Way back in the day when I was first getting interested in vegetarian cooking, I came across Mollie Katzen’s recipe for a Cauliflower Cheese Pie, which completely blew my mind. Maybe you know the one I’m talking about? It’s such a classic. I even developed a little tribute recipe to that pie for our first cookbook. This vegan cauliflower and leek version is not as directly inspired by Katzen’s pie, but I still fondly kept it in mind while working on this recipe. Cooked cauliflower itself already tastes kind of cheesy to me, and when baked in a ‘cheesy’ but also totally plant-based sauce like in this recipe, it’s complete heaven. This pie also features caramelized leeks and an addictive, gluten-free onion-pecan crust that’s packed with flavor. It’s definitely a special enough savory pie for a holiday table, and we can’t wait to make it again for ours. Hope you’ll consider it as well!
If you’ve been cooking plant-based for a while, you’ve probably heard that boiled potatoes and carrots make for a surprisingly cheesy sauce, when blended smooth with a bunch of aromatic pantry staples like nutritional yeast, garlic powder, and miso. In this recipe, we also add sun-dried tomatoes and smoked paprika to that kind of sauce, for an extra hint of umami and smokiness. We cut a whole head of cauliflower into florets and brown it, then cook it until soft on the stovetop, where we also caramelize some leeks. The cauliflower, leeks and the sauce then get cozied up into the quickly pre-baked onion pie crust and baked all together. The crust is just 5 ingredients, which is a true achievement for gluten-free baking :) This pie is delicious the day of baking, but the leftovers are also amazing (if not better), so you could definitely make it a day ahead and reheat. We will be making the whole thing on our instagram stories this afternoon, if you’d like to see the whole step-by-step process. Happy November! Wishing you all the warmth and coziness.
- neutral oil for oiling the pie dish
- 1¼ cup ground pecans (grinding directions in the recipe)
- ½ cup tapioca starch
- pinch sea salt
- 1 medium onion - roughly chopped
- 2 tablespoons ground flax seeds
- 1 large or 2 small white potatoes - boiled until tender
- 1 medium carrot - boiled until tender
- 2-3 sun dried tomato halves (soaked in hot water if not oil-packed/if very dry) or 1 tablespoon tomato paste
- ¼ cup non-dairy milk
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- 1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar
- 1 tablespoon miso
- 1 tablespoon nutritional yeast
- 1 tablespoon arrowroot powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 teaspoon onion powder
- 1 teaspoon smoked paprika
- pinch of sea salt
- avocado oil or olive oil
- 2 large leeks, white and light green parts only - thinly sliced
- sea salt
- red pepper flakes - to taste
- 1 large head of cauliflower - cut into florets
- Preheat oven to 400° F (200° C). Prepare a 9"-10" pie dish by oiling it well.
- Place a generous 1 cup of pecans in a food processor and grind into a flour, taking care not to over-grind. Measure out 1¼ cups of the ground pecans and transfer that amount to a large mixing bowl. Save the rest of the ground pecans for a future recipe, or see note. Add the tapioca starch and salt to the bowl, mix to combine.
- Add the onion to the food processor and puree it. It's okay to have some small onion chunks, but the puree should be pretty uniform. Transfer the onions to a medium bowl, add the ground flax and mix to combine. Let the mixture sit for 10 minutes, letting the flax bloom. Add the mixture to the bowl with the pecan flour and mix well to combine.
- Transfer the crust dough into the prepared pie dish and form an even pie crust, using a spoon and your hands. Place the crust in a freezer for 15 minutes to set.
- Cover the crust with parchment paper and baking beans, and blind bake for 15 minutes. Remove the cover and bake for an additional 5 minutes, until the base of the crust is dry to the touch.
- Combine all the ingredients in a blender and blend until smooth. Take care not to over-blend, so that the starch in the potatoes doesn't give the sauce a gluey texture. Taste for salt and adjust if needed.
- Preheat the oven to 350° F (175° C).
- Heat about 1 tablespoon of oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the leeks, a pinch of salt and red pepper flakes and cook the leeks for 8-10 minutes, until they begin to soften. Turn the heat down to low, cover the pan and cook the leeks for another 10 minutes. Remove the lid, turn the heat back up to medium and cook for another 5 minutes, until the leeks are very soft and somewhat caramelized. Transfer the leeks to a bowl and set aside.
- Wipe the pan clean and heat another tablespoon of oil over medium heat. Add the cauliflower florets along with a pinch of salt and mix to coat. Distribute the cauliflower in a single layer and let sear, undisturbed, for about 3 minutes, or until the undersides are nicely browned. Mix and keep cooking the cauliflower until soft throughout, for about 15 minutes. If your cauliflower is not softening, cover the pan with a lid and turn the heat down to medium-low, letting it steam until soft. Add the caramelized leeks and half of the 'cheese' sauce to the pan and mix to combine.
- Transfer the cauliflower mixture to the pre-baked crust, carefully evening it out with a spoon. Add the rest of the sauce on top, evening it out. Cover the pie with parchment paper, foil, or a lid and bake for 30 minutes. Uncover and bake for another 5-10 minutes, until slightly browned on top. Let cool well before slicing.
Helen Wright says
Could I use ground almonds instead?
Or any other ground nuts?
Anya says
Hi Helen,
Yes, almonds should work. Walnuts would be really good as well.
cheri says
This is the second time I have made this delicious concoction. We had it for our main course on Christmas Day. Such a treat to eat wholesome food. Your recipes rock, thank you.
Anya says
Hi Cheri,
We’re SO happy to hear that you’ve been loving the pie! Thanks for leaving this note.
Liga says
hi Anya! I dont have flax on hand, waht could i replace it with? I will try at my own risk :) tapioca i am planning to replace with the wheat flour.
Thanks!
Anya says
Hi Liga,
I think chia could work, thought I haven’t tried it myself. Good luck, let us know how it goes :)
Lucy kent says
Hi! Just got back the long quarantine shop and realised I forgot tapioca starch! Anything you’d suggest replacing it with?! Thanks so much
Anya says
Hi Lucy,
We haven’t tried this, but you could try other starches like corn starch, potato starch, or arrowroot. Hope this helps!
Laura says
Hi!
Thanks for this great looking recipe! This might be a stupid question, but do you cook the potatoes before putting them in the sauce (I assume so)?
Thank you :)
Anya says
Hi Laura,
Yes, you boil the potatoes and carrots until tender. Just corrected the recipe to clarify :)
Laura says
Made this pie today and it’s well worth the time and effort!! I did change quite a few things but this is a very solid and delicious recipe. I would maybe just cook the onion for a bit before using it for the crust as the taste is quite strong (wonder where you got the idea of making such a crust though, I was very curious to try it and it turned out great, amazing texture and crunch). Thanks a lot for the inspiration! and if it can be of interest to aynone here’s what I did:
– Sunflower seeds instead of pecans for the crust for price reasons, but I would love to try the original version (or use walnuts or almonds!)
– Chia seeds instead of ground flax for the crust and it turned out absolutely fine
– Didn’t have enough cauliflower, so I made a first layer with the leeks and the “cheese sauce”, and then topped it with a mix of cauliflower rice, oats, hazelnut oil (a very nice addition) and rice cream to offset the spice. Totally recommend ;)
Anyway, thanks again for this recipe and I’m excited to try the next one!
Anya says
Hi Laura,
So glad you enjoyed the pie and thank you so much for all your helpful notes. The idea for the onion crust came from a raw food book, which had an onion bread recipe that used a similar method!
Britta Nordstrom says
Could I cook this in a cast iron skillet? If so, how would that change the cooking time? Super excited to try this out!
Anya says
Hi Britta,
I can’t say for sure because I haven’t tried it myself, but if you have a small 9″-10″ cast iron skillet, I think it might work. Just make sure that it’s oiled super well. The cooking time might need to be a little shorter since cast iron conducts heat better, I would just watch it closely. Please let us know how it goes if you try!