Ultimate GF Vegetarian Pizza

Grand Daisy Bakery-Inspired

Roasted Cauliflower and Butternut Squash Pizzas

When CC#1 and CC#2 spent entire Saturdays at Juilliard Pre-College honing their craft, I discovered the perfect pizzas at Grand Daisy Bakery on the corner of Broadway and 72nd Street. With crispy soft thin crusts and tender roasted butternut squash and cauliflower toppings, these rectangular Roman-style vegetarian pizzas are drenched in olive oil and laced with parmesan, and are so delicious that they can stand up to the best meat-based pizzas any day! At Grand Daisy, these pizzas are served in neat squares sliced with an enormous mezzaluna pizza cutter… so satisfying! The thought of it makes my mouth water. Sadly, that location is now permanently closed and we recently had to trek to their downtown location to relive the experience, more expensive now and farther to reach.

I once tried to recreate the pizza at home with puff pastry dough and got a resounding thumbs down by CC#1. When I made the Cooks Illustrated GF pizza last year, I realized that their gluten-free dough fortified only with psyllium husk is quite spreadable and holds the best potential for making a thin, tender yet crispy crust of the Grand Daisy variety. This idea worked out beautifully when the girls came home for spring break this year. My version comes very close to the real deal!

Ingredients:

• GF Crust:

  • 16 ounces (3 1/3 cups plus 1/4 cup) GF Flour Blend (provided at the end of this blog)

  • 2 1/2 ounces (1/2 cup plus 1 tablespoon) almond flour

  • 1 1/2 tablespoons powdered psyllium husk

  • 2 1/2 teaspoons baking powder

  • 2 teaspoons salt

  • 1 teaspoon instant or rapid-rise yeast

  • 2 1/2 cups warm water (100 degrees)

  • 1/4 cup vegetable oil

• Toppings

  • 1 butternut squash, medium size 2-3 pounds

  • 1 head of cauliflower, medium sized 2-3 pounds

  • 4 -5 large yellow onions, sliced thin

  • 2 purple onions, sliced thick

  • 2 tbsp dried rosemary

  • Lots of graded Ramano and Parmesan cheese

  • 1 tsp sugar

  • Salt and pepper

  • Olive oil

  • Parsley

Instructions:

• Crust:

  • Using stand mixer fitted with paddle, mix all of the dry ingredients on low speed until combined

  • Slowly add warm water and oil in steady stream until incorporated. Increase speed to medium and beat until dough is sticky and uniform, about 6 minutes. The dough will resemble thick batter. Don’t be afraid of the large amount of water used as psyllium husk will absorb water and expand slowly to form a spreadable dough.

  • Cover bowl with plastic wrap, and proof dough in oven (heat for 2-3 minutes and turned off, leaving oven lights on) until inside of dough doubles in size, about 1 1/2 hours. The dough will puff slightly and rise.

  • Adjust oven racks to middle and lower positions

  • Line 2 rimmed baking sheets with parchment paper and oil liberally (I don’t use spray, just pour enough oil and spread with a brush or hand).

  • Transfer half of dough to center of 1 prepared sheet. Using oil-sprayed rubber spatula, spread out the dough as much as possible.

  • Oil another same sized parchment paper, cover over dough in baking sheet (oil side down), and, using your hands, press out dough to cover the entire baking sheet evenly (see photos below). Repeat with remaining dough and second prepared sheet.

  • Place prepared sheets in oven preheated to 325 degrees. Bake dough until firm to touch, golden brown on underside, and just beginning to brown on top, 45 to 50 minutes, switching and rotating sheets halfway through baking. Transfer crusts to wire rack and let cool.

• Roasted Vegetable Toppings

  • Caramelized Onion: Slice yellow onions and cook with 1 tsp each of sugar and salt on medium heat until browned and caramelized.

  • Roasted Butternut Squash: Peel and slice butternut squash, mix with 1 tbsp dried rosemary, salt, pepper, and olive oil, roast at 400F for 35- 45 minutes until tender and a little charred.

  • Roasted Cauliflower: Cut cauliflower into small florets and slice purple onions (thicker slices so the onion will retain color), mix both with 1 tbsp dried rosemary, salt and pepper, and olive oil, roast at 400F for 35-45 minutes until tender and a little charred.

    Assembly

  • Generously sprinkle each pizza crust with Ramano cheese

  • Spread caramelized onions

  • Lay out roasted butternut squash and cauliflower next. I found that the dough keeps well the second day so you can do half and half for one pizza crust, and save the second one for later.

  • Sprinkle with more Ramano, Parmesan, and chopped parsley, and drizzle with olive oil

  • 20 minutes before baking pizza, adjust oven rack to upper-middle position, set baking sheet on rack, and heat oven to 500 degrees.

  • Bake for 10 minutes, cool to room temperature, get out your mezzaluna, and enjoy!

• Cooks Illustrated GF Flour Mix

  • 24 ounces (4 1/2 cups plus 1/3 cup) white rice flour

  • 7 1/2 ounces (1 2/3 cups) brown rice flour

  • 7 ounces (1 1/3 cups) potato starch

  • 3 ounces (3/4 cup) tapioca starch

  • 3/4 ounce (3 tablespoons) nonfat milk powder

Note: Best served at room temperature. I made a double batch of GF flour mix to keep them on hand.