Pizza is one of those things I haven’t eaten for years until I started making breads and dough with a vegetable base. I did not expect this Cauliflower Pizza to be so good! This pizza base is made with a combination of cauliflower and buckwheat but could also work with another grain like oats. The taste of this base takes me back in time to something I used to eat when I was little. I have not figured it out yet … anyway, this pizza is gluten free and loaded with veggies. I wanted to add a different kind of topping then usual.
I made a pumpkin puree and garlic base for the topping using my favorite kabocha squash, the one with the dark green edible skin. They are delicious, not so starchy in texture, loaded with beta-carotene, nutrients and fiber. I topped it with fresh thyme, baby spinach and avocado to give it even more creaminess. A traditional pizza could be a tomato sauce base, basil, arugula and a plant based cheese. This dough can be baked in a regular oven or in a dehydrator.
Ingredients for a 10 inch pizza base are,
- 1 medium head of cauliflower, about 500 grams / 1 pound when cleaned
- 1/4 cup of buckwheat, quinoa or brown rice flour
- 2 Tbsp. chia or ground flax seeds plus 6 Tbsp. of water, mixed and left to thicken for about 15 minutes so it will form a gel-like substance
- 1 Tbsp. tamari or Braggs Aminos
- 2 Tbsp. nutritional yeast
- 1/2 tsp. sea salt to taste
Pumpkin puree,
- 1 cup of pumpkin puree, ovenbaked and mashed
- a few cloves of garlic. also oven baked, to taste
- pink salt to taste
- black pepper
Topping
- 1 avocado thinly sliced
- 2 Tbsp. fresh thyme leaves
- handful of baby spinach or arugula leaves
Cut the cauliflower in florets, place it into a food processor and process until a it becomes a fine puree. Press all the excess water out through a fine sieve or cheesecloth. Don’t skip this part! If you have a juicer you can also juice the cauliflower and the extra moisture will be removed removed and you are left with a nice dry pulp to use in this recipe.
Mix the pulp in a bowl with the flour, tamari, salt and the chia gel. It should not be too runny and you should be able to spread it out with the back of a wet spoon or hand on a greased baking sheet or greased parchment paper. Bake for 25 to 30 minutes on 375F until golden. Now is the time to add your toppings, you can place it back in the oven for 5 to 10 minutes or enjoy it with raw add-ons. This base also makes a great flat bread to use for sandwiches or wraps.
Left is the oven baked version, right is the one that goes into the dehydrator on 110F / 42C, so it will dry out but stay raw. The dough works both ways, the dehydrated one will of course stay lighter in color and the texture will be a bit different. Depending on how soft you want it to be, it should be dehydrated between 8 and 12 hours.
Mash the pumpkin, garlic and salt for the puree and season to taste. Spread it on the base. I popped it back in the oven for 5 minutes to heat it through and then added my avocado, herbs and green leaves to keep those fresh and raw. A sprinkle of extra virgin olive oil works great on top, optional.
The combination of the thyme, baked sweet pumpkin and garlic works wonderful, not traditional but still familiar.
You can also go for this Spicy Tomato sauce in combination with my Sweet Thyme Cheese, balsamic dressing and caramelized or marinated purple onions. So good and also portable as a wonderful healthy lunch!
Making a vegetable and seed or a gluten free grain based dough turned out to be a wonderful experiment. This combination makes the pizza lighter, easy to digest and you can enjoy it guilt free. Great for the upcoming weekend! I hope you give this Cauliflower Pizza a go and let me know how it turned out,
Tina x
