My best friend from college moved from Iowa to Arizona almost three years ago. Since then, I have traveled out to the Phoenix area several times to visit her, enjoy the warm (HOT!) weather, and to partake in some good eats. One of my favorite restaurants that we have dined at, to date, is Oregano’s Pizza Bistro. If you are ever in the Phoenix area, this is a must visit restaurant. During my visit, I ordered The Big ‘O Vedge baked sandwich, which was phenomenal! However, this sandwich and its accompanying sweet potato french fries were not my favorite part of the meal. Instead, I was delighted by and instantly hooked on their Guaca Tony appetizer. The Guaca Tony consists of pizza crust “chips” that are topped with fresh Italian guacamole made with basil, garlic, and avocado. The crust and guacamole are served separately, and it is up to the diner to slather each “chip” with LOTS of guac! And trust me, plenty of guacamole is a must! This appetizer was to die for, and left me thinking of it ever since.
Since I live quite a ways away from the nearest Oregano’s restaurant, I decided to make my own attempt at the Guaca Tony. I made homemade pizza crust breadsticks from my Cauliflower Pizza Crust recipe, and concocted my own version of a homemade Italian-inspired guacamole. To say that I was more than pleased with the results would be an understatement!
Guacamole Cauliflower Crust Breadsticks
Servings: 2 (4 breadsticks each)
Ingredients
For the breadsticks:
1/2 head of cauliflower (about 2 cups, riced)
1 egg, beaten
1 clove of garlic, minced
1 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 tsp dried basil
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 tsp crushed red pepper flakes
For the guacamole:
1 1/2 ripe avocados
1/4 small red onion, diced
1/2 Roma tomato, diced
juice of 1/2 lime
1 clove garlic, minced
1/4 tsp basil
1/8 tsp onion powder
1/8 tsp garlic powder
fine sea salt, to taste
Directions
1. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
2. Rice your cauliflower using the following process: Remove the stems from the cauliflower and cut into chunks. Place the cauliflower into a food processor and pulse it until it resembles the texture of rice. If you do not have a food processor, you can use a grater or chop it very finely.
3. Microwave the chopped cauliflower uncovered in a microwave safe bowl for approximately 8 minutes.
4. Combine the cooked cauliflower, egg, garlic, cheese, and seasonings. Stir until well-combined.
5. Spread the cauliflower mixture out onto a pizza pan in the shape of a pizza crust. I used a pizza “crisper” so that the crust would turn out extra crispy. The crust will not be HUGE, so if you are cooking for several people you will want to double the recipe.
6. Bake the crust for approximately 20-30 minutes (depending on your oven), or until the crust is golden and crispy. I cooked mine for approximately 25 minutes.
7. While the crust is baking, scoop the avocado out of its skin and into a medium-sized bowl. Mash with a potato masher or fork, leaving some small chunks of avocado intact.
8. Add remaining ingredients and stir well to combine.
9. Slice the baked cauliflower crust into “breadsticks.”
10. Scoop your guacamole into a serving bowl…
…and attempt to compile an attractive serving plate with the breadsticks and guacamole.
11. Scoop a heaping spoonful of delicious guacamole onto each breadstick and enjoy!
The warm, crispness of the cauliflower crust breadsticks combined with the cool, Italian-inspired tastes of the guacamole was delicious! Did it taste exactly like Oregano’s Guaca Tony? Unfortunately, no. But that was to be expected. I definitely did not go into this recipe thinking that I would be recreating the exact appetizer. As far as at-home versions go, however, I was very pleased! Plus, the use of the cauliflower pizza crust recipe for the breadsticks in place of the pizza crust “chips” was certainly a much healthier option. It may not have been an exact recreation of Oregano’s delicious appetizer, but it was a delicious appetizer (I actually ate it as a meal for dinner) all the same!
Have you ever attempted to recreate a favorite restaurant dish at home? How did your re-creation turn out?
These look AMAZING! They would be great for a get-together. Thank you for sharing!
They would definitely make for a great appetizer!
This looks absolutely amazing! Avocado is the best, but I’ve never tried Italian Guac! I definitely want to try this!
You are right. Avocado is theeee best!!
I’ve been really curious about the cauliflower pizza crust. Now that I know you’ve tried it and it turned out I will have to give it a try! Does it get crispy?
I love it!! It does get crispy if you use a pizza crisper pan. I still tend to eat mine with a fork though since the crust is pretty thin so it isn’t as “sturdy” as a traditional crust.
This looks awesome girl! I love guac and “pizza” crust. I’m so going to try this!
Please let me know what you think!
Yum… this looks great. Thanks for the great idea and post. I can’t wait to try it!
Thank you!
This looks amazing, and I am not surprised – your food always looks delicious!!
You are too kind!
Girl this
Looks amazing…just like my skills at typing and hitting the wrong button haha. I love guac so any recipe involving it is a must make in my book
Haha, too funny!
Yes, guac is an absolute must! It makes everything better!
Oooh, I want to try!
Please do, and let me know what you think!
Ah this looks amazing! I love guac and have been wanting to use cauliflower to make a pizza type crust for awhile now.
Well, what are you waiting for??
You definitely should give it a try!
Yum! What a creative idea!!
Thank you! It sure was tasty!
I definitely need to try cauliflower crusts! They sound so good- and healthy!
Yes, you REALLY need to!! You are missing out!!
These sound so good!! Such a great idea, I love anything avocado!
Me too!! Avocado is amazing!
Nom nom! You are brilliant with veggies, girl!
Haha, thank you for the kind words!
this sounds amazing, I can’t wait to give it a try
Please let me know what you think if you try it!!
Yum these look so good! I’ve bookmarked them to try ASAP
Awesome!! I hope you like it!!
I just did a recreation recently with the roasted beets and wasabi dipping sauce. It wasn’t an intense recipe or anything, but the idea came from a restaurant menu. Love the cauliflower breadsticks! I just love cauliflower in general–it works in so many different dishes!!
That sounds tasty! Recreating restaurant dishes is so fun to me!
This looks strangely awesome! I love both pizza and guacamole but wouldn’t have put the two together… Then again, CPK has some strange but awesome pizza combos that I wouldn’t have originally thought of and thoroughly enjoy – YUM
I am definitely a fan of strange pizza combinations. For example: mac & cheese pizza!
I need to try this cauliflower crust! Love the ingredient list! I like to recreate this fantastic garlic bread I got on a vacation once. It’s not quite as good as the original but still yummy.
Restaurant recreations are so fun! You just have to go into them not having SUPER high expectation!
Cauliflower crust sounds amazing! Have you seen the cauliflower alfredo? I need to try it! This looks absolutely delicious, I think guacamole is in the future!
Cauliflower alfredo?? I have not seen that, but it sounds tasty!
Mmmm, these look great! Thanks for sharing.
You are quite welcome! I hope you give the recipe a try
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Looks yummy! I loved Oregano’s! I’ll have to try these.
You definitely should!! And yes, Oregano’s is awesome!
This looks amazing!! i can’t wait to try it!
I can’t wait to try these, love how they are gluten free, woot!
I did not even realize that at first, but yay!
These look really good. I have not eaten out since I went vegan and have been juicing but one of the best places here (I hear) is Andrew Weil’s TruFood. If you like pizza, Grimaldi’s is the best in the Phoenix area.
I like your blog and your recipes look great!
Thank you! I hope you find some great vegan recipes here that you like!
Yum Yum! I’m a big fan of cauliflower pizzas and guacamole…I’m sure together they taste fab
!
They make for an awesome combination!
Yum! I’ve seen something similar on Pinterest and have been wanting to give it a try. I wonder if it would hold up without the cheese? Sounds delicious with Guac on it!
That I am not sure about…you could certainly give it a try, though. If you do, please let me know the results! You might just try using less cheese? Or dairy-free cheese?
I am trying these cauliflower breadsticks. They look and sound delicious. I am a huge fan of humus, but pita chips give me really bad acid reflux, so I am wondering if these will be a good alternative to pita chips!
I hope you like these! I have reflux issues myself, and I did not have a problem with this!
My dad lives in Glendale, so I am in the Phoenix area usually twice a year! I have never heard of this place, but ohhh man that meal looks AMAZING!! Great job on the recreation!
It is fabulous! Now I just wish that there was a restaurant near me!
I need to try to make that cauliflower crust! I’m seeing it all the time now and it looks great
You really should give it a shot! It is definitely all that it is cracked up to be!
Those cauliflower breadsticks sound fantastic! And plenty of guacamole is always a good thing… a very good thing : )
A very, VERY good thing!
This sounds amazing! I love guac and have been wanting to try out cauliflower crust. Have you ever tried swapping out the egg? I don’t like using them super often.
I have not tried it, but I am sure that you could try using a flax “egg.”
You can never have too much guac!! It’s my fave!! This looks so good
Agreed!!
I love thinking of ways to create a great recipe from a restaurant. (Especially because making it homemade almost always yields to a healthier version!) Cool idea using cauliflower for your bread sticks. Also, I like to add jalapeno to my guac to kick it up a notch
Jalapenos in guac sounds really good. I like the idea of adding a spicy kick!
i been wanting to try a cauliflower crust for awhile.. breadsticks though?! ahhh use to be my fav school lunch! gotta try these!
You most definitely need to try these!!
Wow, Hannah! These look amazing! I would surely order these out a restaurant. I have tried to cauliflower crust a few times but yours sounds like the best I’ve seen yet. YUM!
Thank you so much for the kind words. It really means a lot!
oh this sounds sooo good!! I need to make this!
Please let me know if you try it!!
I keep seeing recipes that use cauliflower as the base and it intrigues me, i’m a little nervous about it though- is it difficult to work with?
No. It is SO easy!! Trust me, you can absolutely do it.
I’ve used cauliflower for pizza crust, but I hadn’t thought about using it in bread sticks to dip! What a great idea!!
These types of recipes have proven to me that cauliflower can be SO awesome!
I LOVE how versatile cauliflower is and all the excellent creative recipes there are out there for substituting cauliflower. These breadsticks look incredible. Excellent snack idea!
Cauliflower really is so versatile! Who knew??
I’ve been resisting trying the cauliflower-instead-of-traditional-crust movement, but finally stopped holding out this past week. I made pizza and it turned out to be yummy! Now that I’m over my fear, I will definitely be trying your breadstick version – it looks great!