I had been debating all week how to use my asparagus, cauliflower and fresh tomatoes that I bought from the local farmer's market, when it hit me, combine them all in a garden fresh pizza! One of the things I love about making your own food, is seeing it go from individual ingredients into a beautiful finished meal, all parts combined to create a delicious healthy work of "food art"! lol
Ingredients:
For the Crust:
Half a head of Cauliflower
2 egg whites
1/2 cup light mozzarella cheese
3 Garlic cloves, minced
Dash of Basil and Oregano
Salt and Pepper to taste
Toppings:
Pesto
Light Mozzarella Cheese
1 cup Mushrooms, roughly chopped
1 small organic tomato
1/8 cup sun dried tomatoes
12 stalks of Asparagus
Splash of Truffle infused olive oil - or regular olive oil
Toppings I would have added had they been on hand:
Crumbled goat cheese
Balsamic glaze drizzled over the top
Fresh spinach leaves
Sauteed Zucchini or Yellow Squash
So many options, I might just have to make another one next week!
Recipe feeds two slightly hungry people or one ravenously starving individual, like myself, after a hard workout.. Yes, I ate the whole thing.. couldn't help myself! You can increase the amount of cauliflower and add an extra egg white and a little more cheese to make a larger pizza!
Instructions:
A. Pre-heat the oven to 450 degrees
1. Rice the Cauliflower: Divide the half head of Cauliflower into large florets and put them a few cups at a time into the the Vitamix on low, using the dowel to push them down into the blades. This can be done in a food processor or using a cheese grater, although the Vitamix is by far the easiest and fastest way to "rice" the cauliflower.
2. Once the Cauliflower is "riced", I microwaved it in bowl for a minute to soften it, before adding in the egg whites, minced garlic, mozzarella cheese, and the spices. Mix thoroughly.
3. Line a large baking sheet with wax or parchment paper, and spray it liberally with nonstick cooking spray. I have missed this step too many times to count and ended up with a pizza crust that wont come off the paper, and your whole pizza/dinner is ruined.. Moral of the story, use nonstick spray every time, as the cheese which is the glue the holds the crust together, also acts as a glue with the wax paper, foil, or parchment paper.. moving on...
4. Transfer the pizza crust mixture onto the baking sheet and pat down into a pizza shaped crust, so its about a half an inch thick and round.. or square if you like too
5. Put your pizza crust into the oven to bake for 30 minutes until your crust is barely golden brown and looks like a solid pizza crust
6. While the pizza crust is baking, chop the mushrooms, sun dried tomatoes, and add them to a pan to saute with the stalks of asparagus tossed on top
7. Drizzle with olive oil, or in this case I used truffle infused olive oil, and cover with the lid to keep in the moisture, toss a few times, and after about ten minutes take them off the medium heat
8. Once the pizza crust is finished baking, top with pesto as the base, sprinkle on the mozzarella cheese, top with the sauteed mushroom and sun dried tomato mix, place freshly chopped tomatoes on top of them, and then finish with the sauteed asparagus stalks.
9. Place your pizza with the toppings back in the oven to bake for another 10 minutes or until the cheese has fully melted.
10. Remove pizza from the oven, slice and enjoy!
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