Cauliflower and Green Olive Pizza

Start by making the dough ahead of time. You can let this rise for 12 hours, or what I’ve been doing is letting it ferment on the counter, covered, for up to 3 days.

Add your water, yeast, and sugar into a small mixing bowl. Give that a quick stir, then let the yeast bloom for about 15 minutes. During this time, add the flour and salt into a larger mixing bowl. I use the same large mixing bowl to let the dough rise in. Give that a stir.

Once the yeast has bloomed, pour it into the large mixing bowl. Either by hand or with a mixer, gently mix the ingredients until the dough forms. Continue mixing for about 2 minutes. Cover with plastic wrap, then cover with a towel. Set the bowl in a warm spot until the dough doubles or triples in size, about 4 hours. Again, I go longer on the rising process.

About one hour before you are ready to make the pizza, preheat your oven to 500 F. Once the dough has risen, take some flour and lightly toss it onto a pastry board. Use a bench scraper or wooden spoon and take the dough out of the bowl and onto the board. Let it rest for a few minutes while you make the sauce and prepare your cauliflower.

To make the bechamel sauce, melt the butter in a small saucepan over medium heat. Once melted, add the flour, and cook the flour on medium heat, stirring for a few minutes. Once the flour is cooked through, add in the milk, and continue to stir until you have a nice thick sauce. Season with salt and pepper, and set it aside.

If you have a mandolin, I strongly encourage you to use it on this recipe. Thinly slice the cauliflower, almost paper thin if you can. Do the same with the garlic. Add both into a mixing bowl, and toss in the green olives, Parmesan cheese, salt, olive oil and red pepper flakes. Give that a good toss.

Add the olive oil (from the dough ingredients list) into a large rimmed baking sheet and lightly coat the sheet. Now get your dough and gently pull and stretch it to cover the baking sheet.

Add the sauce to lightly coat the dough. Cover the sauce with the cauliflower mixture, from edge to edge. Sprinkle with the breadcrumbs, and place into the preheated oven for 25-30 minutes, or until it is golden brown.

Remove the pizza from the oven. If you have one, move the pizza to an aerated cookie sheet to cool for a few minutes. Then slice and serve.

When I first bit into the pizza, I was literally blown away. You get this creamy base, and the cauliflower had this light earthiness which added great flavor along with the perfection of roasted garlic. When I bit into the olive, well, it was an explosion in my mouth. I never knew that the combination of cauliflower and olives would be so amazing! I wondered if my wife would try it—she is not a fan of olives. But she tried a slice, and fell in love. This cauliflower and olive pizza was dynamite. I’m so glad my colleague talked about it and led me to make it. I hope you enjoy.