How much fun do I have transforming vegetables into dishes we never imagined eating? Cauliflowers turning into steaks, broccoli becoming a pizza, zucchini and pumpkins morphing into tortillas! Today, it’s the turn of these fake pizzettes made with cauliflower from Sicily! A type with a completely natural coloring given by anthocyanins, very useful antioxidant substances that we can also find in other vegetables like red cabbage, grapes, or blueberries. Of course, even though the appearance is different from that of the popular white cauliflower, the taste is almost the same, I would say just a bit more intense! It will be an alternative and much more inviting way to get your kids to eat this nutrient-rich vegetable, which unfortunately is not always appreciated! Preparing these fake pizzettes is really easy by the way! All you need is a good food processor, however, if you don’t have one, don’t panic, it will take a little more patience, but with a good santoku knife, with a wide blade, you can chop your cauliflower achieving the same result! Once chopped, just a few other ingredients are needed to create these single-portion delights that you can present at a buffet filled in a thousand different ways! I topped them with tomato sauce, oregano, cottage cheese, olives, and basil. Absolutely finger-licking good!
If like me, you love playing with vegetables and giving them a more inviting and appetizing look, you can’t miss these other proposals:
- Difficulty: Easy
- Cost: Very cheap
- Preparation time: 15 Minutes
- Portions: 8-9 pizzettes
- Cooking methods: Oven
- Cuisine: Italian
- Seasonality: Autumn, Winter
Ingredients
- 1.32 lbs cauliflower (already cleaned)
- 1/3 cup type 1 flour
- 2 eggs (small or 1 large)
- 1/3 cup grated Parmesan cheese
- to taste salt
- to taste pepper
- 9.9 oz tomato sauce (I use cherry tomatoes)
- 1 cup cottage cheese
- A few black olives
- to taste dried oregano
- A few leaves basil
- to taste extra virgin olive oil
Tools
- 1 Food processor
- 1 Bowl
- 1 Ladle
- 1 Baking tray
- 1 Parchment paper
Steps
Preparing these cauliflower pizzettes is really easy. After cleaning the cauliflower, cut it into florets and transfer them to the bowl of a good food processor (fig. 1).
Chop in bursts or alternatively you can grate them with a medium-hole grater or, whole, chop the cauliflower with a broad blade knife (fig. 2). Then transfer the chopped mixture into a large bowl, add the eggs, a pinch of salt, and pepper to taste (fig. 3).
Work with a spatula, then add the grated Parmesan cheese (fig. 4). Mix and add the flour last and mix until a workable dough is obtained (fig. 5).
For each pizzette, spread two spoonfuls of the mixture on a baking tray lined with parchment paper, trying to form thin disks with a diameter of 5-6 inches that you will need to flatten with the back of a spoon or, if desired, even with your fingers (fig. 6). Once all the mixture is used up, place in a static oven at 350°F for 20 minutes, then remove and add the tomato sauce as you would for normal pizzettes (fig. 7).
Flavor with oregano to taste and put back in the oven for another 10-13 minutes* (fig. 8).
Turn off, remove from the oven, and let cool slightly. I added cottage cheese, a drizzle of raw olive oil, pitted olives, and a few basil leaves.
And voila… your cauliflower pizzettes are ready to be enjoyed!
Bon Appetit from La Cucina di FeFè!
Storage
👉 You can store the cauliflower pizzettes without topping in the fridge in a suitable container for refrigeration for 2-3 days and heat them for a few seconds in the microwave or a few minutes in the oven before serving.
Tips, notes, variations, and suggestions
🟣 * If you want to add mozzarella instead of cottage cheese, I recommend using pizza mozzarella to prevent it from releasing too much water. Add it diced 5 minutes before the end of baking in the oven.
🟣 Besides my vegetarian version, these pizzettes are very versatile and, if needed, you can also top them with cold cuts, pickled mushrooms, sun-dried tomatoes, and other cheeses to your liking.
