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Buffalo Cauliflower Pizza
Options: use pre-made pizza dough and store bought vegan ranch to save time. You can also make the dough ahead and store in the refrigerator. Remove from refrigerator 2 hours before making pizza.
Ingredients
Pizza Crust
- 2 teaspoons instant yeast
- 2 teaspoons sugar
- 1 1/4 teaspoons salt
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, plus more for parchment paper
- 3 cups all purpose flour (use 00 flour for easier stretching and a better crust)
- 3/4 cup lukewarm water
Buffalo Cauliflower
- 1 head of cauliflower approx. 4 cups of bite-sized florets
- 1/2 cup unsweetened soy or almond milk, cold
- 1/2 cup cold water
- 1/2 cup cornstarch
- 1/2 cup all-purpose flour
- 1/2 teaspoon baking powder
- 2 teaspoons garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- 1/8 teaspoon cayenne (optional)
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
- 1/2 teaspoon ground pepper
Buffalo Sauce
- 1 cup Frank’s red hot sauce
- 6 tablespoons vegan butter, almost melted
Additional Pizza Toppings
- 1/4 red onion, sliced
- 4 stalks celery,diced
- 2 green onions, diced
- 2 tablespoons cilantro, diced
Ranch Dressing (recipe)
Instructions
Place pizza stone in oven, if using. Preheat oven to 450°F. Line baking sheet(s) with parchment paper or grease very well with oil.
Make the dough:
- Mix all of the dough ingredients together to make a soft, elastic dough. Knead dough for 5 minutes then divide in half, form two balls, cover, and let rest for at least 15 minutes and up to an hour.
- Oil two 12″ squares of parchment paper with your hands and press each piece of dough on the parchment. Form 11″ to 12″ circles about 1/8″ thick. Brush the crusts with more olive oil, and let them rest for about 30 minutes while you make the buffalo cauliflower.
Make the buffalo cauliflower:
- Add cornstarch, flour, baking powder, garlic powder, paprika, cayenne (if using), salt, and pepper in a large bowl and stir until well combined. Add milk and water and whisk until a smooth, thin batter is formed, adding up to 2 tablespoons additional water if batter is too thick.
- Add cauliflower and stir gently until florets are evenly coated with batter.
- Lift one piece of cauliflower at a time and allow excess batter to drip off. Arrange cauliflower pieces in a single layer on prepared baking sheet (preferably nonstick). Bake 20 minutes, turning half way, until golden on both sides. If you are preheating a pizza stone, the baking sheet with the cauliflower can be set on the stone during baking.
- While cauliflower is baking, make the buffalo sauce by combining Frank’s red hot sauce and vegan butter. Prep additional pizza toppings. Make ranch dressing.
Make the pizza:
- Remove cauliflower from oven and increase oven temperature to 475 degrees. Place cauliflower in a clean bowl. Drizzle 1/4 cup buffalo sauce over florets and stir gently to coat.
- Using a pizza peel or the back of a clean baking sheet, slide the crusts with their parchment directly on to the stone. Or, if you are worried about getting oil on your stone, put the crusts with their parchment on a clean baking sheet and place that on the pizza stone. Bake until crusts are starting to brown on the edges, about 4 minutes.
- Remove crusts from the oven. Spread remaining buffalo sauce on dough and top with coated cauliflower. Spread evenly. Top with red onion and celery. Place in the oven for 8-12 more minutes, or until crust is brown and crispy.
- Remove from the oven and top with ranch, green onion and cilantro to serve.
Notes
The “00” refers to the grind of the flour – 00 flour is exceptionally fine-textured and is perfect for all types of pizza.
Inspiration:
http://www.franksredhot.com/recipes/buffalo-cauliflower-bites-RE2226-1
https://www.seriouseats.com/recipes/2013/02/crispy-buffalo-fried-cauliflower-recipe.html