I first heard of cauliflower pizza crust several months ago. Just recently, I have been reading about it a lot on various foods blogs. This past Monday I broke down and decided that I was finally going to give it a try. Let me tell you…I am so glad that I did!
Roasted Vegetables on a Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Servings: 1-2
*The following recipe for the cauliflower pizza crust is based off of two recipes that can be found here and here.
Ingredients
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
pizza sauce
toppings of choice (I used cooked onions and spinach, roasted broccoli and eggplant, and diced Roma tomatoes)
grated parmesan cheese (I used about 2 tsp)
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.
I was able to use my food processor that I bought for myself as an early Christmas present for the first time. It is safe to say that I LOVE it!
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 24 minutes.
7. Remove the crust from the oven and add pizza sauce, your desired toppings (make certain that these are pre-cooked), and grated parmesan cheese. You could also add additional shredded cheese, if desired.
8. Bake the pizza for an additional 4-5 minutes. If using additional shredded cheese, you can broil the pizza instead
I was beyond pleased and impressed with the way that the crust and pizza turned out. It tasted delicious and is certainly something that I will be making again.
I really wanted to eat the entire pizza in one sitting (which I definitely could have done since the crust is so low in calories and I used a minimal amount of cheese), but I had to convince myself to save half of it so that I would have yummy leftovers for lunch. It was definitely worth it!
