Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Last night I made something that was so weird that I almost gave up before I even started. 

 

Healthy + Gluten Free Pizza with a Cauliflower Crust

 

I copied the recipe exactly from Eating Bird Food, except that I put in 1/2 a cup of mozzarella and a 1/2 cup of Daiya Mozzarella Shreds (I'm experimenting with eating less dairy).

 

Crispy, cheesy, heavenly crust!

 

 Author: Eating Bird Food

Serves: 8

Ingredients

• ½ head cauliflower (about 2 cups riced)
• 1 clove garlic, minced
• 1 cup part-skim shredded mozzarella cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon basil
• 1 teaspoon oregano

Instructions

1. Pre-heat oven to 400° F.
2. Prep a cookie sheet or pizza stone. You can grease the cookie sheet or use greased aluminum foil. It will stick if you don’t grease it properly.
3. Remove the stems and leaves from your cauliflower and chop the florets into chunks. Add to a food processor and pulse just until the texture is similar to rice.
4. Sauté cauliflower “rice” in a non-stick skillet over medium heat and cook until translucent, approximately 6-8 minutes. (You can use the microwave for this as well. Just place cauliflower in an uncovered microwave-safe bowl and cook for 8 minutes.)
5. In a bowl combine the cooked cauliflower with all remaining ingredients.
6. Spread dough out evenly over foil (or stone) – about ¼ to ⅓ of an inch thick. The pizza should be about 9-10 inches in diameter.
7. Bake for 25-30 minutes or until the crust is golden, crispy on the edges and cooked through the middle.
8. Remove the crust from the oven.
9. Top with pizza sauce and toppings. Be careful not to add too many heavy toppings as you don’t want to weigh down the crust.
10. Broil the pizza for 5 minutes, or until the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted. Allow the pizza to cool for 2-3 minutes then cut and serve immediately.

 

To say this pizza was good would be an understatement.  It was wonderful.  It almost becomes like a cheese wafer in the oven before you even add toppings to it.  I would eat this crust plain!  However, this time I made it into a Buffalo Chicken pizza by adding red onion, more cheese and "cheese", and chicken chunks marinated in Frank's Red Hot Sauce.

 

Can you tell which side has the non-dairy cheese :)  It's pretty obvious.

You could make it any way you wanted.  Plain, pepperoni, veggie delite, etc.  The only thing that makes this markedly unlike regular pizza, for me, was that I had to eat it with a fork and knife because the crust isn't as sturdy as regular bread crust.

 

I'm so glad I didn't give up on this recipe before starting it.  It was such a treat.  And, although it was a little labor/time intensive, it was so worth it for the end result.

 

By the way, this recipe says 8 servings.  I hope that just means 8 slices, which is what I got out of it.  Because I bet those would be 8 angry people if all they got was one slice for dinner.   Grant and I ate the whole thing last night.

 

Now one more time with feeling, and chives!