Vegan, gluten-free Recipe
Reuben Pizza! I love pizza, who doesn’t? So when I gave up dairy cheese and gluten, I thought I would have to leave one of my favorite foods behind. That was in the early 1990s. Since then, vegan cheeses have improved to the point where they not only taste great but many melt and stretch beautifully as well. So, I can finally have pizza that is more reminiscent of the gooey, cheesy gluten-packed version I used to enjoy as a kid.
I experimented with several Cauliflower Crust recipes. As a true New York area native, I like to hold my pizza in my hands and eat it. That is how I grew up. That is what I know! So a crust that turns to mush or falls apart in my hands is just not going to cut it! I took pieces of recipes, added some ingredients of my own and came up with this version of cauliflower crust. It works great! It is light, tasty and holds together beautifully. It passes the “pick it up and eat it with your hands” test!
This Reuben Pizza does not disappoint! For the “pastrami” I used marinated and air fried tempeh. I limit my consumption of processed vegan meats, and processed foods in general. So a version that is less processed that I flavor myself is a win-win. The tempeh pastrami works great!
This recipe tastes several steps to put together, but the result is well worth the effort!
CAULIFLOWER PIZZA CRUST
Ingredients
16 oz cauliflower, “riced” (about 4 cups cauliflower rice)
1/4 tsp sea salt
2 Tbsp Vegan Parmesan Cheese – I like Follow Your Heart
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp dried basil
1/2 tsp granulated garlic
1 cup gluten-free flour (I used Flour Farm)
Method
Preheat oven to 350 degrees F
To make the Cauliflower Crust for this Reuben Pizza, you can either rice the cauliflower yourself or purchase pre-riced cauliflower. To grate yourself, use a box grater or a food processor with the grating blade (different from the “S” blade) to rice the cauliflower. Set aside.
If using store bought, use a 16 oz bag of organic riced cauliflower as an alternative. This step will save you some time! Making this crust is a bit of a process, but so worth it!
Add the cauliflower rice to a large pot.
Add enough water to cover the cauliflower rice.
Bring the water with cauliflower to a simmer and cook for about 5 minutes to soften
Drain the cauliflower and let cool so that it is not too hot to handle.
Use a nut bag or very fine mesh strainer to squeeze some of the water out of the cauliflower. Since we will be mixing the rice with some flour, leave a small amount of water in the cauliflower to create a crust that will hold together better. Set aside.
In a large mixing bowl, add the gluten-free flour and seasonings. Mix until well combined.
Add the cauliflower rice and bring it all together with your hands. The dough should come together nicely and hold together well.
Line a baking sheet or pizza stone with parchment paper.
Use your hands to carefully spread the dough into a circle or square (depending on the shape you would like your pizza). I like to use a rolling pin with a piece of parchment in between the roller and the dough to ensure it doesn’t stick to the rolling pin. For a thinner crust, roll out to less than a 1/2-inch thick or so.
Bake crust for about 30 minutes.
While crust is baking you can prepare your pizza toppings
The edges should be slightly browned.
Then remove crust from the oven and carefully flip the crust.
The easiest way I have found to do this is to line a second pizza stone or pan with parchment and place it face down over the cooked crust. Holding the two pans together, gently turn the pan the crust was baking on over onto the new parchment lined pan. You will probably need oven mitts if pan one just came out of the oven (don’t burn yourself!)
Return the flipped crust to the oven and bake for an additional 15 minutes, or until the edges on the second side appear golden brown and the center feels mostly firm to the touch.
Remove the crust from the oven and let cool before adding your Reuben Pizza toppings.
You can even make a crust to freeze for another time as well.
Thousand Island Dressing
Ingredients
1/2 cup Vegannaise or other vegan mayo
2 TBS yellow onion, minced
1 tablespoons ketchup
1 tablespoons dill pickle relish
1/2 teaspoon lemon juice
1/4 teaspoon sweet paprika
1/4 tsp Vegan sriracha sauce (to add a little kick)
1/8 teaspoon sea salt
Method
Mix all ingredients together in a bowl and use as pizza sauce for Reuben Pizza.
Tempeh Reuben Marinade
1 package fresh tempeh (I use By-The-Brook Tempeh based out of Chapel Hill, NC)
Slice the tempeh into thin 1 ½ inch long slices
Ingredients For Marinade
1 tsp liquid smoke
1 tsp maple syrup
1 tsp vegan Worcestershire sauce
1 tsp gluten-free tamari or Bragg’s Aminos
¼ cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tsp smoked paprika
sea salt and black pepper to taste
Mix together all marinade ingredients and
pour over sliced tempeh to marinate for a
couple of hours.
Method
Bake the marinated tempeh in an air fryer for about
12 minutes or bake in 350 degree oven until slightly crispy.
Assembling Reuben Pizza
Ingredients
One baked Cauliflower Crust
One baked or air-fried Tempeh Pastrami
One Thousand Island Dressing
1 cup of natural Sauerkraut
1 cup vegan mozzerella shreds
1/2 cup vegan parmesan cheese
Smooth the Thousand Island dressing over
the cauliflower crust evenly to about 1/2 inch
from the ends of the crust.
Spread the sauerkraut over the top of the
Thousand Island dressing
Place the tempeh around the pizza as desired
Top with cheeses
Method
Bake your pizza for about 15 minutes until
cheese is melted!
Enjoy!
For more vegan, gluten-free recipes, check out our recipes page on HealthTastesGood.com.