The Crew boys have an insatiable craving for broccoli. Half of Erik’s lunch or dinner plate is usually filled with the green, cruciferous vegetable. Every time he discovers a new sauce or dressing, the first thing he says is, “I bet broccoli would be great dipped in this!” We’ve gone through close three pounds of it in the last three days alone (ok, it may be party due to this recipe, but you get the point). It apparently runs in the family, because his brother and nephew eat it like crazy, too. Could be worse!
While snowed in during the recent snow storms, I was going through our under-the-stairs storage and came across old Vegetarian Times magazines. The April 2010 edition, with a broccoli and mushroom pizza on the cover, caught my eye. If there is anything Erik likes more than broccoli, it’s pizza; so I knew it would be right up his alley.
The base is a white, creamy cheese sauce. Topped with tomatoes, sliced mushrooms and a lot of steamed broccoli. I’ll admit that I was a little weary as I slid it into the oven, and started coming up with a plan B, just in case. But when I pulled the pizza out 20 minutes later, the house was filled with an incredible aroma and my worries dissipated.
This updated and veganized version is simply…delicious! Think old school cheese-covered broccoli, but in pizza form. And who doesn’t like pizza? Actually, I know of people that don’t like pizza, but we won’t go there. :)
What’s your favorite unconventional pizza topping?
- 1 10″-12″ pizza crust
- 2 tsp olive oil
- 2 cups thinly sliced mushrooms, such as baby bellas
- ⅓ cup water
- 4 cups broccoli florets, halved
- 1 tbsp non-dairy butter
- 3 garlic cloves, minced
- 2 tbsp chickpea flour (all-purpose flour is ok, too)
- 1 cup plain soy milk
- ¼ tsp salt, or to taste
- ⅛ tsp white pepper
- ⅔ cups vegan mozzarella cheese, such as Daiya, split
- 2 tbsp nutritional yeast
- ½ beefsteak tomato, thinly sliced
- Preheat oven to 425°. Follow instructions for your pizza crust, pre-baking it, if necessary; otherwise, simply shape it and set it aside.
- Heat oil in a large pan over medium heat. Add mushrooms and cook about five minutes, stirring occasionally, until they’ve started to brown. Add water and broccoli, cover, and steam until most of the water has evaporated.
- Meanwhile, heat butter, garlic and chickpea flour in a small pan. Once butter has melted, add the soy milk, salt and pepper and cook, stirring frequently, for a few minutes until it begins boil and thicken. Reduce the heat, add ⅓ cup of the vegan mozzarella cheese and the nutritional yeast, and stir until the cheese has melted.
- Spread the cheese sauce over the pizza dough, to within a ½ inch of the edge. Top with a scattered layer of tomato slices, then the broccoli/mushroom mixture. Sprinkle with the remaining ⅓ cup mozarella and bake for 15-18 minutes, or until the crust has reached your desired consistency.
- Slice and serve.
This looks ahhh-mazing! Growing up we had cheesy broccoli at least once a week and this has me feeling nostalgic. I can’t wait to try it!
Thanks, Jaymie. I hope you enjoy it! And I hope this twist on the broccoli/cheese combo takes you back. ;)
This looks so good. I’ve never put broccoli on a pizza before and now I want to rush home and do it.
Thanks, Galen! Broccoli as a pizza topping was a first for me, too, but it worked really well. And I didn’t feel so bad about that extra slice ;)
THis looks soooo good! And white pizza was always one of Chris’s favorites- I think I’ll be needing to make this pretty soon! :-)
Thanks, Kristy. White pizzas are one of my favorites when eating out — they’re so tasty and a nice change of pace from the usual red sauce.
We made this the other night and LOVED it! I sautéed red onions with the mushrooms and added them to the pizza, too. Who woulda thought broccoli would be so good on pizza? Thanks for the recipe!
Excellent, I’m so happy to hear that! I’m right there with you. Broccoli? And pizza? But if it works, it works. :)