I just realized this is my first pizza on the blog, even though we make a lot of pizzas at home. It’s probably because by the time Friday evenings rolls around (when we usually make pizza) and the pizzas comes out of the oven the light is not enough to photograph. Plus nobody has the patience to wait.
Anyways this is my first cauliflower based pizza, that actually tastes good. The dough needed a few trials to get the taste and texture right. So I’m really excited to share it with you. Also because when it comes to pizzas I’m bit of a purist and took me a long while to buy into cauliflower crust. The key to this recipe is the cauliflower-chickpea flour base, bean- cashew sauce, caramelized onions and shredded Brussels sprouts. It’s gluten free, dairy free, also vegan and honestly really really good.
We are not gluten free in our family or allergic to wheat based products, it’s a different story that I rarely eat wheat based products, however I wanted to try cauliflower pizza base after all the rave reviews it gets. To be honest I really liked it but it’s not pizza. If one has issues with gluten this for sure is a great alternative to eat when one craves for pizza. So as a pizza lover and purist let’s call this a flatbread!
SERVES 2-3 as a main course, or slice into small wedges and serves as an appetizer
INGREDIENTS
For the cauliflower base
- 3/4- 1 cup of chickpea flour, depends on how moist your cauliflower is
- 1 medium cauliflower, broken into florets
- 8-10 brussel sprouts, bottoms trimmed, and top leaf removed and chopped
- 1teaspoon of oregano
- 1 tablespoon olive oil
- 1 teaspoon of nutritional yeast
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- Freshly ground black pepper
- Cashew white Sauce
- 16oz can of organic, low sodium white beans
- 1/4 Cup raw cashews soaked for a hour
- 1 tablespoons of olive oil
- 1 tablespoon of lemon juice
- 1/4 teaspoon of salt
- 2 fat clove of garlic, minced
- 2 tablespoons nutritional yeast
- cracked black pepper
- 1-2 tablespoons of water
- Caramelized onions:
- 2 medium red onion, thinly sliced
- 1 tablespoon any neutral oil
- a pinch of salt or sugar
Brussels Sprouts
- 6-8 additional sprouts, shredded
- 1 teaspoon of balsamic vinegar
- 1 teaspoon lemon juice
- 3 tablespoons of olive oil
- a pinch of salt + pepper
METHOD
*Pre-heat the oven to 400º
Prepare the cauliflower crust:
- Place the cauliflower florets and Brussels sprouts in a food processor and pulse to a fine consistency.
- Transfer the ground cauliflower to a bowl lined with cheese cloth and squeeze the cloth to extract as much water from the cauliflower as possible. This is a important because the more moisture you remove, the crispier the crust. (You can use the veggie juice to cook rice or add it to your smoothie or just drink it. It’s very healthy.
- In a separate bowl, combine the remaining ingredients; cauliflower and sprouts mix, chickpea flour, nutritional yeast, oregano, salt, and red pepper flakes. Stir until everything is combined and mixed until a dough is formed.
- place the dough on a lightly greased parchment lined baking sheet. Using the palm of your hand, press the dough into a circular pizza shape, creating an edge around the pizza.
- Place the pizza base in the preheated oven and bake for 25-30 minutes.
While the crust is baking, prepare the toppings:
- Heat the oil in a skillet over medium-low heat, and add the onion. Cook for about 15 minutes until the onions start to become soft and caramelized.
- While the onions are cooking, prepare the white sauce by placing all the ingredients for the sauce in a food processor and blend until it is very smooth. Taste and adjust any seasoning as needed.
- For the sprouts, whisk together the balsamic vinegar, lemon juice, olive oil, salt and pepper, pour over and massage into the sprouts.
Assemble the pizza:
- Spread the white sauce over the crust. Top it with the caramelized onions. Place the crust back in the over for another 5 minutes.
- Remove and finish with the shredded sprouts and any other topping you like. parsley, chili flakes, parmesan cheese are also delicious.
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