Pizza with Tempeh, Peppers and Mushrooms

I must admit that I have never been a big fan of tempeh. In the rueben, yes, delicious. In most anything else, not so yummy. But as with tofu I was fairly certain the preparation is key, and, heady with the success of my rueben, I decided to venture out into another dish. There was also a component of laziness built into this scenario, in which tempeh was already in the frig and other potential protein sources to top the pizza were still at the store.

So, I sauteed the tempeh with yellow pepper, garlic, and a bunch of seasonings. It browned nicely but still looked somewhat uncooked, so I decided to look at the packaging for guidance. No instructions there, but the recipe they included had you steaming the block of tempeh for 15 minutes, which made me think perhaps further cooking was needed. So I added some water and veggie broth to the skillet, brought it to a boil and then lowered the heat and let it bubble for 10 or 15 minutes to cook off the liquid. Needed a little more oil at this point to saute the mushrooms, tossed in some olives and tomato sauce and spread the whole deal on the crust. Topped with some mozzarella and a little parm and baked it up. Turns out, when seasoned well and fully cooked, I like tempeh!