This chipotle roasted cauliflower pizza with cilantro lime pesto, black beans, and cheese is a fun way to inject some spice and variety into your pizza recipe repertoire.

Like most of you, I’m sure, I will always associate Friday night with pizza. I think I’ve previously shared that growing up, our Friday night ritual was my brother and I doing our paper route, followed by homemade pizza and sitting down to watch The Red Green Show.

Well, today I get to share one of my newest pizza creations with you. It’s a fun one: Chipotle roasted cauliflower, cilantro lime pesto, black beans, peppers, and cheese are the toppings, and for a base, I used my sweet potato pizza crusts. This recipe makes enough toppings for four good-sized pizzas. If you make the sweet potato pizza crusts, you’ll want to double that recipe to make four pizza crusts. If you want a less involved preparation, you can always use store-bought pizza dough or crusts.

chipotle roasted cauliflower pizza: the details

This pizza consists of a few elements, and while it might sound complicated at first glance, it really isn’t too difficult to prepare. To make things easier, I always prepare the sweet potato pizza crusts well in advance so that all I have to worry about later on are the toppings. The cauliflower is tossed with a simple chipotle sauce that you blitz up in the food processor before going into the oven to roast for about 25 minutes. While that’s in the oven, whip up the cilantro jalapeno pesto and perhaps some quick pickled red onions. Chop the peppers and grate the cheese. All that remains is to assemble and bake the pizzas. Easy as (pizza) pie!

ingredients you’ll need

For the chipotle roasted cauliflower, you’ll need cauliflower, extra virgin olive oil, chipotle peppers in adobo sauce, garlic, lime juice, and sea salt.

For the cilantro lime pepita pesto, you’ll need pepitas, cilantro, lime juice, extra virgin olive oil, garlic, nutritional yeast, sea salt, and pepper.

For the other toppings, you’ll need black beans, Monterey Jack cheese (or a vegan alternative), and red pepper. I garnished the pizzas with quick pickled red onions; pickled jalapeños would also be tasty.

And you’ll need a total of four sweet potato pizza crusts, or enough pizza dough for four medium pizzas.

the method

First, make the sweet potato pizza crusts. I usually make these in the morning and loosely cover them with parchment paper once they’ve cooled, until I’m ready to make the pizzas later in the day.

Next, prepare the cauliflower. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and place the cauliflower on a baking sheet. In a food processor fitted with the ‘S’ blade, blend together the olive oil, chipotle, adobo sauce, garlic, lime juice, and salt until mostly smooth; small pieces of chipotle are okay. Add the chipotle sauce to the cauliflower and toss to coat. Roast for 25 minutes, stirring halfway through.

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Meanwhile, make the pesto. Wash out the food processor bowl and fit it with the ‘S’ blade again. Add the pepitas and process until coarsely ground. Add the cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, garlic, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper. Process until smooth, pausing to scrape down the sides as necessary. Add a tablespoon or two of water to thin out, if needed. Transfer into a jar.

Now it’s time to assemble the pizzas. Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees F. Place a pizza crust on a pizza stone or sheet pan. On each crust, spread ¼ cup of the pesto, followed by a heaping ½ cup of the chipotle roasted cauliflower, ½ cup of black beans, a quarter of the red pepper, and ½ cup of grated cheese. Repeat with the remaining pizza crusts for a total of four pizzas. If you only have one or two pizza stones or sheet pans, simply assemble and bake one or two pizzas at a time.

Bake the pizzas two at a time (since that’s all that will fit in most standard ovens) for 7-8 minutes, until the cheese has melted and browned to your liking. Broil for 1 minute, if desired to brown the cheese even more. Repeat with the remaining two pizzas. Slice and enjoy!

a few final thoughts

This recipe makes enough pizza to serve 8-12 fairly generously, as it yields 24 slices of pizza. We had a lot of leftover pizza for lunch all week! If you prefer to make just two pizzas, feel free to do so; you can enjoy leftover cauliflower and pesto in various ways such as on sandwiches, pasta, salads, etc. in the coming days.

To make this recipe vegan, swap out the Monterey Jack for your favourite flavourful dairy-free cheese.

If you can find white (Japanese) sweet potatoes, use them in the crust. They worked perfectly and the crust looked more authentic.

more pizza recipes

Finally, I hope that you love this chipotle cauliflower pizza with cilantro lime pepita pesto! If you make it, let me know how you enjoyed it by leaving a comment and rating below the post. And if you share a photo to Instagram, tag it @upbeet.kitchen and #upbeetkitchen. I love seeing what you’ve made.

Enjoy!

Chipotle Cauliflower Pizza with Cilantro Lime Pesto

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Author: Allison
Total Time: 40 minutes
Yield: 4 pizzas, 24 slices total 1x
Diet: Vegetarian

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Description

This chipotle roasted cauliflower pizza with cilantro lime pesto, black beans, and cheese is a fun way to inject some spice and variety into your pizza recipe repertoire.

Instructions

First, make the sweet potato pizza crusts. I usually make these in the morning and loosely cover them with parchment paper once they’ve cooled, until I’m ready to make the pizzas later in the day.
Next, prepare the cauliflower. Preheat the oven to 400 degrees F and place the cauliflower on a baking sheet. In a food processor fitted with the ‘S’ blade, blend together the olive oil, chipotle, adobo sauce, garlic, lime juice, and salt until mostly smooth; small pieces of chipotle are okay. Add the chipotle sauce to the cauliflower and toss to coat. Roast for 25 minutes, stirring halfway through.
Meanwhile, make the pesto. Wash out the food processor bowl and fit it with the ‘S’ blade again. Add the pepitas and process until coarsely ground. Add the cilantro, lime juice, olive oil, garlic, nutritional yeast, salt, and pepper. Process until smooth, pausing to scrape down the sides as necessary. Add a tablespoon or two of water to thin out, if needed. Transfer into a jar.
Now it’s time to assemble the pizzas. Increase the oven temperature to 450 degrees F. Place your pre-baked sweet potato pizza crust on a pizza stone or sheet pan. Alternatively, if using store-bought pizza dough or crusts, follow the directions on the package. On each crust, spread ¼ cup of the pesto, followed by a heaping ½ cup of the chipotle roasted cauliflower, ½ cup of black beans, a quarter of the red pepper, and ½ cup of grated cheese. Repeat with the remaining pizza crusts for a total of four pizzas. If you only have one or two pizza stones or sheet pans, simply assemble and bake one or two pizzas at a time.
Bake the pizzas two at a time (since that’s all that will fit in most standard ovens) for 7-8 minutes, until the cheese has melted and browned to your liking. Broil for 1 minute, if desired to brown the cheese even more. Repeat with the remaining two pizzas. Slice each pizza into six slices and enjoy!

Notes

If you end up with leftover roasted cauliflower, enjoy it on the side. 🙂

Prep Time: 30 minutes
Cook Time: 10 minutes
Category: Main Course

Chipotle Cauliflower Pizza with Cilantro Lime Pesto