Recipes abound for cauliflower pizza, but since I only had broccoli at home, I thought I'd give it a go with the greener and healthier vegetable variety! As luck would have it, broccoli happens to outperform cauliflower in every major nutritional category, especially in protein, fiber, calcium, iron, magnesium, zinc, and vitamins A, C, and K [1]. Because I prefer a bite-sized, personalized pizza (in other words, not having to share), I made these in mini pizzetta style. The recipe is so simple, it only takes a few ingredients and few minutes to prepare. The result is a tasty, healthy, gluten-free, vegan dish for the whole family to enjoy.
Ingredients:
- 16 ounce head of broccoli (2 cups)
- 2 eggs
- 1 Tbsp almond flour
- 1 Tbsp olive oil
- 1 tspn Italian seasoning (or mix containing oregano)
- 1/4 tspn garlic powder
- 1/4 tspn salt
- Toppings: pizza sauce, sliced onion, tomatoes, marinated artichokes
Directions:
- Preheat oven to 425 degrees
- Broccoli rice: place large head of broccoli in food processor and keep pulsing until it resembles grains of rice. You can also use a cheese grater. Measure out 2 packed cups of broccoli rice.
- Heat 1/4 cup water until steaming in a saucepan. Add the broccoli rice, turn off the heat, and cover the pan for 5 minutes to let it steam. Once steamed, squeeze the broccoli rice in a dish towel or paper towel to soak up extra water.
- Combine 2 eggs, olive oil almond flour, salt, and spice in a bowl. Add in the broccoli rice and mix everything well.
- Line parchment paper on a baking sheet and spread the mixture into round crusts. Mine were 4-5 inches across and supposed to be 1/2 an inch thick, but came out closer to 3/4 to 1 inch thick because I used the broccoli stalks, as well.
- Bake these for 15-20 minutes or until the edges are crispy and have peeled up.
- Remove the pan from the oven with your crust. Add desired toppings to the broccoli crust. I used 1 Tbsp pizza sauce per pizzetta, along with sliced onion, tomato, and mariated artichokes.
- Bake for another 5-8 minutes to warm the toppings.
References
[1] Abdull Razis, A.F., et al., “Cruciferous vegetables: dietary phytochemicals for cancer prevention,” Asian Pacific Journal of Cancer Prevention 2013; 14(3): 1565–1570.