Cauliflower Cheese is beautiful, and here I combine the idea of integrating it into the crust of the pizza, so that the flavours are both in and out of the pizza. The cherry tomatoes bring it together with a burst of sweetness, and the olives give it a bitter twist and a kick – so that every part of your mouth experiences joy all at once ! Serve with a salad of your choice – this goes very well with my Raw Crunchy & Zesty Coleslaw. Enjoy !
You should have enough to make 2 medium sized pizzas here
INGREDIENTS FOR THE DOUGH
½ oz (11g) fast-acting dried yeast (I use Saf-Instant dry baker’s yeast – available in the US from here, or in the UK from here)
1 tsp sugar
1 cup (250ml) water (room temperature)
3 cups (15 oz) mixed flour (2 cups unbleached white, 1 cup wholemeal)
1 tsp fine sea salt
1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp garlic powder, or finely chopped garlic
1 cup of grated vegan cheese (I used my cheddar cheese from my book)
1 cup of pre-steamed cauliflower florets (allow to cool completely)
plain flour for dusting
olive oil for drizzling
METHOD FOR THE DOUGH
- Place the yeast and sugar in a jug, and add 50ml /2 fl oz of the water. Then leave for about 15 minutes, or until the mixture starts to froth.
- Mix the flour and salt together, making a hole in the middle.
- Add in the oil, the yeast mixture and the rest of the water. Then mix with a wooden spoon to form a dough, and place dough in a floured bowl.
- When you come to roll out the pastry, add the grated vegan cheese, and start to embed the cauliflower florets into the pastry, dusting it with flour so that it doesn’t stick on your worktop. Don’t try to force all the florets in, but random pieces here and there, kneading carefully with a wooden rolling pin (keep it dusted with flour). Then shape, and place on a pre-greased pizza tray or oven dish.
- Add the remaining cauliflower, pressing it down into the pastry so that it’s kind of ‘glued’ in there – just do this in the places which don’t already have cauliflower.
- Now drizzle with the olive oil, and place in your hot oven, until the surface is a pale gold. Then remove from the oven (leave the oven on) for the filling.
(ALTERNATIVELY :
- If you wish to save time, you can process the dried ingredients in the food mixer, and mix for a minute or so.
- Then slowly add the rest of the ingredients, and process until they form into a ball. If the mixture is too dry, add a little more water – and if it is too wet, add a tiny bit of flour to be sure it stays in one piece.
- Remove from mixer and place in a floured bowl).
- Place a cloth over the bowl, and leave the dough to rise for around 30-40 minutes in a warm place (it may need a little longer depending on the temperature of the room). When it has doubled in size, it is ready for use.
- Now preheat your oven to 400ºF (200ºC).
- When you come to roll out the pastry, add the grated vegan cheese, and start to embed the cauliflower florets into the pastry, dusting it with flour so that it doesn’t stick on your worktop. Don’t try to force all the florets in, but random pieces here and there, kneading carefully with a wooden rolling pin (keep it dusted with flour). Then shape, and place on a pre-greased pizza tray or oven dish.
- Add the remaining cauliflower, pressing it down into the pastry so that it’s kind of ‘glued’ in there – just do this in the places which don’t already have cauliflower.
- Now drizzle with the olive oil, and place in your hot oven, until the surface is a pale gold. Then remove from the oven (leave the oven on) for the filling.
INGREDIENTS & METHOD FOR FILLING
a few tomatoes, sliced, or cherry tomatoes
1 large white onion, sliced
1 cup of grated vegan cheese (I used my cheddar cheese from my book)
1 cup of tofu squares, crumbled (I recommend Mori-Nu organic – from here in US or UK) – or you could use the ‘Beta Feta’ cheese from my book, with added plain tofutti
olives – black or green – although I like the chilli ones !
a pinch of dried oregano and salt on top
Lay the sliced tomato or cherry tomatoes on top of the pizza, then evenly distribute the white onion, and dot the olives around the pizza. Drizzle more olive oil, and place the pizza in the oven until golden on top, and the cheese has broken down – the edges of the pizza should be well golden. Bon Appétit !
All recipes and content © Miriam Sorrell www.mouthwateringvegan.com 2010
Hello Miriam, did you use the Mild Cheddar Cheese or the Mature Cheddar Cheese (which is delicious by the way) from the recipes in your book?
Maraika Hi, I used a mixture of my cheddars which I drizzled heavily with some olive oil and the rest is in the recipe ingredients. Hope you enjoy it ! 🙂
i am going to try this pizza this weekend.Looks splendid,Miriam you make being a vegan so wonderful.Thank you for your expertise..
Hi there Pam so glad you will try this – let me know how it goes as and when, and thanks for your very kind words, I appreciate them ! 🙂
This looks amazing. For people in the UK Asda sell Mori Nu Tofu for £1.18 and Allinson Dried Active Yeast as a possible alternative.
Thanks for that dear Helen ! 🙂
Oh, come on!!! This looks amazing. After years and years and years of off-again-on-again dairy eating, I am finally ready to concede: it’s not for me. My body rejects it…and it’s not right (for me), ethically. Anyway, Miriam, I’ve just ordered your book and can’t wait. I enjoy your facebook page and your blog..the book will be open in my kitchen on the day it arrives. Can’t wait and thanks so much for the beautiful recipes.
Sarah Hi there and thanks for dropping by here with your wonderful comment ! Thanks also for ordering my book and be sure to let me know when it reaches you ! A HUGE Kudos goes to YOU for choosing the vegan lifestyle and I hope you enjoy many more of my recipes from my blog and many new ones from my book. Very best wishes your way in the meantime ! 🙂
Does your website have a contact page? I’m having problems locating it but, I’d like to send you
an e-mail. I’ve got some suggestions for your blog you might be interested in hearing. Either way, great blog and I look forward to seeing it grow over time.
Miriam I am totally confused re the cheese instructions in this recipe. At one point you say to put the cheese on the shaped dough, then the cauli etc. and bake. Next you say to add the rest of the filling, and to add the 1 cup of cheese.
Val Hi, kindly note that this has been ammended. The confusion lay in having 2 ways of making the dough – the 1st method showed how to make the dough without adding the cheese, the 2nd one that mentions ‘alternatively’ had the cheese and cauliflower added to it. Kindly note that both dough and filling of the pizza have added cheese. Also note not to add all the cheese and cauliflower in the dough if it gets too messy, just add some of it and if there is extra add it to the filling together with the filling ingredients – there is no harm in having more topping on any pizza really. Enjoy !
You may contact me on my MWV FB page, I have a message facility there which is private. Thanks.
Hello,
Even tho this looks DE-LISH!! I must say I thought there were cheese substitutes since these are suppose to be vegan recipes. I am just wondering if I missed something. Is this a recipe off the norm or is there a cheese substitute that works just as well as cheese? I don’t mind the recipe currently because I now eat cheese but I plan to soon take it off my list.
Thank you.
The cheeses in this recipe are all vegan Nadlyah.
Hi Miriam, I made your Beta Feta today and was so impressed! It is not difficult to make, and I could not believe how good the result was. The only thing I would do differently would be to avoid adding any more salt than you recommend at the start, as I added up to a half teaspoon more to taste pre-baking but I think it dehydrated and therefore got too salty on completion. I sprinkled home grown thyme on mine- wonderful and would make again. Do you have more suggestions on how to use the feta?
Alice Hi, I am so glad you made and enjoyed my feta. You can enjoy and serve it in most salads, when making my Greek Spanakopita, and any recipes that ask for feta – it’s great on toast, crackers and in sandwiches as well as any dish that asks for ‘cheese’. With the other cheeses, ie the mozzarella and the cheddars double the agar powder and when heating do so on a low heat and stir for a while, this will help the gelatinious qualities of the agar to breakdown, thus yielding a dense enough cheese to slice. I mention to double the quantities for these particular ones as the revised recipes did not reach my publishers in time. I would so dearly love an Amazon Customer Review from you 🙂 , perhaps you could mention how much you enjoyed the feta. Be sure to use the remaining feta with unsalted salad until you make the next – using herbs with this cheese before (baking) will yield great surprises. Enjoy and thanks for the purchase too ! 🙂
Hi Miriam, thanks for the suggestions which sound yummy. Here’s a link to the review I wrote on 15th Sep: http://www.amazon.com/review/R2WBLK5040TBWW
Look forward to trying more of your recipes. Alice
Alice Hi there. That is so kind of you, thanks for taking the time to do this and best wishes your way always ! 🙂
Hi Miriam. I want to try making some of the cheeses that you provide recipes for in your cookbook (which I love!). I am wondering, can I grate and freeze the cheese (eg. the cheddar and the mozzarella)? I wouldn’t be able to use up all that the recipes make in the time that you say they would stay fresh in the fridge. so being able to freeze some would be perfect. What do you think?
Janet Hi there and thanks for dropping by here. I have frozen the cheeses from time to time yes, place them in a well sealed air tight bag and they should last for some weeks in the freezer ! Also Janet, be sure to be doubling the agar powder amount since the revised recipes did not reach my publishers in time, that’s for the mozzarella and the cheddars ! Best your way and I hope if you can spare a few minutes (if you haven’t already) write an amazon customer review if you are happy with my book ! Cheers and enjoy ! 🙂
Hi Miriam. I am so glad that I will be able to freeze the cheese. That will be so helpful.
Here is the review that I wrote for Amazon:
I own a lot of cookbooks and by far, this is my favourite. As a vegetarian who would like to become vegan, this will be the perfect guide. It is chocked full of great information and the recipes are to die for! The pictures make you want to make every recipe in the book and the suggestions provided by the Miriam, the author, make it easy to know what to do. Perhaps one of the most helpful things about the book is the fact that there are several recipes for making your own cheese. For many vegetarians, giving up cheese is the hardest thing to do and now you don’t have to! Thank you so much, Miriam, for providing such a wonderful resource!!!
Hi there Janet, many, many thanks for the review, will look out for it – presently I cannot see it, which amazon did you post it on (Canada ? States ? UK ?. Janet, if I haven’t told you already, be sure to double the amount of agar powder for the mozzarella and the 2 cheedars as the revised recipes did not reach my publishers in time. 🙂
Hi Miriam. Thanks for the advice about the amount of agar powder for the cheese. I have made a note.
I published the review on Amazon Canada.
Hi Miriam, just wanted to thank you again for your amazing Betta Feta Recipe. I used parsley and mint from the garden, and didn’t use any more salt than you advise in the recipe. The result is a delicious healthy spread for my toast this morning. Thank you!
Alice Hi there, so glad you made and enjoyed my Betta Feta recipe ! It has multiple uses and so glad you are enjoying it on toast. Tastes great on pizza and pasta dishes too, for that extra creamy edge-effect ! I look forward to your future comments on my blog ! 🙂
This sounds lovely. Going to give this a go. thanks for sharing this recipe.
Simon