Buffalo cauliflower sourdough pizza with tofu blue cheese spread

When it comes to pizza, I love kooky ideas.  I love vegan and fusion and cheese.  I am fascinated by Frank's Hot Sauce and buffalo flavour.  I don't understand buffalo.  Yet I still want to recreate it.  Having a bottle of Frank's made me try this buffalo cauliflower wing pizza with tofu blue cheese spread.  Then I sprinkled it with home made vegan cheese. 

We all loved the sourdough base.  I really liked the pizza toppings but E found them a little weird.  I was sad my home made cheese didn't make much impact - it wasn't of the melting kind!  (Stay tuned for more on this cheese!)  The pizza was fun to make and fun to eat but I am not sure if I would repeat it.

I didn't mind the spiciness.  (It was rather spicy for me.)  In fact, I think the spicy buffalo cauliflower was more of a success than the tofu blue cheese spread.  The spread was sharp rather than pungent and didn't remind me of blue cheese.  Don't get me wrong!  I liked it.  Perhaps, however, I would prefer the pizza with a creamy cheese sauce.

We had the pizza early last month when the weather was kinder.  None of these 30 C days for a week in a row like we are now experiencing.  Just decent summer weather that allowed me to bake pizza to eat while we watched the DVD of the Little Drummer Boy movie.

But now it is February.  All the festive fun is behind us and we are well and truly into 2014.  Even into school lunches.  Yes, Sylvia started school last week and has pizza on her list for lunchbox ideas.  So I am sure there will be more pizza.  More sourdough pizza experiments.  More adventures in pizza toppings.  Though perhaps more plain toppings for lunchboxes!

I am sending this pizza to Susan for YeastSpotting and to the new Healthy Vegan Friday hosts: Suzanne at Hello Veggy, Anna at Herbivore Triathlete, and Kimmy at Rock My Vegan Socks.

Previously on Green Gourmet Giraffe:
One year ago: Lamingtons at the beach
Two years ago: Lorne - beach, bush and eating out
Three years ago: CC Soba noodle salad
Four years ago: Emergency Zucchini and Rice Burgers
Five years ago: Apricot and Orange Glazed Tofu
Six years ago: Muhammara by Moonlight

Buffalo cauliflower pizza with tofu blue cheese spread
Pizza base a development of this one of mine and topping adapted from Keepin It Kind
Serves 2-3

Sourdough pizza base:
[NB you will only need half this dough for the pizza]
250g starter out of fridge
150g water
300g plain white flour
1 tbsp olive oil
1 tsp salt
1 tsp sweetener (I used sugar)

Buffalo cauliflower:
1/2 head cauliflower, broken into florets
1/2 cup soy milk
1/2 cup chickpea flour
1/2 cup franks hot sauce (or other hot sauce)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
several dashes of smoked paprika
grinding of fresh black pepper

Tofu blue cheese spread:
125g firm tofu, crumbled into small pieces
1 tablespoons nutritional yeast
juice of 1 lime (or half a lemon)
1 1/2 teaspoons apple cider vinegar
1/2 teaspoons white miso
1/2 teaspoons tahini
1/2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/4 teaspoons dried oregano
1/2 teaspoons dulse granules
a couple of pinches of salt

For the pizza:
1/4 cup pizza sauce (I sort of made this tomato sauce without the sweet potato)
few small slices of vegan cheese, chopped small (optional)
polenta, to sprinkle on tray

To make the sourdough pizza base: Mix all ingredients into a dough and knead for about 4 to 5 minutes until you have a smooth dough.  Place in a bowl and cover with cling wrap.  Allow to rise for 3 to 4 hours or until doubled in size.  While it rises, make the toppings.

To make the buffalo cauliflower: Preheat oven to 220 C.  Mix soy milk and chickpea flour in a small mixing bowl.  (If your oven is quite poorly like mine, lightly steam the cauliflower for about 5 minutes first to ensure they will be soft.)  Tip cauliflower into the mixture and place battered florets into oiled roasting dish.  Roast for 30 minutes.  Toss cauliflower florets with the hot sauce, spices and seasoning.  Roast for a further 5 to 10 minutes until starting to brown but not too crispy (remember they still need to cook on the pizza).

To make the tofu blue cheese spread: Mix all ingredients in a small mixing bowl.

To make the pizza: Preheat oven to 220 C.  Roll out a large pizza (remember you will only need half the pizza base dough).  Sprinkle polenta on the base of a large pizza tray (to stop the base sticking when baked) and place base on the tray.  Spread pizza sauce on the base.  Crumble on the tofu blue cheese spread.  Top with buffalo cauliflower and vegan cheese.  Bake for 20 minutes or until pizza is golden brown and base is cooked.

On the Stereo:
Rosa Duet: Barb Waters