Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Pizza
I know I’ve mentioned it before, but my husband and I try to eat at least a couple of vegetarian dinners each week. One of the easiest and best ways I’ve found to make this happen is with PIZZA.
I mean seriously, everybody loves pizza, and given the right toppings, nobody will miss the meat at all.
Also, any veggie pizza is automatically 500% less greasy than a pie with pepperoni on it, so you won’t be doing the old blot-this-awkwardly-with-a-napkin-before-I-eat-it trick.
This roasted cauliflower and garlic pizza isn’t exactly a 10-minute pizza recipe, but it’s also not very hard at all. In fact, there are basically just three steps:
1.) roast some cauliflower and a head of garlic (this can be done up to 3 days in advance)
2.) make the roasted garlic cream cheese (this can also be done early), and
3.) assemble and bake your pizza (on a pizza stone if you’ve been lucky enough to have a friend buy you one for Christmas!)
My relationship with cauliflower is simple: I don’t spend any time thinking about it, and it returns the favor. I’ve never understood why RAW cauliflower is offered on veggie trays, and I’ve always steered clear.
I decided to try working it into my diet a little more. Just like with broccoli and asparagus and sweet dumpling squash soup, I knew it would be good roasted. You want to get it nice and brown, so roast it for about 50 minutes.
You can put your head of garlic, wrapped in foil, on the same pan. That will take just 10 minutes longer than the cauliflower does.
Now, I made a big mistake here. I only roasted one head of garlic (the amount needed for this pizza). That means I had to resist the urge to slather it on bread and eat it before it got the chance to fufill it’s pizza destiny.
Take it from me, always roast 2 heads (or even 3, if you’re making roasted garlic dip). One for whatever recipe you’re making, and one for general snacking purposes (or to make a second pizza using roasted garlic, like my recipe for chicken pizza).
You’ll be happier that way. Really, who could resist this?
Once you’ve had a quick cook’s snack, mash your second head of garlic into some cream cheese (cream cheese is also the secret ingredient in my slow cooker beef stroganoff and chicken stroganoff). That will function as the “sauce” for this pie. Throw on the roasted cauliflower, chives, and shredded Parmesan.
Because I still wanted a bit of tomato flavor even without the traditional sauce, I also sliced up some Roma tomatoes and put those on there, too.
MORE GREAT PIZZA RECIPES:
- Detroit Style Pizza Recipe – with pickled tomatoes!
- Chicken Pizza with Mozzarella & Roasted Garlic – grill or bake it.
- Loaded Baked Potato Pizza – comfort food mashup!
- Teriyaki Turkey Pizza – bookmark this for leftover Thanksgiving turkey.
- Smoked Salmon Pizza – brunch pizza? why not!
- Cheeseburger Pizza – one of my family’s favorite dinners.
![The easiest way to eat a vegetarian meal? PIZZA! Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Pizza. | foxeslovelemons.com](https://foxeslovelemons.com/wp-content/uploads/2013/04/Roasted-Cauliflower-and-Garlic-Pizza2-320x320.jpg)
Roasted Cauliflower and Garlic Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 head cauliflower, florets separated and thinly sliced
- Olive oil
- Kosher salt and ground black pepper, to taste
- 1 head garlic, top of bulb trimmed off until tops of cloves are exposed
- 1 ball (1 pound) of homemade pizza dough, or store-bought
- Nonstick cooking spray
- 1/2 cup cream cheese
- 2 Roma tomatoes, sliced into 1/4-inch thick slices
- 1/4 cup shredded Parmesan cheese
- 1-1/2 tablespoons chopped fresh chives
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees F. Place cauliflower on rimmed baking pan. Drizzle with oil and sprinkle with salt and pepper. Place garlic on piece of foil; drizzle with a small amount of oil and tightly wrap foil around bulb. Place garlic on same pan as cauliflower.
- Roast cauliflower until very brown, about 50 minutes, stirring occasionally. Transfer cauliflower to bowl, then return pan with garlic to oven. Roast garlic until it is dark golden brown and very soft, about 10 minutes longer. Let garlic stand for 5 minutes or until cool enough to touch.
- Place pizza stone in oven (leave at 400 degrees F).
- Toss and stretch pizza dough into a 14-inch circle. Once oven is preheated, carefully remove pizza stone from oven and spray with cooking spray. Carefully place dough on stone. Transfer to oven and bake 6 minutes.
- Meanwhile, squeeze garlic from it’s cloves into a small bowl. Add cream cheese and mash together with a fork.
- Remove crust from oven. Spread with cream cheese mixture, then top with cauliflower, tomatoes, cheese and chives. Bake 8 minutes longer, or until crust is cooked through and toppings are hot.
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Hi, I wanted to try cauliflower on pizza and luckily i landed on your page first. it was exactly what i wanted. My family loved it and i made it following your tips and ideas exactly. My only addition was that i made a homemade sourdough pizza crust. I never made that b4 either so I hit 2 birds with one stone. Anyway, thanks for the great recipe.
I’m so glad to hear this was a hit for your family, Joanne. Love the idea of sourdough pizza crust!
Sounds delish. I must try this. Thanks.
This is just heaven on a plate! I love love love roasted cauliflower but never tried it on pizza before… It looks amazing, thanks for the idea!
Thanks so much, Sara! Roasted cauliflower is underrated, for sure. I don’t know why more people don’t love it like we do 🙂
Store bought frozen pizza dough? Are you really a ccrdible food blogger and chef? Just how hard is it to make pizza dough? Flour, yeast, honey, salt, water let dough rise, punch it down, knead the dough and you’ve got pizza dough.
The fall of civilization is frozen store bought pizza dough, microwave and fast food.
I’m sorry you feel that way, Colleen. My mission is to encourage people to enjoy the act of cooking at home. In my opinion, that’s all about balance, and this recipe reflects that. Readers have an option to make homemade dough if they’d like, or start with store-bought. If feeling obligated to make homemade dough is the only thing that stands in the way of a homemade meal vs. getting fast food, then by all means, I think people should start with that frozen dough. I’m lucky enough to have a locally-made brand of frozen dough available to me that is made with just the ingredients you list: flour, yeast, honey, salt, water. I’m willing to save myself a little time in the kitchen by starting with a good-quality frozen dough.
I use roasted vegetables a good deal on pizza for vegan daughter. A mixture of zucchini, peppers, sliced tomatoes, roasted cauliflower, eggplant, fresh herbs on a bed of fresh tomato sauce topped with vegan cheese. For those who enjoy mushrooms-they too are added. Sometimes crumble vegan patties as the “meat” which is not missed. For the meat eaters, I add Italian sausage and or anchovies. Pizza with a lot of ingredients is generally called pizza a la capricciosa- sort of as my whimsy takes me.
Years ago, when my children (now in their 50’s) were at home, I used to make and store 9 inch pizza shells. When their friends came over, I used to set out all sorts of toppings for them to make their own pizza.
It was fun, put their hands and imaginations to good use. They had a great deal of fun-in a safe place.
This sounds like such a great idea for kids, Kathryn! I could see doing something like this with my niece when she comes to visit. Thanks so much for stopping by 🙂
I just made this for dinner. It was awesome! The cream cheese/roasted garlic base made the pizza extra delish.
I’m so glad you liked it, Amanda! Thanks so much for stopping by and letting me know 🙂
Do you you mean a clove or a head of garlic?
Oh, I mean a whole HEAD of garlic, Ginlyn. Shoot – I just realized I said “clove” a few times in the post when I really meant “head.” I’m going to go back and change it now so it’s more clear from here on out. Thanks for asking!
Oh, I mean a whole HEAD of garlic, Ginlyn. Shoot – I just realized I said “clove” a few times in the post when I really meant “head.” I’m going to go back and change it now so it’s more clear from here on out. Thanks for asking!
Thanks so much – this is one of my favorite pizzas, for sure 🙂
Your pizza looks wonderful. Just love that you add the roasted garlic and cauliflower. Yum!
Your pizza looks wonderful. Just love that you add the roasted garlic and cauliflower. Yum!
Thanks so much – this is one of my favorite pizzas, for sure 🙂
I’m so glad he enjoyed it! Thanks so much for reading!
Thank you for yr womderful recipe 🙂 my son loved it …!
Thank you for yr womderful recipe 🙂 my son loved it …!
I’m so glad he enjoyed it! Thanks so much for reading!
That is one amazing-looking pizza! Loving the roasted garlic cream chese – yum!!
Your pizza looks so delicious! The only way I tend to eat cauliflower is with lots of cheese on, but roasted and on a pizza sounds like a great idea!
Thanks Rosie! Yeah, cauliflower definitely needs cheese for me, too! Or curry.
Oh, my gosh, your pizza looks terrific! Roasted garlic AND roasted cauliflower??? I’m sold. Just pinned it…’cause I want it!!!!
Awesome, thanks Liz! Please let me know how it turns out 🙂
I love roasted cauliflower! Putting it on pizza is a great idea!
Thanks Laura!
I love cauliflower on pizza! This looks delicious!! 🙂
Thanks Puja!
Never had cauliflower on pizza, this is a must try, your photo’s are stunning.
Thanks! I don’t know if I’d ever had cauliflower on a pizza before trying this either, but something struck me to do it!