Riced Cauliflower Pizza

Having tried riced cauliflower as a - well - as a rice substitute to go with curries, I wanted to try making riced cauliflower pizza that is all the rage. It was simple enough, and I liked the results, so, wanted to jot it down here.

Mix the grated cauliflower with some herbs and cheese, pat down on a cast iron skillet, thick enough  to form the pizza crust. Bake in a 400 °F oven till crust is well formed.

Remove from oven, top with pizza sauce and toppings and some low-fat part-skim mozzarella and bake for a few more minutes till cheese is melted and the pizza looks ready. That's it!

Roasted Summer Squash Olive Naan Pizza

Every once in a while, knowing that not everything has to be made from scratch and labored over, I resort to putting together a quick but fairly healthy and delectable dinner on the fly.

Home garden scallop squash was handy. I harvested it a little later than I had intended but it was still fine. The scallop squash is a favorite - more for its shape and beauty than its versatility.

The summer squashes were quite ready, and I was thinking of ways to use them everyday. It's not a top favorite with kids, but, the adults enjoy it in a variety of dishes.

I also had a jar of Konex Pinjur I am addicted to: http://konex-tiva.com/spread-and-dips

Plus some olive naan sneaked home with me from the store the previous weekend, even though it was not on the list. Quelle horreur!

Anyway, it felt like a pizza kind of evening. Not the made-from-scratch that we are spoilt on by the other adult. Just a quick pizza on a flatbread is what I had the energy and time for. 

Of course, homemade Olive Pita or any of the homemade Naan would be fine for this quick pizza crust. I usually have a stash of these homemade flatbreads in the freezer. But, since the whole wheat olive naan decided to come home with me, it seemed like the thing to use. 

Chopped bell peppers, shallots, celery, and the home garden scallop squash, but kept the cherry tomatoes whole as I love the way they plump up on cooking and then burst open when biting into it.

Pan-roast the squash, along with onions and celery and other veggies, to make a fantastic combination of toppings for the pizza.

Pinjur, the red pepper, eggplant, tomato relish, is the pizza sauce, so to speak. Just an amazing burst of flavors that make this pizza rather unique and Mediterranean.

Some mozzarella and feta for the cheesy goodness, in moderation, of course.

Bake in 425°F oven for about 8 - 10 minutes. 

Paired with a simple salad made with homegarden Butter lettuce, Romaine, and Kale, tossed with some Parmesan and Greek vinaigrette, this was a completely satisfying weeknight meal.

Kohlrabi Pizza

Our first CSA (Community Supported Agriculture) basket for this summer came with a small bunch of cute little baby kohlrabis, with a lovely purple one to boot.

These tender kohlrabis are almost like watery green pears or green apples -- crunchy and pleasantly sweet -- and are perfect addition to fresh summer salads.

I was thinking about other ways to incorporate kohlrabi into everyday foods as I opened a kitchen cupboard looking for nothing in particular. A box of Almond flour pizza crust mix stared back at me -- the one I "won" by doing Zumba for an hour at a sponsored event at kids' school without flopping down exhausted. And, that's when the stars aligned themselves obligingly: Kohlrabi pizza!

Tender kohlrabi bulbs peeled and sliced thin, some kohlrabi leaves, plus some Walla Walla sweet onions, garlic shoots, and black olives (mostly for color) became the toppings for the almond flour pizza.

With these bright greens for toppings, the usual red tomato-based pizza sauce was antithetic. So, I looked in the garden for inspiration.

Some fresh oregano, mint, fennel, and basil beckoned. I walked around with my kitchen shears making a snip here and a snip there, tenderly, to get a happy little bunch of fresh organic herbs.

One Serrano chili with 1 cup packed chopped home garden herbs, plus a splash of apple cider vinegar, lemon juice, and olive oil got ground up together to make a heady, aromatic chimichurri-like sauce. No cooking involved. Bonus: this sauce doubles as a great salad dressing!

So, with the sauce befitting the toppings, all that was left to do was make the almond flour pizza per package directions.

It turned out yummy, if I may say so myself. The only thing I'd do differently next time is to add the tender kohlrabi leaves as topping much later-- possibly closer to finishing time -- so as not to crisp it up too much. And, probably try my usual from-scratch pizza dough.

This was the "adult" pizza that evening. The kids got their own personal pizzas with their favorite non-kohlrabi toppings when they casually suggested, "just put it in my salad, Mama, not on my pizza," which left me beaming anyway because, well, at least they are not rejecting kohlrabi altogether.

Home-made Pizza

Dough
Sauce
Cheese
Toppings

Just four basic building blocks to permute. Endless possibilities.

Pizza is well-relished at home. Especially since we get to load it with favorite toppings.

Typically, a medium pizza with olives, maybe some soy-pepperoni or soy-sausage, is the kids' special.

Anything from sauteed kale, sliced sauteed potatoes, brie, chunks of feta, kalamata olives, artichoke hearts, zucchini, spinach, jalapeno, pineapple, capers, pepperoncini, sun-dried tomatoes, onions, spring onions, broccoli are all welcome in the large chewy crust for the grown-ups in the house.



I vary the pizza dough every once in a while, adding some buckwheat or whole wheat flour at times, changing the amount of flax meal and vital wheat gluten a bit, adjusting water as needed. This recipe here is the "standard" one, which I rely on for consistent results.

The longer the dough gets to rise, the better the crust will be. If we are just looking for a simple crust that hasn't developed any complex flavor, an hour to 3 hours of rising is fine as below. But as this article notes, allowing the dough to rise overnight is a wonderful secret to heavenly crusts.

Pizza Dough I:
2½ cups all purpose flour
½ cup gluten
1¾ tsp yeast
1 cup warm water, more or less
1 Tbsp olive oil
herbs, salt to taste

Combine all but water, sift/stir well; add a little water at a time and knead to a smooth elastic dough; place in an oiled bowl, cover and allow to rise in a warm place while getting the pizza sauce and toppings ready. Or make ahead and let it rise an hour or so if possible.

Makes about 2 medium regular crust pizzas.

Pizza Dough II:
2¼ cups all purpose flour
¼ cup flax meal
½ cup whole wheat flour
¼ cup gluten
2 Tbsp Italian Spice Mix
1 to 2 tsp salt (to taste)
1 Tbsp olive oil
2¼ tsp yeast (1 pkt standard dry yeast)
1½ cup warm water
1 tsp brown sugar (optional)

Same as above - combine all except water; add a little water at a time and knead to a smooth elastic dough. Allow to rise in a warm place for an hour or two if possible.

Makes about 2 large regular crust pizzas.


Quick Standard Pizza Sauce:
1 can tomato paste
1 Tbsp Pizza Spices Mix - oregano, parsley, rosemary, basil, marjoram, sage or any other combination
1 to 2 cloves of garlic, finely minced (optional)
salt to taste
½ cup water

Combine all but water in a saucepan over medium heat; add a little water at a time and stir till required consistency of pizza sauce - thick yet spreadable, not runny. Heat through and turn off heat.

We also love pesto instead of sauce. Either traditional Basil-Pinenut pesto, or even Mint-Fennel Pesto works well.


Cheeses:
Mozzarella
Colby Jack
Cheddar
Provolone
any good melting cheese

Different cheeses melt and cook differently, so, try a combination. I prefer a mixture of White Cheddar, Colby Jack and Mozzarella. We usually have large loaves of cheese, so, it is easy to grate the amount we need.


Pizza Stone:
While not mandatory, it is nice to have a pizza stone to cook the pizzas. We have nice aged one which serves well. If pizza stone is not handy, can use a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper.

Optional: Spread some corn meal to facilitate transferring unbaked pizza to oven.

Preparation

1. Pre-heat the oven to 430°F. If using a pizza stone, allow it to sit there longer to get very hot
2. Punch down the risen pizza dough, divide into two parts, and stretch each one to the size of pizza needed. Thinner crust cooks faster, naturally, so try to keep it uniformly thick
3. Preferably stretch them out on a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper so it is easy to put it in the oven
4. Brush a thin layer of olive oil on the stretched dough crust, then spread the pizza sauce evenly
5. Sprinkle required amount of cheese. I don't like my pizza too cheesy, so, I have part of the pizza with very little cheese and the rest of it with more for D
6. Top with favorite toppings (drain well if using pineapple or other watery items) - I love mushrooms, but, since D can't stand them, I get to put them on my side of the pizza, the side with the lesser amount of cheese
7. Bake in a 430°F oven for about 10-12 minutes depending on the crust and size of the pizza, till done - the cheese will start burning if left for too long; (hotter the oven, faster the cooking time, naturally)

pan pizza

The other adult likes to to throw a BYOP - Build Your Own Pizza - party where we have the dough ready - stretched to about 5-inch circle, 2 or 3 different sauces, many different toppings... and a really sizzling grill. Assemble as you please and he will throw it in the grill and cook it for you!

Pizza is a favorite at home, especially because we don't have it every day. None of the store pizzas really manage to satisfy us as the home-made ones - Boboli® crust seems to come close, but only if we are in a real rush... and even then we like to make our own sauce and add toppings.

My favorite is the Neopolitan pizza dough that came with one of my Italian recipes book. But, every once in a while, I like to use the recipe that came with the bread machine - with some modification, of course. I simply throw the ingredients together in the bread machine, set to dough-only cycle, and when it beeps, the dough is ready to be stretched, sauced, topped and baked.

Now the sauce varies depending on the mood and ingredients handy (so what's new, right?). Sometimes it is pesto, sometimes it is garlic sauce, but, usually tomato sauce.

What I like about this recipe is that the cast-iron skillet makes the crust really tasty - crisp on the outside, soft, fluffy and chewy on the inside. Also, the gluten gives the texture we like so much... of course, this recipe is not for all - especially people who are restricted to gluten-free diets - in which case, simply substitute gluten with the flour of your choice.

Ingredients:
for the dough:
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sugar
2 Tbsp olive oil
1 cup water
½ cup vital wheat gluten
2 cups flour (I like a mixture of unbleached all-purpose and wheat flours)
2½ tsp rapid rise dry yeast
optional: stir in some grated Parmesan and dry herbs

for the tomato sauce:
1 can tomato paste
1 tsp dry oregano leaves
1 tsp dry marjoram leaves
1 tsp dry basil leaves
2 garlic cloves minced
salt to taste
(or, any other favorite herbs and spices)

for the toppings:
sun dried tomatoes, capers, pineapple, pickled jalapeño rings, pepperoncini, artichoke hearts, olives - anything is fine - maybe some soy sausage chunks, some spinach, feta, mozarella or even brie...

Preparation

Combine the ingredients in the bread machine and follow directions to set it to dough-only cycle.

Heat oven or grill to 400°F; grease one or two cast-iron skillet(s) and keep handy

combine the sauce ingredients with a little water at a time and simmer over medium-low till desired thick consistency

when dough is ready divide it into two portions - freeze one portion for later use, or, if two cast-iron skillets are handy simply stretch the dough into the skillet and leave it to rest for about 15 minutes

spread some sauce, add your favorite toppings; I prefer very little cheese so I just add a little crumbled feta, or little chunks of mozarella or brie that just melts and "seals" the toppings

bake in 400° oven/grill for about 20 mins, check about 15 minutes in