Confession time. Even though I’m 99% committed and hardly ever stray, every now and then when it all gets too much I cave.
I cheat.
And yes, sometimes I lie about it.
You see I am 98% grain free in my diet but sometimes I crack and find myself driving straight to a nearby Crust Pizza franchise and order the finest gluten free pizza they have. I just love pizza and can’t seem to shake it. But you know what, I am sorry Crust because I can no longer afford to pay $50 for you to fuel my addiction (or deal with the tummy issues post gorge) when I have fallen for the new kid on the block.
Let me introduce you to the Cauliflower Crust Pizza.
What can I say, it has won me over with its taste, it’s sassy nutritional value, and the way it just make me feel all smug when I take it out of the oven.
Pizza Base Ingredients: makes one approx. 10-12 inch pizza
1 small – medium sized head of cauliflower – should be approx 2 to 3 cups once processed
1/4 teaspoon Himalayan salt
1/2 teaspoon dried or fresh basil (can add other herbs too)
1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic
1/3 cup shredded cheese (I use a pizza combo of parmesan cheese, mozzarella cheese etc)
1 egg
2-3 tablespoon almond meal
Topping:
As much tomato pizza topping sauce, cheese for topping, and other delish veggies and meats as you desire.
Preheat oven to 220 degrees (or 450 f). I have been cooking the pizza base on a piece of baking paper on top of a wire rack as it helps cook both sides, but a pizza tray should work just as well.
Cut up your washed cauliflower florets (don’t use too much stem) and pulse in your Vitamix or food processer for approx. 20-30 seconds until it is powdery and almost smooth.
You then want to cook the cauliflower so either place in a pot and continually stir for apox 5 minutes or place the cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl and zap for 4 minutes.
Once cooked place cauliflower onto a clean tea towel (you might want to let it cool for a few minutes before you move onto the ‘squeezing’ stage) – this entails you ringing the living bejesus out of it until you remove as much water as possible. Once you have think it is all done, do it again you will be surprised at how much liquid it holds!! This step will ensure you get a yummy pizza list base that holds together, rather than a crumply mess that falls to bits.
Once you are happy that all the liquid has been removed from cauliflower, remove it from the tea towel into a bowl. Now add all of the remaining pizza base ingredients into the bowl and mix away – using your hands generally works best to form it into a ‘dough’, you want your “dough” to be sticky.
Now it is time to place dough onto the baking paper, make sure you pat the dough tightly together when forming your crust– don’t make it too thick but don’t make it too thin either, you want it just right! Make sure you pat the dough tightly together when forming your crust
Pop into oven and bake for 8 – 11 minutes, until it starts to turn golden brown. Remove from oven.
Now it’s time to build the rest of the pizza (only when the base it golden in colour should you move to this step)! Add however much sauce, cheese, and toppings you want. Place it back into the oven and cook for another 5 to 7 minutes until the cheese is melted, bubbly, and slightly golden.
Once you have taken out of the oven allow to cool for at least 2 minutes before you slide pizza onto a chopping board and cutting up with a super sharp knife or with a pizza cutter. Remember to keep slices reasonable small so they hold together nicely.
Enjoy your delicious grain-free cauliflower crust pizza!
*Disclaimer – the slices may still be a lil floppy until you get the recipe and cooking times down, but they shouldn’t be crumbly.
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photo credit: Ivana Vasilj via photopin cc
