I know you’re probably feeling pretty skeptical right about now.
As in, what’s wrong with regular pizza crust? Why mess with perfection?
It’s not exactly a secret that I love pizza. But, I also like trying healthier versions of my favorite foods. And when I started seeing cauliflower pizza crust popping up all over Pinterest, I knew I had to make it.
So, unless you have specific reasons for avoiding it, there’s nothing wrong with pizza crust at all. At all at all. Carbs are not the enemy! I just wanted to experiment. And surprisingly, I ended up liking it! This cauliflower pizza crust is a good alternative to the traditional – as long as you don’t mind eating it fork-and-knife style.
The picture above demonstrates what the cauliflower looks like after you stick it in the food processor. It’s fairly mushy, so in the next step, you squeeze out the moisture for a chewier crust.
Any thin dish towel should work to ring out the cauliflower powder. You just squeeze until it feels like most of the liquid is gone. Then, dump it back into the bowl and add the rest of the ingredients. It’s easiest to use your hands to shape the “dough” here!
After the crust starts browning, you pull it out to add the sauce, cheese and toppings, and then throw it back in the oven. Enjoy!
Cauliflower Crust Pizza
Ingredients
- 1 medium-sized head of cauliflower
- 3 cloves of garlic, minced
- 2 teaspoons Italian seasoning
- pinch salt + pepper
- pinch of crushed red pepper
- 1/2 cup cheese (such as Parmesan and/or mozzarella)
- 1 egg
+ sauce, cheese and pizza toppings of your choice
Directions
Preheat the oven to 450 degrees.
Wash and dry the head of cauliflower. Cut off most of the stem, as you really just need the florets. Pulse them in your food processor until the cauliflower turns into a powdery substance. Then, place the cauliflower powder in a bowl and cover. Microwave for 4 minutes. Dump the cooked cauliflower onto a clean tea towel and allow to cool for a bit before the next step.
Once the cauliflower powder is cool enough to handle, wrap it up in the dish towel and wring it out (like above). You want to squeeze out as much water as possible to make your pizza crust more chewy and less crumbly.
Next, dump that cauliflower into a bowl. Add your cheese, salt, Italian seasoning, garlic, and a dash of red pepper. Then, add your egg and mix away (kneading with your hands works best!).
Once mixed together, use your hands to form the dough into a crust on an oiled parchment paper (on top of the pizza stone or baking sheet).
Bake the crust until it starts to turn golden brown. Then, remove it from the oven and add your sauce, cheese and pizza toppings! Place it back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes, until golden brown.
PB & Pinot 