Purple Cauliflower Pizza
This pizza is a feast for the eyes with its beautiful contrasting colors. Your taste buds will love it too. Roasted purple cauliflower, Brussels sprouts leaves, sweet peppers and raw tomato sauce all combine perfectly to make a delicious pizza.
- 1/2 batch White Wine Pizza Dough, about 14 ounces
- 1 small head purple cauliflower
- Extra virgin olive oil
- French gray sea salt
- 2 large Brussels sprouts heads
- 3 ounces raw tomato sauce
- 2 mini sweet peppers, sliced into rings
- Roasting cauliflower in the Artisan Fire Pizza Oven
- When I was young, the two most hated vegetables were Brussels sprouts and cauliflower. Really, really hated. This pizza is proof of two things. One, your tastes can definitely evolve as you get older. Two, roasting veggies with an open flame is pure magic. The caramelization of the sugars on the surface can totally change the flavor profile.
Prepare the pizza oven or grill for baking pizza (see separate instructions below).
For the Artisan Fire Pizza Oven
Preheat the oven with the back burner on HIGH and the bottom burner on LOW for at least 20 minutes.
For the Grill
Preheat the grill with the hood closed and a pizza stone on the grill grate until the stone is thoroughly heated to 500ºF. This can require up to 1 hour. (Some stones must be used in the indirect zone. Some can be placed directly over the fire.)
Preheat a cast iron fajita pan or skillet in the indirect cooking zone.
Break down the cauliflower into very small florets, discarding the stem portions. Toss the florets in olive oil to lightly coat and season generously with salt. Proceed with roasting, separate instructions follow.
For the Artisan Fire Pizza Oven (10 minute roasting time)
Place the cauliflower florets in a cast iron fajita pan or skillet and place the pan in the oven. Roast the cauliflower in the hottest part of the oven, turning occasionally, until the cauliflower has shrunk quite a bit and is brown on the edges, about 10 minutes. Remove from the oven and reserve.
For the Grill (30 to 40 minute roasting time)
Place the cauliflower florets in the preheated cast iron fajita pan or skillet. Close the hood and roast the cauliflower in the indirect zone until it has shrunk quite a bit and is brown on the edges, about 30 minutes. Remove from the grill and reserve.
Cut the base from the Brussels sprouts heads and separate all the leaves.
Form the dough to roughly a 12-inch pizza crust. Ladle on the tomato sauce. Top with the individual Brussels sprouts leaves, the roasted cauliflower and the sweet peppers. Transfer to a pizza peel.
For the Artisan Fire Pizza Oven (2 to 3 minute cooking time)
Transfer the pizza to the oven. Cook the pizza for 2 to 3 minutes, rotating a couple of times for even cooking. Check the bottom after a minute or so and insert a pizza screen if you wish to slow down the cooking of the bottom. Remove and serve when the perimeter is golden brown and beginning to blister.
For the Grill (10 to 12 minute cooking time)
Preheat the grill with the hood closed and a pizza stone on the grill grate until the stone is thoroughly heated to 500ºF. This can require up to 1 hour. (Some stones must be used in the indirect zone. Some can be placed directly over the fire.)
Transfer the pizza to the stone. Close the hood and cook for about 10 minutes. Rotate as needed for even cooking. Remove from the grill when the crust is golden brown..