Me, You & The Veggies Too: Cauliflower and Pickled Pepper Taco Pizza Recipe
Chris Decker, Managing Partner, Metro Pizza, Las Vegas
If you are anything like me, you love pizza and tacos! This month I am going to give you a little mash up. A while ago there was a question asked on one of the many pizza groups, “What is an under-utilized pizza topping?” My answer: cauliflower. I absolutely love it roasted and added to a pizza. It is also great added to mac and cheese. The same principles apply: melted cheese and cauliflower go together well. It is magic. For this recipe I roast and treat the cauliflower like pork carnitas. The flavors are great, and for those of you that are looking to skip meat once in a while or a great vegetable option for your pizza, give this a try. There is some prep involved with this one, though. The pickled onions and the pickled peppers take a day or so to set up. But it is definitely worth the time.
This recipe will make three to four 10-12-inch pizzas. Enjoy!
Chris Decker is managing partner at Metro Pizza in Las Vegas, NV. Instagram: @everythingbutanchovies
- 12-16 oz whole milk mozzarella
- *For the cauliflower:
- 1 head of cauliflower
- 2 tablespoon olive oil
- 1½ teaspoon ground cumin
- 1 teaspoon ancho chile powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- pinch kosher salt
- *For the pineapple pickled peppers:
- 10-12 serrano peppers, thinly cut on a bias
- 1 cup white vinegar
- 1 cup pineapple juice
- 2 tablespoon sugar
- 1 teaspoon kosher salt
- 4 garlic cloves
- *For the citrus pickled onion:
- 1 whole red onion sliced thin
- 1 -2 lemons
- *Post bake toppings:
- Fresh Cilantro
- Chipotle sauce (store bought is fine)
- To roast the cauliflower, cut the cauliflower into florets and add them to a mixing bowl.
- Add the oil, cumin, chile powder, paprika and salt.
- Toss to incorporate all the spices into the cauliflower.
- Add the spiced cauliflower to a sheet pan and roast at 500-550 F for 10-15 minutes, tossing and turning every couple of minutes to get an even cook and char marks.
- When the cauliflower is tender and thoroughly roasted, take out of oven and let cool. Once cooled, wrap and refrigerate.
- To pickle the onions, put your thinly sliced onions into a bowl and squeeze the lemon over the onion. Once all the juice is covering the onions, toss and make sure the lemon juice is hitting all the onion. For the first hour or so, keep turning the onions and mixing them in the lemon juice.
- Cover and refrigerate.
- To pickle the peppers, put the sliced peppers in a bowl.
- Add the vinegar, pineapple juice, salt and sugar to a sauté pan and boil, stirring carefully until the sugar and salt are dissolved.
- Pour solution over the cut peppers, cool and wrap.
- Stretch your dough to desired size and add to a floured pizza peel.
- Top with 4 ounces of mozzarella, then arrange the roasted cauliflower around the pizza.
- Bake pizza for 10-12 minutes at 550 F, turning when needed to ensure proper bake.
- When finished baking, remove pizza from oven and let cool on a rack for a minute or two.
- Cut pizza into six slices and, using a spoon, drizzle chipotle sauce around pizza.
- Spread pickled peppers, pickled onion and fresh cilantro leaves over pizza and serve.
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