Cauliflower Pizza

This is, without a doubt, the BEST pizza I've ever made. The crust was perfectly crisp on the outside and light and soft on the inside. It was slightly chewy without being bready or dense (and without taking a zillion chews per bite). The toppings, though, were FANTASTIC. It's a light bechamel, roasted cauliflower, garlic, and some parmesan and mozzarella with breadcrumbs. Such simple things, but this is among the best things I've made this year.

I used Bobby Flay's pizza dough recipe. It was pretty sticky and hard to work with (maybe it just needed more flour, though?), but the final result was fantastic. The recipe I usually use doesn't require much in the way of kneading and rising, and that recipe may be a lot easier, but this one definitely delivered the results.

And this is my inspiration for the toppings. I did things a little differently, though, just to simplify the recipe.

1 medium head of cauliflower
1 cup milk
2 tablespoons butter
1 tablespoon flour
1/8 tsp salt
pinch nutmeg
sprinkle of garlic powder, or 1/2 garlic clove, minced
3 tablespoons freshly grated parmesan
1-2 ounces shredded mozzarella
dash of chili flakes
1-2 tablespoons breadcrumbs

1. Preheat the oven to 450. Chop and crumble the head of cauliflower into very small bites--this is going to be a pizza topping, not a side dish. Put the cauliflower into a square baking pan and roast until it's lightly charred and translucent. Make sure the biggest pieces have softened. This took me about 20 minutes, but start checking after 10 (due to differences in ovens, baking pans, and size of cauliflower pieces).

2. Make the bechamel sauce. It's such a small amount that there's no need to be fussy with all the traditional steps. Warm the milk and butter over medium-low heat until the butter melts. Don't let the milk boil. When the butter melts, sprinkle the flour on top and whisk it in, making sure there are no lumps. Add the salt as well. Keep whisking as the mixture thickens. It's done around 180 F, or when it's the consistency of a runny sauce or heavy cream. Add the nutmeg and garlic and take off the heat.

3. Wrestle the pizza dough onto some baking sheets and top with the bechamel, then the roasted cauliflower, then the cheeses. Add some red pepper flakes if you like that, and top with a sprinkle of breadcrumbs. Bake for about ten minutes, or until the crust is browned and no longer doughy. As you can see, our toppings browned up quite a bit and it all just contributed to the awesomeness of this pizza. Fantastic.

So, there are kind of a lot of steps, but the nice part is that most of this could be made ahead of time--the crust, the sauce, the cauliflower, shredding the cheese...and once those parts are done, all you have to do is assemble and bake. I highly recommend this recipe. Yum!