and pizza can be relatively low-cal... especially if you skip the pepperoni and other typical toppings. Of course that potato pesto pizza is kind of spendy

That onion pie recipe looks very interesting. I'm a believer in the power of the anchovy, it adds some savory-ness when needed, which with the onion, ketchup and raisins it would need.

The olive oil, fresh mozzarella, prosciutto, sliced pears and gorgonzola sounds amazing....

To make a pissaladiere, just fry 2 pounds of sliced/diced onions in olive oil until pale golden - not dark as they're going to cook again in the oven. Add. salt and a teaspoon of sugar. You can add a few anchiovies to melt into the onions if you like. Spread the onions all over the pizza base, top with black olives and anchovies and bake. Can be served warm or cold.
You can add thyme, garlic - whatever you like.

I use Soy-sation brand soy cheese when I want low-cal or dairy free. It melts!! Best used under toppings rather than on top. I actually like it better than Daiya.

Otherwise, carmelized onion, roasted garlic, roasted red pepper (could be pureed and subbed for sauce), mushroom, olives, artichokes or any of the other usual suspects.

I sometimes enjoy the challenge of cooking for special diets when I have guests. Just try it out ahead of time so no surprises! :)

Deanna