It’s a Gluten-Free Vegan Pizza Party and Recipe!

Remember in grade school (or heck, high school and college) when your teacher or a friend would throw a pizza party and it was, like, the best day ever? Complete with copious amounts of Dr Pepper and the Spice Girls? Yep, us, too. Which is why we’re thrilled to feature today’s recipe by Laura Knapp, founder of Social Spotlight Media, long-time vegetarian and life-long foodie living in Los Angeles. Three years ago Laura decided to cut dairy out of her diet and has dabbled with the idea of going gluten free, and she always enjoys finding new ways to satisfy her cravings with fun non-dairy and gluten-free ingredients. Like this pizza she created, which is both gluten-free and vegan friendly! Plus, it’s very, very tasty.

Laura’s Gluten-Free and Vegan Pizza Recipe

Yes, vegans can have pizza parties, too—and so can those with gluten sensitivities! The key is to get creative with your vegetables and alternative flour options. So with that, I introduce to you the vegan + gluten-free cauliflower pizza party extravaganza! This makes about six to eight small pizzas…

Pizza Ingredients
1 head of cauliflower
1 c almond meal (and an additional ½ c to coat the pan)
4 tbsp flaxseed meal
1 package organic active dry yeast (0.32 oz)
½ tsp dried basil
½ tsp dried oregano
1 tsp apple cider vinegar
1 jar of tomato sauce

Pizza Topping Options
1 avocado sliced
¼ c sundried tomatoes
¼ c artichoke hearts (canned)
1 Roma tomato, sliced
¼ c sliced pineapples
½ zucchini (sliced)
½ yellow squash (sliced)
2-3 sprigs of rosemary
½ c raw spinach leaves
½ c roasted corn

Directions
1. Preheat the oven to 475 degrees F.

2. Use a handheld cheese grater and grate the cauliflower over a large bowl. It took me about 30 to 40 minutes to finish the entire head of cauliflower.

3. Add ¼ cup of almond meal to the grated cauliflower. Mix together and put in the microwave for one minute to take out some of the moisture in the cauliflower.

4. Remove from the microwave and add in the package of drive active yeast, 1 tbsp flaxseed meal, the dried basil, the dried oregano and the apple cider vinegar. Set bowl aside.

5. In a mug or small bowl stir together 3 tbsp flaxseed meal and 7 tbsp of boiling water. This is called “flax-egg,” something I learned how to do from the Raw Is Sexy blog. This serves as an egg substitute—the binding agent.

6. Blend in the flax-egg and the cauliflower almond meal mixture.

7. Preheat the pizza stone or pizza pan in the oven by itself for 15 to 20 minutes.

8. Once it’s heated enough, remove it from the oven and coat the pan with almond meal to help prevent the crust from burning or sticking to the pan.

9. Use your hands to flatten the dough and place about 2  to 3 rounds of dough on the pizza pan. Cook for about 25 minutes and repeat until all the dough is cooked.

10. Remove the crusts from the oven. You or your guests can now top each pizza with your favorite toppings.

11. Put the pizzas back into the oven for about 7 to 10 minutes to heat the toppings. Then they’re ready to eat!

Presentation of the Topping Options Tip: Have each of the topping options in a separate dish so that your guests can top their pizzas with their favorite vegetables. The favorite pizza combo in our house was tomato sauce, avocado, pineapple and corn. Yum!

Who knew cauliflower and flaxseed could make a pizza crust? And who says you can’t have a pizza party that’s vegan and gluten-free? These days we just swap our soda out for wine (but the Spice Girls are still in full effect). There are perks to being an adult! If you’d like more of Laura’s yummy vegan recipes, check her out on the award-winning food blog, In Good Taste, or on Twitter (@LauraKnapp) or Pinterest.

Any vegans out there? Gluten-free pizza lovers? What’s your favorite pizza topping? Let’s get this vegan pizza party really going! —Jenn