By Lilly Steirer of HEALthy Edgewater
As a gardener, one of the most important steps when growing the cool season plants that are currently in the ground, is to thin them so they have ample room to become radishes, beets, turnips, or heads of lettuce, spinach and arugula. The problem is, after investing time into growing these seeds, it is always a bit gut-wrenching to pull up a viable tiny plant in order to make this necessary room. My strategy has been to simply highlight these micro-plants in whatever dinner is happening that night. This unusual pizza is one of my favorite ways to celebrate this gardening step, especially as the sauce is cauliflower based and the bright jewel in the center is a runny yolk.
1 cup cauliflower, florets, chopped
1 clove garlic
½ cup broth, vegan or chicken
¼ cup almond
½ lemon, zest & juice
2 tablespoons grated parmesan cheese, or nutritional yeast
½ teaspoon salt
1lb pizza dough , as fresh as possible
1½ cup shredded mozzarella, more or less
3 slices prosciutto, optional
A Handful of Thinned seedlings and/or Baby Greens instead
1 egg
1 pinch black pepper, more to taste, if desired
Preheat the oven to 450. If you have a pizza stone, place it in the oven while it preheats. If the pizza dough was chilled, bring it up to room temperature.
Place the chopped cauliflower, garlic, broth and salt in a small pot and bring up to a simmer. Cook until the cauliflower is tender, about 8-12 minutes. Place all of the ingredients in the blender along with the almonds. Blend until smooth and creamy. Add a splash of water or broth if you can’t get it smooth. Add the parmesan cheese or nutritional yeast and the black pepper. Blend. Taste. Add more salt, cheese, or black pepper as desired.
Roll out the pizza dough, fairly thin. If it is too big for the pan, divide the dough into two crusts.
Working quickly at this point, remove the stone from the oven. Place the dough onto the pizza stone and pour on several scoops of cauliflower sauce, spread it all over and add more as desired.
Sprinkle on the shredded mozzarella, arrange torn pieces of the prosciutto all over and then crack the egg in the center of the pizza. Place in the oven to bake for 8-14 minutes depending on hot your oven may be.
Wash and prepare the baby seedlings or greens. When the pizza is done, or nearly done, sprinkle the sprouts and/or greens all over the pizza. The pizza is done when the crust and cheese are just turning golden and the white of the egg is cooked through.
Joel has been a resident of Edgewater, Colorado with his family since 2012. He is the Executive Director of local education nonprofit Edgewater Collective and Editor of the Edgewater Echo.
So Delicious!!