This is going to blow your mind. This turned out to be the most amazing pizza—ever. I was inspired by Kelly over at Vegan Thyme who made this using Gardein, but because Gardein never seems to agree with me, I thought I’d sub in cauliflower. A friend had made buffalo “wings” from cauliflower and used this recipe from PETA. If anything, try the wings—they are incredible! (just double it if you’re feeding a crowd). March Madness, anyone? Can I tell you how excited we are that our CSU Rams have advanced?! GO RAMS!!
So, making cauliflower wings is definitely going to add to your prep time, so I recommend enlisting some help. That’s why you had kids, right? The Eighth Grader was a great sous chef. I also made several changes to the original, just based on what I had on hand, so feel free to tweak the recipe. This recipe is going to require a certain timing of tasks, but thankfully, they’re all easy to do. So, get ready for some amazing pizza that you won’t mind making again and again!
INGREDIENTS:
Wings:
1 C almond milk
1 C flour (any variety)
2 tsp garlic powder
1 head cauliflower, chopped into pieces
1 C buffalo wing sauce (I used Wing Time)
1 Tbs olive oil or Earth Balance, melted
Dough: (I made a quick, no-rise pizza dough. So if you like a thin crust, crispy dough, this is a good one to use. Otherwise, if you have more time, I recommend a yeast-based one).
2-1/2 C flour
2-3/4 tsp baking powder
1 tsp salt
1 Tbs olive oil
3/4 C to 1 C warm water
Pizza:
3 large russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced thin (my sous chef used a potato chip slicer—major time saver)!
3/4 C red onion, chopped
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp dried rosemary
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/4 tsp black pepper
5 mushrooms, diced
3 celery stalks, sliced
1 tsp olive oil
Daiya mozzarella, optional
Vegan ranch dressing (Try Follow Your Heart Vegan Ranch or make your own)
Sauce:
2 Tbs flour
1/3 C warm water
3 Tbs Earth Balance
1 C vegetable broth, warmed up
Dash or two of red wine vinegar
DIRECTIONS:
So, first off, prep the potatoes. Once they’re sliced, place in a bowl of water with 1 tsp of salt and let sit for 30-45 minutes. This is a good time to make the dough and chop up the mushrooms, celery, and cauliflower. Drain the potatoes and season them with the rosemary, basil, and pepper; stir in the red onion.
To make the dough, mix the dry ingredients together in a stand mixer. Slowly add the olive oil and warm water until you have a dough that is just slightly sticky. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes.
This is where timing comes in. Preheat oven to 400. Roll out the dough to fit an 11″x17″ pan. I actually let it hang over the edges a little to account for shrinkage:
Stick with a fork in several places and bake 5 minutes. This is also where you’ll need a hand. While your amazing helper lines the crust with the potatoes and onions . . .
. . . you’ll want to be making the “wings.” Pretty easy: Preheat oven to 450. Whisk together the milk, flour and garlic powder in a medium bowl. You’ll have a pancake batter-like consistency. Add the cauliflower and coat them completely; transfer to a baking dish.
Bake for 15-18 minutes . . .
While they’re baking, whisk together the wing sauce and olive oil (or Earth Balance). Loosen the cauliflower if it’s stuck to the dish. Pour the wing sauce over the cauliflower and bake another 5-8 minutes.
Now, while those are baking, saute up the celery and mushrooms in the olive oil. Also, start the sauce in a small saucepan. Combine the 2 Tbs of flour and 1/3 C warm water; set aside. Melt the 3 Tbs of Earth Balance in a the pan and add 1 Tbs of the flour-water mixture and whisk until smooth. Slowly whisk in the rest over medium heat. Just a little at time, add the broth. Whisk until thickened; add the red wine vinegar.
So now, your wings are ready to come out of the oven. Throw the pizza in the oven (still at 400 degrees) and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes start to brown on the edges. This is a good reason to use a slicer to make them thin, otherwise, they’ll take too long to cook and your crust will be lovely shade of black. I then chopped up the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces.
It even looks like chicken pieces! Try not to eat it all yet. Combine the cauliflower in a bowl with the celery and mushrooms and pour the sauce over them and coat well. When you have just a few minutes left on the potatoes, sprinkle the top with a little Daiya cheese.
Yum!
Cut into squares and top with the cauliflower/veggie mix and ranch dressing. Thoroughly enjoy!
- Wings:
- 1 C almond milk
- 1 C flour (any variety)
- 2 tsp garlic powder
- 1 head cauliflower, chopped into pieces
- 1 C buffalo wing sauce (I used Wing Time)
- 1 Tbs olive oil or Earth Balance, melted
- Dough: (I made a quick, no-rise pizza dough. So if you like a thin crust, crispy dough, this is a good one to use. Otherwise, if you have more time, I recommend a yeast-based one).
- 2-1/2 C flour
- 2-3/4 tsp baking powder
- 1 tsp salt
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- ¾ C to 1 C warm water
- Pizza:
- 3 large russet or Yukon Gold potatoes, sliced thin (my sous chef used a potato chip slicer---major time saver)!
- ¾ C red onion, chopped
- 1 tsp salt
- ½ tsp dried rosemary
- ½ tsp dried basil
- ¼ tsp black pepper
- 5 mushrooms, diced
- 3 celery stalks, sliced
- 1 tsp olive oil
- Daiya mozzarella, optional
- Vegan ranch dressing (Try Follow Your Heart Vegan Ranch or make your own)
- Sauce:
- 2 Tbs flour
- ⅓ C warm water
- 3 Tbs Earth Balance
- 1 C vegetable broth, warmed up
- Dash or two of red wine vinegar
- So, first off, prep the potatoes. Once they're sliced, place in a bowl of water with 1 tsp of salt and let sit for 30-45 minutes.
- This is a good time to make the dough and chop up the mushrooms, celery, and cauliflower. Drain the potatoes and season them with the rosemary, basil, and pepper; stir in the red onion.
- To make the dough, mix the dry ingredients together in a stand mixer. Slowly add the olive oil and warm water until you have a dough that is just slightly sticky. Knead on a lightly floured surface for 5 minutes.
- This is where timing comes in. Preheat oven to 400. Roll out the dough to fit an 11"x17" pan. I actually let it hang over the edges a little to account for shrinkage:
- Stick with a fork in several places and bake 5 minutes. This is also where you'll need a hand. While your amazing helper lines the crust with the potatoes and onions
- you'll want to be making the "wings." Pretty easy: Preheat oven to 450. Whisk together the milk, flour and garlic powder in a medium bowl. You'll have a pancake batter-like consistency. Add the cauliflower and coat them completely; transfer to a baking dish.
- Bake for 15-18 minutes
- While they're baking, whisk together the wing sauce and olive oil (or Earth Balance). Loosen the cauliflower if it's stuck to the dish. Pour the wing sauce over the cauliflower and bake another 5-8 minutes.
- Now, while those are baking, saute up the celery and mushrooms in the olive oil. Also, start the sauce in a small saucepan. Combine the 2 Tbs of flour and ⅓ C warm water; set aside. Melt the 3 Tbs of Earth Balance in a the pan and add 1 Tbs of the flour-water mixture and whisk until smooth. Slowly whisk in the rest over medium heat. Just a little at time, add the broth. Whisk until thickened; add the red wine vinegar.
- So now, your wings are ready to come out of the oven. Throw the pizza in the oven (still at 400 degrees) and bake for 10-15 minutes, or until the potatoes start to brown on the edges. This is a good reason to use a slicer to make them thin, otherwise, they'll take too long to cook and your crust will be lovely shade of black. I then chopped up the cauliflower into bite-sized pieces.
- It even looks like chicken pieces! Try not to eat it all yet. Combine the cauliflower in a bowl with the celery and mushrooms and pour the sauce over them and coat well. When you have just a few minutes left on the potatoes, sprinkle the top with a little Daiya cheese.
- Cut into squares and top with the cauliflower/veggie mix and ranch dressing. Thoroughly enjoy!
narf77 says
I take it the “RAMS” are a football team? (Or maybe baseball? who would know when you don’t live in the U.S. 😉 ) whatever your team is, there isn’t anything better to celebrate or just watch a “game/match” than an all out hearty chunk/wedge of sustanence to consume to keep the effects of the booze you are also quaffing down enough to enjoy the game to the end without passing out. This monumental “chunk” is just the ticket and would most definately ward off the effects of copious quantities of alcohol till after the game when it was needed to either salve a loss or eliminate your inhibitions and allow you to dance unhindered (and most probably naked) on the table in celebration…well done! 🙂
epicureanvegan says
Hahaha! You’ve really thought about this! (and you pretty much nailed it, too)! Colorado State University is right here in Fort Collins, CO, and their basketball team are on fire right now. It’s kinda a big deal around here when that happens!
narf77 says
LOL! I missed that one didn’t I? We Aussies are not huge followers of anything other than our version of football which you guys would consider suicide because we don’t wear protection and it’s anything goes to get the ball ;). Love your recipe by the way and it’s perfect for our rapidly approaching winter, enjoy your spring, we are totally over summer and you are completely welcome to it! 😉
epicureanvegan says
That’s hilarious, because we are so over winter and ready for spring. The 6-8 inches of snow we’re getting right now is definitely not helping!
narf77 says
Lets agree to make a handover then? Our grass is dead, our garden is gasping and Australians are sick to death of bushfires, curled up sepia toned leaves and invading bush animals hell bent on supplementing their meagre diets with anything growing in our gardens. Totally and utterly OVER IT! It’s yours, I gift it to you with a lovely ribbon and you can have it for the next 6 months with impunity. If you like, you can have it for a bit longer…try 10 months? I am not being greedy but an extended period of winter isn’t all that bad here when the lowest we go is 34F and we don’t get frost (too close to the river). What the heck…keep it for a while! It’s yours! 😉
epicureanvegan says
How generous of you! Although, I should be careful what I wish for because we’ve already had one forest fire this month! Our mountains practically burned up last summer and what’s left or what’s grown back is going to get fried again. I really should be more grateful for the blowing, drifting, piles of white crap we got overnight. *Sigh* But you’re still welcome to it.
narf77 says
It will float away (melt?) before it gets to us, we don’t get snow here, just rain and mud and delightfully cold days that make you glad to be alive when you walk into a house warmed to the max by a wood fired oven 🙂 I am smiling in anticipation. Cheers for the winter and hopefully you won’t get burned out this year. Tasmania (where I live) was pretty much burned to the ground by bushfires this year and we certainly don’t need any more in the coming season!
epicureanvegan says
Now, that’s a winter I could get used to! Snow-less. Cheers and enjoy the cooler temps!