Hey there!

Why would I, a carb-worshiper, make a cauliflower pizza crust? Because its delicious but also because my husband is doing a sort of Paleo diet so he can’t have bread. (omg) Needless to say, coming up with totally carb-free dinners and lunches can be a challenge but luckily, I’m up to it.

We both love pizza so I perked up when I saw that you can make pizza crust using cauliflower! I tried it once before and again today; It works out really well.

I still eat bread of course but reducing the amount of carbs a little here and there, can’t hurt, right? Just like ‘Meatless Monday” , maybe we could have “Carbless Tuesday!” I also can’t wait to try some other carb-free dishes using cauliflower like Cauliflower fried-“rice” and Cauliflower mashed “potatoes”.

I challenge you to try this and let me know if it curbs your pizza craving.

Ingredients

1.5 to 2 pounds cauliflower florets, riced in a food processor or grated on a cheese grater, until a sort of rice or couscous texture is achieved (Florets from one medium sized head was just over a pound)

1 Egg, beaten

1⁄3 cup soft goat cheese.

I didn’t have goat cheese so I used 1/4 cup of cream cheese and I added 2tbsp of shredded Kraft tex-mex cheese, very tasty 🙂

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp tsp of garlic powder

1/2 tsp of mustard powder (optional but good)

pinch of salt

Your favourite pizza toppings

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400F.

Fill a large pot with about an inch of water, and bring it to a boil.

Add the “rice” and cover; let it cook for about 4 to 5 minutes. Drain into a fine-mesh strainer, and press down to release as much water as possible. Allow to cool until its no longer too hot to handle.

THE SECRET: Once you’ve strained the “rice”, transfer it to a clean, thin dishtowel. Wrap it up in the dishtowel, twist it up, then SQUEEZE until all the excess liquid is out! It’s amazing how much more liquid will be released.

In a large bowl, combine your strained “rice”, beaten egg, cheese, and spices.  The texture won’t be like traditional pizza dough but don’t worry, it’ll hold together once baked.

Place the mixture onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper ,  and press into a pizza shape until you have achieved a crust that’s about 1⁄3″ thick.

Bake for 35-40 minutes at 400F.  The crust should be firm, and golden brown when finished.
Now’s the fun part; the toppings! Make it like you would your favourite pizza, return it to your 400F oven and bake for about 5-10 mins, just until the cheese is hot and bubbly.

My toppings are tomato sauce, salami, mozzarella, parmesan, basil

Slice and serve immediately (or cool on a wire rack)

Enjoy!

Stephanie M

Photos and Make-ahead Tip

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Make-ahead tip: You can make a couple of cauliflower pizza crusts and freeze them for a quick weeknight meal. Just wrap up them up in foil, and FREEZE.  Then, all you need to do is add toppings and bake at 400F, until the cheese is hot and bubbly.

Last time my toppings were: half tomato sauce, speck, buffalo mozzarella and onion. The other half was without sauce, sweet potato slices, caramelized onion and goat cheese. Both are garnished with fresh micro thyme.

This recipe was found on : http://detoxinista.com

Recipe adapted from : http://detoxinista.com/2012/01/the-secret-to-perfect-cauliflower-pizza-crust/