Turn cauliflower into a gluten-free, kid- and adult-approved pizza base to hold onto homemade crushed tomato sauce, Parmesan cheese, and a sprinkle of fresh rosemary.
Kid-friendly kitchen jobs: Shaping the cauliflower into pizza rounds and building the cauliflower crust pizzas.
Kid-friendly food swaps: If rosemary and Parmesan are too powerful for your kids’ palates, replace them with thyme and mozzarella.
In September, farmers’ market tomatoes are abundant. Try a fresh sauce made with yellow, orange, or heirloom tomatoes instead of the classic beefsteaks used here.
Per serving:
Preheat oven to 400 F (200 C). Line large baking sheet with parchment paper.
For crust, pulse cauliflower in food processor until finely minced. Add eggs and rosemary, blend until well combined. Scrape down sides, add garlic and psyllium or flaxseed and blend again. Add flour and blend until sticky dough forms (like thick icing).
Make 1 large pizza or 8 small pizzas by spreading dough with offset spatula onto prepared baking sheet until 1/2 in (1.25 cm) thick (like icing a cake). Make into circles or rectangles. Smooth top and tidy edges with offset spatula. Bake for 15 to 20 minutes, until itu2019s puffed, dry on top, crispy on bottom, and bounces back when pressed.
For sauce, add tomatoes (reserving a few diced pieces for garnish), olive oil, vinegar, and chili flakes, if using, to blender or food processor. Pulse just until chunky.
Spread sauce on pizza(s) and sprinkle with remaining diced tomatoes and cheese. Garnish with rosemary and serve immediately, or pop back in the oven to slightly melt cheese.
Tourtière is, for me, the dish that best represents Québec. It can be traced back to the 1600s, and there’s no master recipe; every family has their own twist. Originally, it was made with game birds or game meat, like rabbit, pheasant, or moose; that’s one of the reasons why I prefer it with venison instead of beef or pork. Variation: If you prefer to make single servings, follow our lead at the restaurant, where we make individual tourtières in the form of a dome (pithivier) and fill them with 5 ounces (160 g) of the ground venison mixture. Variation: You can also use a food processor to make the dough. Place the flour, salt, and butter in the food processor and pulse about ten times, until the butter is incorporated—don’t overmix. It should look like wet sand, and a few little pieces of butter here and there is okay. With the motor running, through the feed tube, slowly add ice water until the dough forms a ball—again don’t overmix. Wrap, chill, and roll out as directed above.
My love of artichokes continues with this classic recipe, one of the best ways to eat this interesting, underrated, and strange vegetable. Frozen artichoke hearts are a time-saving substitute, though the flavour and texture of fresh artichokes are, by far, much superior and definitely preferred.
Cervelle de canut is basically the Boursin of France, an herbed fresh farmer’s cheese spread that’s a speciality of Lyon. The name is kind of weird, as it literally means “silk worker’s brain,” named after nineteenth-century Lyonnaise silk workers, who were called canuts. Sadly, the name reflects the low opinion of the people towards these workers. Happily for us, though, it’s delicious—creamy, fragrant, and fresh at the same time. Cervelle de canut is one of my family’s favourite dishes. It’s a great make-ahead appetizer that you can pop out of the fridge once your guests arrive. Use a full-fat cream cheese for the dish, or it will be too runny and less delicious.