Pumpkin, Shiitake and Gruyere Pizza with Trader Joe's Cauliflower Crust — Registered Dietitian Columbia SC

Y'all, I simply cannot make it out of Trader Joe's without an impulse buy.

At the very least, I pick up a fun drink for the way home (Spindrift can take all my money). Other times it's a fun flavored chocolate bar (the Fireworks bar is everything...), a new snack food, or frozen dumplings to snack on while I cook dinner. I truly believe dumplings are the world's most perfect food.

Recently I snagged this frozen cauliflower pizza crust. Normally, I'm not big on vegetables pretending to be carbs, which I've written about before, but I really love cauliflower stuff. As much as I enjoy homemade cauliflower crust, it's a ton of work, and a few of my friends had posted how much they loved this crispy cauliflower crust.

To keep myself from turning into a hangry homicidal maniac, I add other carbohydrate sources to my meal. For this one, I used canned pumpkin in lieu of tomatoes for a sauce, which added a yummy fall flavor, and kept my blood sugar from dropping to 7. You could also used canned butternut squash. Just be careful to avoid pumpkin pie filling, which is sweetened.

Mushrooms are my all time favorite topping, and I especially love shiitake mushrooms. Their chewy texture and earthy flavor is so delicious. If you only use white button mushrooms in your cooking, do yourself a flavor and swap shiitakes.

Gruyere cheese is SO good on this pizza! I picked up a good aged gruyere, so it had tons of flavor. It's slightly sweet and nutty, which pairs really well with the sweet pumpkin and earthy mushrooms.

Paired with a side salad, I found one pizza served two, but it may be more or less depending on your hunger level. Since the recipe makes about twice the pumpkin you'll need, either grab an extra crust and mushrooms, or freeze the extra pumpkin for later.

Pumpkin, Shiitake, and Gruyere Pizza on Trader Joe's Cauliflower Crust

Serves: about 2ish

Ingredients:

1 Trader Joe's frozen cauliflower crust, or homemade
2 tablespoons extra-virgin olive oil, divided
1/2 onion, finely chopped
1/4th teaspoon dried thyme
Pinch of nutmeg
1 15-ounce can pumpkin
4 ounces shiitake mushrooms, stems trimmed and sliced
1 cup shredded gruyere cheese
1/4 cup frozen peas

Instructions:

Prebake cauliflower crust according to package directions. The directions on the box instruct you to flip the crust halfway, but I thought this was hard without breaking it, so I just skipped flipping it and it was fine.
While cauliflower crust bakes, cook the pumpkin and the mushrooms. Heat 1 tablespoon olive oil in a medium pot. Add onion and saute until translucent, about 5 minutes. Add nutmeg and thyme, cook 60 seconds. Stir in pumpkin and cook until slightly thickened, about 5 minutes. Season with salt and black pepper to taste and set aside until ready to use.
Heat remaining tablespoon olive oil in a small skillet on medium-high heat. Add mushrooms and saute until tender and golden, about 5 minutes. Set aside until ready to use.
Spread prebaked crust with half the pumpkin, the shredded gruyere, mushrooms, and peas. Place in a 425 degree oven for 5 minutes until the cheese is melted. Cool 5 minutes before slicing and serving.

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