Packed full of vege, once you’ve perfected the cauliflower pizza crust, you may never look back.
This has been on my foodie radar for some time. I’m already sold on cauliflower as a vegetable. There are so many different ways to cook it, but I’d never attempted the pizza crust, until now.
I’ve recently had a bit of a mind readjustment in the food department. I’m attempting to go gluten free for health’s sake.
Why exclude gluten? It’s not the diet fad you may think, nor am I coeliac, I just feel better with a little less gluten in my life.
Making a Cauli Pizza Crust is pretty simple. You can apply the same principles with broccoli. Half a cauliflower makes a perfect, generous pizza to feed the family (or to covert all to yourself and have for lunch leftovers the next day). You’ll need to blitz the cauli into ‘rice’ texture. Do this by cutting the raw florets into small sizes and slicing up the stalk too (no need for them to go to waste), before blitzing in a food processor. The texture will be as fine as cooked rice or coarse breadcrumbs, depending on what tools you have!
The cauli is your staple. Next you need to have ingredients to bind it. In this instance one egg and a cup of grated cheese works perfectly. You can then season it to your liking – salt & pepper, dried herbs, a dab of garlic perhaps or spices.
The topping is down to WHATEVER you choose. You’ve no doubt eaten pizza enough in your lifetime to work out what you like!
Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Prep time: 10 minutes
Cook time: 40 minutes
Ingredients
- 1/2 medium-sized cauliflower (approx 3 cups)
- 1 egg
- 1 cup grated cheese
Method
- Preheat oven to 180°C.
- Cut the raw cauliflower up into small pieces (stalks an florets) then blitz in a food processor until it resembles rice.
- Transfer into bowl, add egg and grated cheese (any flavour will do) and combine well.
- Line a pizza pan with baking paper, then press the cauliflower mix evenly into all corners with your fingers. With the back of a spoon, firmly press down so it compacts nicely. Bake for 20mins then remove. Your base should be golden and crispy on the edges.
- Add your delicious toppings to taste, then bung back in the oven for another 20 minutes.
Note: due to the nature of the base, cutting and serving straight from the oven may result in a crumbly serve. If you can restrain yourself, wait for 5 minutes for the base to ‘rest’ and set. It’s even better the day after!
After having made this several times, I can genuinely say I am ‘sold’. No more will I complain about a stodgy pan crust and feeling carbs-conscious, my 5+ a Day are truly sorted with this dish.
And yes, gluten free, soy free and corn free for those looking for recipe options.
Enjoy!
