Sheet Pan Pizza with Roasted Cauliflower and Greens

Roasted cauliflower on pizza? Why not?! This sheet pan pizza is a great meat-free dinner any night of the week.

I’ve played around a lot with homemade pizza over the years — making this dough and that dough, trying thin crust pizzas on a baking stones and the backs of baking sheets, baking pizzas for one and pizzas for four.

But sheet pan pizza is my new best friend! And it can be yours, too.

I love how easy it is. Making pizza in a sheet pan is a simple matter of stretching the dough onto the pan and topping it with cheese, sauce, and other ingredients. Bake and serve.

I like to make my own no-knead whole wheat pizza dough – it takes almost no time to mix and rises slowly over about 12 hours. Start it in the morning and it will be ready when you get home in the evening. It will also keep in the fridge for up to three days, so it’s ready when you are.

For today’s recipe, you’ll need to roast some cauliflower, but that, too, can be made ahead of time and kept in the refrigerator for a few days. You can still dash home on a Friday night and have dinner ready in 30 minutes.

I like to slice the cauliflower into “steaks” rather than break it into florets, and roast them that way. It’s faster, and though some of the pieces fall apart, it doesn’t matter since you’ll be breaking them into smaller pieces before topping the piazza anyway. The edges caramelize and the smaller pieces brown beautifully. Who doesn’t love crispy bits?

Once you have the dough and cauliflower in hand, just stretch the dough into the pan and top with the roasted cauliflower, Parmesan, and fresh mozzarella, which you tear into pieces with your hands.

I initially meant to put capers on this pizza, but mistakenly reached for a jar of green peppercorns in brine. They are vinegary and mildly hot and they add a lot of zest – they worked great! You could opt for capers for that same zing, if you prefer, or leave them out altogether if you’re feeding picky eaters.

This pizza is my new go-to potluck contribution. It feeds a lot of people and can be transported and reheated easily.

The earthy whole wheat crust, the roasted cauliflower, the hint of heat from peppercorns and the topping with perky greens – all together, these create a unique pizza that you’ll probably never find at your local pizza joint!

Ingredients

• 1/2 large head cauliflower
• 6 tablespoons olive oil, divided
• ½ tsp salt
• ¼ tsp. pepper
• 1 recipe (about 1 1/2 pounds) No-Knead Whole Wheat Pizza Dough, or store-bought dough
• 1 cup (2 ounces) grated Parmesan
• 12 ounces fresh mozzarella, torn into pieces
• 2 tablespoons drained green peppercorns in brine, or drained capers
• 3 handfuls baby greens such as arugula, kale, or spinach
• 1 tablespoon balsamic vinegar