Veggie-licious Cooking Class and Cauliflower Pizza
“Eat food. Not too much. Mostly plants.
That, more or less, is the short answer to the supposedly incredibly complicated and confusing question of what we humans should eat in order to be maximally healthy.”
This great quote comes from an article Michael Pollan wrote back in 2007. (Pollan is a journalist who specialises in writing about the food industry, health and environmental sustainability.) He is correct, this is exactly what we need to do to keep both ourselves, and the planet, healthy. But how do we do this?
simple topping of pesto, marinated feta and olives
Next month I will be running a Veggie-licious cooking class showcasing exactly that. Not only will I will be making delicious dishes with all types of different legumes but also showing simple ways to dress up your vegies to make them taste amazing!
So if you are in Sydney, have a look at this Veggie-licious class or any other of my classes, book in and join me for a fun, informative, delicious time.
For those not in Sydney, you can start by making this scrumptious cauliflower pizza.
Can you imagine the look of amazement on my husbands face when his dietitian-wife told him we were having pizza for dinner! Of course it wasn’t your usual style pizza, but one using cauliflower as the base which works wonderfully well (although the base is a little delicate, it does hold together, it’s just not as robust as a dough crust!). This results in a much lighter style pizza, that doesn’t give you a lump in your stomach after eating it. It is a great way of getting a large serve of vegetables in too as it is easy to eat a good helping of it.
I made a simple tomato sauce and roasted some vegies to go on top. By all means vary it as much as you like. Use a premade pasta sauce, vary the vegies, just don’t use processed meat on top! But definitely give it a go, as it’s deeeelicious! 🙂
- Base:
- 1 large (950g) cauliflower
- 1 egg
- 30g fresh grated parmesan cheese
- salt and pepper
- Toppings:
- 1 tablespoon extra virgin olive oil
- 1 large brown onion, diced
- 2 cloves garlic
- 1 x 400g tin diced tomatoes
- 1 teaspoon dried oregano
- ¼ cup red wine
- 1 cup diced pumpkin
- 1 small eggplant, sliced
- 1 small zucchini, sliced
- large handful baby spinach leaves, wilted in a pan or in the microwave for 30 seconds
- 30g feta cheese
- 2 tablespoons pesto
- Preheat the oven to 170 degrees and line two large baking trays with greaseproof paper.
- Roughly chop the cauliflower, then place in the bowl of a food processor and pulse until a rice-like texture is created. You may want to do this in two batches, depending on the size of your food processor.
- Add cauliflower to a frying pan and cook over medium heat for about 5 minutes until it softens. (You can also steam the cauliflower, but cooking it in the frying pan tends to dry it out better)
- Transfer cauliflower to a bowl and mix in egg, parmesan cheese, a pinch of salt and some pepper.
- Tip onto one of the prepared trays and form into a circle, oval or rectangular shape approx. 1 cm thick. (Note, if you don't have a large baking tray, then make 2 smaller pizzas)
- Cook for 30 minutes, until it firms and starts to go brown. Meanwhile prepare your toppings.
- Add a few teaspoons of oil and the diced onion to a small saucepan and cook over medium heat for 4-5 minutes, stirring all the time, or until onion softens and starts to brown.
- Add garlic and cook for 2 minutes before adding tinned tomatoes, oregano and red wine.
- Simmer for 5-6 minutes, then turn off and set aside until base is ready.
- Add diced pumpkin to a small bowl, drizzle with a little olive oil and toss to coat.
- Spread over ⅓ of the remaining oven tray lined with baking paper.
- Arrange eggplant and zucchini on the same oven tray and using a pastry brush, brush with a little olive oil.
- Bake in oven for 15-20 minutes, or until browned and softened.
- When the cauliflower base is cooked, spread the tomato sauce evenly over the base, then top with spinach and roasted vegetables.
- Crumble feta over the top and return to the oven for around 20 minutes.
- Lastly, dot evenly with pesto before serving.
- Enjoy!
