Cornbread Pizza

I've been wanting to create a Southern-style veggie pizza for my cookbook, loaded high with greens, summer squash, peppers, and Vidalia onions. And I'd planned on using a traditional pizza crust, but one night last week, inspiration struck. Why not create a cornbread crust? What's more Southern than cornbread? So ladies and gentlemen, I give you Southern Veggie Cornbread Pizza:

For the crust, I halved my recipe for cast-iron cornbread (also in the cookbook). I didn't want to use the whole amount because it would be way too thick. I topped the uncooked crust with homemade pizza sauce, some TVP that I rehydrated in a "beefy" broth, and sauteed turnip greens, squash, red bell pepper, and Vidalia onions. Then I baked it all in my cast-iron skillet.


Wow! I'm proud of this creation. It was super good! The crust was just the right thickness, about the size of a deep dish pizza crust, and the combination of TVP "beef," sauce, and veggies was both hearty and healthy.

I will probably use kale next time though, instead of turnip greens. Turnip greens really need to be cooked down for about 45 minutes to get rid of their bitter taste, so the milder taste of kale works better when sauteéd. Since the turnip greens were sauteéd and then baked, they weren't terribly bitter on the pizza. But I think kale would be the best green for this recipe.