Pizza is a food I could eat at any time, mostly because of the variety of topping choices. I’m calling this “The Right Pizza” after its movie pairing, but the truth is the “right” pizza is whatever pizza you feel like making.

After launching Veg Out last week, I wanted to choose a film to honor Black History Month. “Do the Right Thing” is a movie I’ve seen about a dozen times, from my film classes in college to a few more as an adult, including one viewing earlier this month.

Since a lot of the film takes place in a pizzeria and the protagonist is the delivery guy there, I chose pizza for the pairing. The crust is vegan, gluten-free and low FODMAP, but the toppings contain gluten, dairy and high amounts of FODMAPs. As always, everything’s still vegetarian, though!

Crust (makes two)
3 cups 1-to-1 gluten-free flour (plus more for rolling out the dough)
1.5 teaspoons sugar
1.5 teaspoons salt
1 packet instant yeast
1.25 cups water
4.5 tablespoons shallot-infused olive oil

Toppings
2 tablespoons garlic-infused olive oil
2 cups tomato sauce
1 large mozzarella log, sliced
3 vegetarian Italian sausages, sliced
1 package fresh basil, chiffonade cut

Instructions
Grease two containers to store your pizza dough in the fridge.

Whisk the flour, yeast, sugar and salt together using a stand mixer (or by hand).

Mix in the water and shallot-infused olive oil until the dough starts to form. Stop when the dough has a whipped consistency.

Split it into two balls and transfer it to the greased containers. Place them in a warm, draft-free area for about an hour to rise. Then move them to the fridge for at least 15 minutes (up to 3 days).

When you’re ready to make pizza, preheat the oven to 400°F with your pizza stone and/or baking sheet inside. (Since we made two pizzas, we used both.)

Place one ball of dough on a lightly floured surface (we use our silicone baking mat) and sprinkle a little flour on top of the dough as well. Knead the dough and roll it out. Place the dough on a piece of parchment paper and brush the top of the crust with 1 tablespoon of garlic-infused olive oil.

Repeat the above paragraph with the second ball of dough.

Transfer your crusts the preheated pizza stone/baking sheet using a flat surface like a cutting board. Bake them for 5-7 minutes (until the bottom of the crust starts to crisp).

While the crusts are pre-baking, prep your toppings. Slice the mozzarella and sausage. Chiffonade cut the basil by stacking the fresh leaves and cutting them into strips.

Carefully pull your crusts out of the oven using mitts and a spatula, then place your toppings.

Use a spoon to spread the tomato sauce over the crusts. Then place the circle slices of mozzarella around the crust, each topped with two slices of the sausage. Sprinkle the strips of basil over the top.

Put the pizzas back into the oven and bake for another 5-7 minutes (until the edges have browned).

Pull the pizzas out of the oven and let them sit for 5 minutes. Then slice and serve!

The Easy Route
The easiest route here is to order a pizza or make a frozen pizza. You could also buy pre-made crust mix, dough or crust to make that part easier and just pile on your favorite toppings.

The Pairing
For those who haven’t seen it, “Do the Right Thing” is filmmaker Spike Lee’s 1989 masterpiece that centers on a steamy, tension-filled 24-hour period in the Bed-Stuy neighborhood of Brooklyn.

Lee also plays the film’s protagonist, Mookie, a beloved resident of the neighborhood who works at Sal’s Famous Pizzeria, a beloved local restaurant that serves pizza by the slice and cold drinks on this hot day.

For my most recent viewing, I was able to see The Criterion Collection’s 4K digital restoration of the film on the big screen at my local theater.

Criterion worked on the restoration with the film’s cinematographer, Ernest Dickerson, and it shows. You can feel the heat of the 100-degree day come through, even if it happens to be 5 degrees outside.

One of the reasons why I chose “Do the Right Thing” for this post is because all at once, it calls on shots and tones from the history of cinema while also infusing a new story and new ideas.

This is why I made a vegetarian pizza with a gluten-free crust to go with it — this recipe is also an updated take using classic methods.

But back to the film: Through a series of beautiful steadicam shots, you get to know a few neighborhood luminaries, as well as the key people in Mookie’s life.

You feel like you’re part of this neighborhood, buying some fruit from the Korean grocer, getting some refreshment from the fire hydrant turned water sprinkler and saying hello to Mother Sister (Ruby Dee) as you walk by her stoop.

You also quickly pick up on the tensions between people heating up with the temperature.

This was my first viewing of “Do the Right Thing” after the murder of George Floyd, and watching the film’s climax with Radio Raheem (Bill Nunn) was extra emotional thinking of Floyd and the recent killing of Amir Locke by Minneapolis police in a manner eerily similar to that of Breonna Taylor a couple years ago.

That “Do the Right Thing” came out 33 years ago and still remains so topical is both fascinating and depressing.

Let’s continue to celebrate Black history, Black lives and Black futures all year long as we all do what we can to make visions of a better world a reality. Black-led nonprofits that I support during Black History Month and beyond include the NAACP, Color of Change and Color of Crohn’s & Chronic Illness. Head to our Instagram to see some of the Black filmmakers, chefs, brands and nonprofits we’ve been highlighting this month and give them a follow.

If you decide to make The Right Pizza and/or watch “Do the Right Thing,” let us know! Tag us in your Instagram posts & stories, tweets or TikTok videos: @veg_out_recipes