Cauliflower Pizza Crust

So, earlier tonight Krys posted a pic of the cauliflower crust pizza we learned of through Facebook a while back and she had quite a few requests to post a recipe.  Here goes! 

This recipe is not the one we saw on Facebook.  We hadn't heard of this use for cauliflower until just a short time ago and we didn't catch the link because I have tried preparing cauliflower in the past and found that the kids really didn't care for it much.  Krystal did well with my roasted cauliflower, but I could tell it really wasn't her cup of tea.  This seemed like this pizza could end up as a dinner disaster, but it was very well received. The thing about this crust is that the flavor is much like a breadstick.  So much like a breadstick that I may bake these up to use for dipping in lieu of bread at out next Italian meal.  I found this recipe on the lucky penny blog and there is a dairy free recipe also that we haven't tried.

Soon I will add a recipe for my pizza sauce, so keep your ear to the ground!

As for the toppings, we are a pretty basic Canadian bacon family, but you can use any toppings you like on this crust to make it your own.  The nutritional breakdown will be for the crust itself and you can use your own calorie counter to calculate the pizza with your choice of topping.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

2 to 3 cups processed Cauliflower (refer to recipe)
1/4 tsp. Salt
1/2 tsp. Dried Basil
1/2 tsp. Dried Oregano
1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
1/4 cup Shredded Parmesan Cheese
1/4 cup Mozzarella Cheese
1 Egg

1 Egg White

Preheat your pizza stone or baking sheet in oven at 450°.  Set aside a lightly oiled piece of parchment paper that is the same size as the stone/sheet you are using.

Take a second to crush the spices into a fine powder for a more even distribution when we get to that step. 

After thoroughly washing and drying a head of cauliflower, remove the florets from the stem and pulse in a food processor (hopefully one that's larger than ours!) until the cauliflower resembles fluffy snow.  Cover the processed cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high about 4 minutes (longer for microwaves less than 1000w) to gently steam the cauliflower.  Dump the hot cauliflower onto a kitchen towel and wait until the cauliflower is cool enough to handle comfortably before wrapping the cauliflower in the towel tightly and wringing out all loose liquid. The more liquid you are able to remove the less crumbly the resulting crust will be.

Dump the ringed out cauliflower into a bowl.  Gradually incorporate the cheeses, salt, basil, oregano, and garlic powder with the cauliflower, stirring with a fork.  Next add the egg and egg white and mix thoroughly with hands to form a "dough" ball.  The dough should be sticky, but able to be formed into a smooth ball.

Flatten the dough ball on the lightly oiled parchment paper into a round or square crust.  If you're feeling fancy, you can give it a really irregular "artisan" looking shape.  Our experience is that the pizza will cook quite a bit more evenly than a wheat crust so go wild and make the pizza crust any shape you feel like.  Do remember that the toppings may cook unevenly depending on what you choose.

Transfer the parchment paper to the hot stone or baking sheet and proceed to bake the crust for 8-12 minutes, until the crust is evenly cooked and golden brown.  Remove the crust from the oven and top with your favorite meats and cheeses.  Leave the stone in the oven if you are able to slide the parchment paper onto another sheet or cutting board.  Return the crust to the oven once topped and bake on the stone/sheet for approximately 7 minutes to melt the cheese and heat the toppings.  If you are concerned the crust is going to burn but the toppings are not yet cooked, fire up the broiler and finish it off.  The parchment should be safe under the broiler (different brands have different ratings), but you will need to watch carefully so you do not start a fire.

Here's what we ended up with!  It was delicious and best of all, it was not heavy like most pizzas tend to be.  The flavor of the crust was much like a seasoned bread crust and the texture was amazing!  Letting the pizza cool slightly before eating helped the crust hold together without crumbling, but the crust is a bit flimsier than a wheat crust.  Let us know what you think of this recipe in the comments section below!

Here are the Nutritional Facts on the crust as per the recipe:

Now, before you pick this recipe apart just take a trip to the grocery store and find a pizza that can compare to this.  There isn't another pizza I've seen that is going to provide 4 grams of protein per slice in the crust alone, and the naturally-sourced vitamins and minerals are plentiful.  It's a great way to get your whole family to finally eat some cauliflower.  Your kids will love this pizza crust and adults can certainly appreciate the rich flavor.  Unlike most other pizzas, this cauliflower crust satisfies your hunger and sticks with you, so you aren't going to find yourself snacking all night.

I have two suggestions if you want to tweak the recipe.  First, the original recipe also calls for almond meal if you are short on cauliflower (1 Tbsp. for a 1 cup cauliflower deficit???).  The quantity seemed incorrect, so I left it out.  You could add 2-3 Tbsp. safely, but I worry that it will make the resulting crust crumbly.  Unless you have almond meal handy I would leave it out.  You can also trim 131mg sodium per serving from the recipe by omitting the salt.  Given that the cheeses and toppings will likely add a bit of sodium and the crust is already very flavorful, I doubt you'll even notice that it isn't in there.

Enjoy and leave your comments below!  Please feel free to share this recipe with your friends and family!