First of all, let me thank Mark at Endless Love and Light for my 2nd Very Inspiring Blogger Award nomination. That makes 4 blog nominations! While I’m not exactly sure what these nominations really mean, I’m grateful for the recognition from the blogging community and appreciate the love that’s sent my way (every time someone hits “like” or leaves a comment, or even reads a post). It’s a wonderful feeling when someone shows that they’ve resonated with a post, picture or thought that you’ve shared and it serves as a great motivating factor to keep on blogging. So, thanks, Mark!

I wanted to combine this post with a great pizza recipe. This recipe is an adaptation from Kris, a fellow CCNMer’s, blog, 80twenty. So, it’s fitting that this post, inspired by her pizza recipe is an outlet for me to to pass her the nomination for this award!

As an Italian by blood, I love pizza. However, when I “cheated” in Chicago, living the true Chicagoan experience through deep dish pizza (it was only one slice!), I was made to deal with the consequences for the three days following. Not having consumed either gluten or dairy for a significant amount of time, the double crust, filled with gooey, delicious cheese was too much for me. The symptoms that followed were akin to a hangover. I felt nauseous  headache-y and my head was full of fog. It felt like I had the flu. Needless to say, no matter how doughy and deliciously gooey pizza can be, the aftereffects just don’t make it worth it. So when it was my turn to cook dinner last week and I decided to try my hand at a dairy-free cauliflower crust pizza, adapted from Kris’s recipe. I hope that you try it, make it your own and feel inspired.

Dairy-free and Gluten-free Cauliflower Crust Pizza:

Serves 4 (or 3 Marcheggianis)

Crust:

Ingredients:

1/2 head of cauliflower

1 cup of a mixture of gluten free flours (brown rice, quinoa and almond), or the GF flour of your choice.

4 eggs

1 pinch of sea salt

2 cloves of garlic, finely chopped

Black pepper

Directions:

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. In a food processor, grate the cauliflower into small, granular pieces. Add in the eggs, flour and salt. Mix well. Spread the mixture thinly over a baking sheet. You can spread the “dough” more thinly than you think, it all comes together in the oven. I used a stoneware baking tray, which I find cooks everything well and doesn’t stick, but using wax paper will work too. Put the crust in the oven and cook for 15 minutes while you prepare the pizza toppings.

Pizza toppings:

Unfortunately for some, in order to prevent explosive breakouts, these pizza toppings don’t include cheese. In typical Umbria style, my Nonna often makes her special “pizza” without cheese, creating more of a delicious rosemary-topped focaccia that, as kids we always referred to as “Nonna Pizza”. So, in the spirit of Nonna Pizza, I present cheese-free, Italian-style pizza toppings. If it was good enough for my childhood self, it’ll be good enough for you and your spleens!

Ingredients:

3 tomatoes

2 cloves garlic

1 red pepper

Italian spices: oregano, basil, thyme, rosemary, etc.

Olive oil

1 splash of red wine (whatever kind you’re drinking… you’re drinking red wine with this, right? Of course you are!)

Other: spinach, artichoke hearts, olives, mushrooms

Directions:

Chop all vegetables into small pieces and leave them aside.

In a small sauce pain, cook garlic and olive oil. Add in tomatoes, red peppers, sea salt, and red wine. Cook on medium until the mixture becomes “pizza sauce-like”.

When the crust is done, remove from oven and spread the pizza sauce over it, evenly. Add the spinach, mushrooms, olives and artichoke hearts to the pizza. Finish with a generous sprinkling of Italian seasonings, sea salt and cracked black pepper.

Put the entire pizza back in the oven for 5-10 minutes.

Slice and enjoy! Unlike my deep-dish Chicago experience, this pizza can’t be eaten with your hands. However, it got the green-light from my gluten-free, pizza-deprived family, forks and all. Also, it felt wonderful to cook with and taste the delicious Italian ingredients that I’ve grown to love and associate with warm, familial comforts, but with none of the accompanied brain fog! And, with a hearty serving of cauliflower and other vegetables, it makes a deliciously healthy meal!

In the spirit of the Very Inspiring Blogger Award, I’m to nominate/recommend 5 other bloggers. So, here they are:

80twenty of cauliflower pizza crust fame

Trying To Be Conscious

Rhythm and Harmony

Craves Adventure

And, the holy grail of gluten-free food blogs: Cannelle et Vanille

Here are the RULES (which I shamelessly broke):

1. Display the award logo on your blog.
2. Link back to the person who nominated you.
3. State 7 things about yourself.
4. Nominate 5 other bloggers for this award and link to them.
5. Notify those bloggers of the nomination and the award’s requirements.

Congrats, ladies, and keep on inspiring!