Homemade Pizza - Cauliflower Crust - Fresh Mozzarella - Heirloom Tomatoes - Basil

I've been wanting to try making pizza with cauliflower crust for a while now.  This weekend when I was at the Farmer's Market, I  bought yellow cauliflower, beautiful heirloom tomatoes, and fresh mozzarella.  When I got home, I realized that I had the perfect ingredients to finally try the cauliflower crust.
I'll be honest..this recipe isn't one of my quickest ones.  But it is fairly easy.  I made it on Sunday night when I had some more time to cook than on weeknights.  The only thing that makes this recipe take more time is that after boiling the food processed cauliflower, you have to strain it and let it cool in the freezer before squeezing all the liquid out.  This process takes about 15 minutes.  However, while the cauliflower is cooling in the freezer, I prepped everything for a big salad. so it wasn't a waste of time.  I was very surprised at how filling this pizza was.  I can easily eat 4 slices of regular pizza, and I ate 3 small slices of this pizza and was satisfied!

Homemade Pizza - Cauliflower Crust - Fresh Mozzarella - Heirloom Tomatoes - Basil

Serves 2 people

• Olive oil, for greasing parchment paper
• 1 medium sized head of cauliflower
• 1/4 cup almond meal (also called almond flour)
• 1/4 cup + 3 tablespoons  golden flaxseed meal (ground golden flax seeds)
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 1 large egg

1. Place a pizza pan/stone the oven, or baking sheet if you don't have one. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place a large piece of parchment paper on your counter and brush generously with olive oil.  
2. Wash and throughly dry a small head of cauliflower. Cut off the florets and pulse in your food processor for about 30 seconds, until you get powdery snow like cauliflower. I ended up with 3 cups.
   
   
   
3. Pour the cauliflower into a large sauce pot, add just enough water to cover, and bring to a boil. 
   
   
   
4. Cover, reduce the heat and allow to cook for 5 minutes. Drain the liquid, then transfer the cooked cauliflower into a freezer-safe bowl. Place in the freezer to cool for 10 minutes.
5. Once cauliflower is cool enough to handle, wrap it up in a dish towel or double layer of cheesecloth and wring it out. You want to squeeze out as much water as possible. This will ensure you get a chewy and crispy pizza crust instead of a crumbly mess. 

   

   This is how I squeezed out the
   liquid from the cauliflower

   

   I squeezed 1 cup of liquid out of the cauliflower!  

6. Put the cauliflower into a bowl. Now add the almond meal, golden flaxseed meal, sea salt, dried oregano and dried basil.  Now add your egg and mix. I used my hands, but you can use whatever you feel comfortable with.
   
   
   
7. Once mixed together, use your hands to form the dough into a crust on your oiled parchment paper. Pat it down well because you want it nice and tightly formed together. Don't make it too thick or thin either.
   
   
   
8. Carefully slide the parchment paper onto your hot pizza stone or baking sheet in the oven. Bake for 10 - 12 minutes, until it starts to turn golden brown. Remove from oven.
9. Add however much sauce, cheese, and toppings you want. I added fresh mozzarella, sliced heirloom tomatoes, and fresh basil. 
10. Put the pizza back in the hot oven and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes until the cheese is melted,and bubbly.
    
    
    
    
    I hope you enjoy this recipe as much as I did!
    
    -Deniz
    The Chef in the City
    
    
    

Chipotle Barbecue Shiitake Mushroom Fajitas

Shiitake Mushrooms are amazing…especially for vegetarians.  They have a meaty texture and can take on that umami (meat-like) flavor with the right seasonings.  One of my favorite shiitake recipes is Shiitake "Bacon"….I have my own recipe that I will include below in case you are interested!
Anyways back to the Fajitas….my husband loves anything with barbecue sauce, so I figured that cooking the mushrooms in a chipotle barbecue sauce would be delicious.  Add in some sautéed onions and cubanelle peppers and you have a quick and easy meal with lots of flavor.






Chipotle Barbecue Shiitake Mushroom Fajitas

My favorite chipotle barbecue sauce
when I don't have time to make my own.

• 4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, divided
• 1 large onion, saute sliced (along the grain of the onion)
• 2 cubanelle peppers, sliced into 1/4 inch thick pieces
• 1/2 teaspoon sea salt
• 12 oz shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and sliced into 1/2 inch thick pieces
• 2 teaspoons tamari (or soy sauce)
• 1/3 cup of your favorite chipotle barbecue sauce (I use Deer Camp Black Bear Chipotle when I don't have time to make my own)
• Whole wheat tortillas
• 1 avocado, sliced into bite sized pieces
• 1/2 cup baby kale, or any green of your choice

** I have included photos below the procedure with additional comments**

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees Fahrenheit (only do this if you want to heat up your tortillas in the oven.)
2. Heat a large skillet over a medium high flame.  Add 2 tablespoons of olive oil, and when it is glistening sauté the onions until they are golden, about 5 minutes. Try to resist the urge to mix the onions.  If you let them sit in the skillet, they will get a beautiful golden color.
3. Add the peppers and 1/2 teaspoon of salt.  Sauté for 3-5 more minutes until the peppers are slightly tender.
4. While you are sautéing the onions and peppers, you can begin to cook the shiitake mushrooms.
5. In another large skillet, heat 2 tablespoons of olive oil over a medium-high flame.  Add the mushrooms and let sit for about 30 seconds before moving around.  Mix them every minute or so until they begin to glisten.
6. Add the tamari and use the liquid to help scrape the browned bits of mushroom from bottom of the pan.  The browned bits are called the fond. 
7. Once the tamari is absorbed, add the chipotle barbecue sauce and cook until the sauce is nicely coating the mushrooms.   I like my mushrooms a little crispy so I cooked them a little longer after all the liquid was absorbed.
8. Warm your fajitas up in the oven.
9. Cut up the avocado, and squeeze some lemon or lime nice on top.  Sprinkle with some salt.
10. Assemble your fajitas!  I layered baby kale, sautéed onions and peppers, mushrooms, avocado.  I also added some hot sauce!  You could even smash the avocado and spread it on the bottom of the tortillas.  The ptions are limitless :)

A saute slice is made by slicing the onion along the grain

Saute Slices

This is what the mushrooms

 look like when they are glistening

Shiitake "Bacon" - I promised I would include this!

• 1/2 pound shiitake mushrooms, stemmed and thinly sliced
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 1 tablespoon tamari (or soy sauce)
• pinch of salt

1. Preheat oven to 300 degrees Fahrenheit
2. In a large bowl, gently massage mushrooms with olive oil, tamari and salt.
3. Spread the mushrooms evenly on a parchment lined sheet tray and place in the oven.
4. Check them after 20 minutes for doneness.  They should be slightly crispy.

You can use shiitake bacon to make sandwiches, to put in salads ,or just snack on cuz they're that good!

Enjoy!

-Deniz

The Chef in the CIty

Summer Squash and Zucchini Lasagna with Basil Spinach Pesto

Its nice to garnish this lasagna with some fresh basil.  I used
basil from my plant that I keep in my kitchen window!

This easy meal came together because of leftovers!
I had extra cooked lasagna noodles from my mom, basil and spinach pesto that I had made earlier in the week and diced sautéed onions leftover from sunday morning omeletes.  I had fresh mozzarella in the fridge, summer squash and zucchini from the farmer's market and a jar of sauce in my cabinet!

This lasagna is nice and light and perfect for the summer or beginning of fall because it incorporates a lot of veggies and only fresh mozzarella instead of shredded mozzarella and ricotta cheese like traditional lasagna.


Summer Squash and Zucchini Lasagna with Basil Spinach Pesto

Ingredients:

• Whole wheat lasagna noodles, cooked (I like Bionaturae)
• 1- 16 oz jar of tomato sauce (I like Rao's Tomato Basil or Garden Vegetable because they taste like homemade sauce!)
• 1/2 cup pesto of your choice (I made a vegan Basil Spinach Pesto- you can also buy pre made pesto)
• 1 onion diced and sautéed in olive oil
• 1 large zucchini, sliced very thin using a vegetable peeler
• 1 large summer squash, sliced very thin using a vegetable peeler
• 1 teaspoon sea salt
• 6 ounces fresh mozzarella cheese ( you can use more if you like!)

** I have included photos below the procedure with additional comments**

1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees Fahrenheit.
2. In a 7"x11" glass dish, spread tomato sauce on the bottom, so that it pretty much covers the bottom of the dish.
3. Place down the lasagna noodles, cutting them to fit if necessary.
4. Spread some more tomato sauce on top of the noodles, then top with the sautéed onion.
5. Layer the slices of summer squash, and sprinkle with 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt and then top with more sauce, pesto and pieces of fresh mozzarella cheese.
6. Place down more lasagna noodles and repeat the process using zucchini this time.
7. The top layer of lasagna noodles will be topped with more tomato sauce.  Make sure you get sauce in the corners because nobody likes lasagna with dry edges!
8. To break it down, your layers are like this:
• sauce
• noodles- sauce- onion- summer squash- sauce- pesto- cheese
• noodles- sauce- pesto- zucchini- cheese
• noodles- sauce
9. Cover with foil, shiny side down and bake for 40 minutes. You should be able to see the sauce bubbling inside the layers. Remove from the oven, take off the foil, and top with fresh mozzarella.  Put back in the oven and bake 10 more minutes.
10. Remove from the oven and let cool for about 15 minutes before serving.

 How to Peel the Summer Squash and Zucchini:

Peel off first layer of skin from the zucchini and summer squash

Using a peeler, make thin slices (you do not want thick slices because they will not become tender)

How to layer the Lasagna:

Spread the sauce so that it pretty much covers the bottom of the dish

Add noodles, sauce, pesto and sautéed onions

Layer the squash, overlapping slightly.  Don't forget to sprinkle with salt!

Spread some more sauce and pesto on top of the squash and then  add pieces of mozzarella.  Repeat with the layer of zucchini.

Add the last layer of noodles and spread on more sauce, paying close attention to the edges.  Make sure you get sauce in the corners because nobody likes lasagna with dry edges!


I hope you enjoy this meal as much as I did.  It really doesn't take long to prepare. The part that takes the most time is when it is baking in the oven. It is a great meal to reheat during the week, and you can even freeze leftovers!- Deniz
The Chef in the City