A slice of broccoli pizza. (Jen Carlson/Gothamist)
Last month I got pretty into Cauliflower Pizza, which is not pizza with cauliflower on top, but rather a pizza crust made with cauliflower. Cauliflour, if you will. This weekend I decided to make a springtime adaptation of the recipe, with a lush green broccoli subbing in for the wintery beige hues of cauliflower.
While cauliflower has almost no taste on its own (though does absorb seasonings pretty well), broccoli does come with more of a built-in flavor. This distinction makes these two vegetable-based pies significantly different. With broccoli you may want to go with a cleaner, fresher topping selection—I tried yellow bell peppers, chopped tomatoes, and shallots, along with some grated parmesan. But broccoli also pairs wonderfully with some spice: so sprinkling on some red pepper flakes, or even sriracha (which I tried, and loved), is recommended.
Why would you try this instead of a slice from your local pizza joint? Maybe you want something different, maybe you're gluten-free, maybe you want to absorb broccoli's many health benefits. And besides all that, your mom called and said to eat more of those adorable little trees, so why not do that through pizza? Here's how:
Broccoli pizza with yellow peppers, shallots, tomato, parm. (Jen Carlson/Gothamist)
Broccoli Pizza Dough
- A few tiny heads of broccoli (you basically want 3 cups, once grinded up)
- 2 eggs
- 1/2 cup grated parm (or more!)
- Mince fresh garlic to mix in, or just use some garlic powder
- Sprinkle in some salt and pepper
Instructions
First, wash and grind up the broccoli in your food processor. Once that's done, you CAN heat it up in your microwave for 5 minutes, or cook it (for that same amount of time) with a little bit of water in a pot or pan. But as I recently learned with the cauliflower pizza... you don't actually need to do this. Whether you do or not, the next step is crucial...
Place the ground up broccoli into a piece of cheesecloth, and wring every last drop of water out of it. This is important!
Now you have a nice ball of dry broccoflour, which you will mix with two eggs, about a half cup of grated parm, and some salt, pepper, and garlic if you want. Here you can also add goat cheese, or cream cheese, or anything that will further help to keep the mass together—but it's not necessary.
Next up, form the whole thing into a crust on a parchment paper lined baking sheet, and bake at 400ºF for about 10 minutes (or until it starts to get a little golden at the edges). Remove from oven, and top with whatever toppings you'd like, then return to the oven for another 10 minutes.
Remove from the oven and try to let it cool for a few before slicing it up.
