Cauliflower Pizza
I'm typically a real traditionalist when it comes to pizza. Good quality, classic ingredients on a thin crust pizza usually do the trick for me. But last time we had pizza night, I wanted to do something really crazy. Instead of making a pizza out of our standard dough (and making it delightfully salty and crispy), I decided to try my hand at making a crust made out of cauliflower.
I know. The first time I heard of people making bread substitutes out of cauliflower I nearly had a heart attack. It seemed sacrilege. But then I realized people were onto something. Cauliflower on its own is pretty meh. When was the last time you heard people get excited about cauliflower? Um, never, that's when.
But then I realized that because cauliflower has a pretty neutral flavor, it can adapt to other flavor profiles quite easily. Even better? It can adapt to the texture of bread with the addition of eggs and cheese. Once I started to see the rave reviews, I knew I had to give this whole cauliflower dough thing a whirl.
And you know what? It really worked! And we really liked it! Sure, if someone handed a slice of cauliflower pizza to me and told me it was a regular slice of pizza, I wouldn't be fooled. But if you're trying to cut back on carbs or simply want to try something new, I'd recommend giving the cauliflower pizza dough a go. It's extremely satisfying and definitely is the answer to a pizza craving.
For toppings on this bad boy, I went the classic route with my go-to, favorite way of topping a pizza: red sauce, mozzarella, salami, basil and mushrooms. I was actually mad at myself because I swore I had a container of cashews in my pantry (I totally didn't and I cried). But if I had them they totally would've been on top of this classic combo as well. If you've never had cashews on pizza, try it immediately. You're missing out.
Cauliflower Pizza
Ingredients
1 head cauliflower
1 egg
1/2 cup mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan
Olive oil
Toppings of your choosing, though I highly reccomend a red sauce base, mozzarella, salami, mushrooms, cashews and basil. Yum-o.
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Using a food processer, pulse cauliflower in batches until it becomes a rice like consistency. Be careful not to over process the cauliflower - I did this step in about 4 batches. Place ground cauliflower in a large bowl and microwave for about 8 minutes.
Remove cauliflower onto clean, dry dish cloth. Wrap up the cauliflower into a tight ball and wring out all excess liquid. I set mine over a measuring cup and let it naturally drain and cool for about 10 minutes before sqeezing remaining liquid out with my hands.
Add cauliflower back to bowl and add egg, Mozzarella and Parmesan cheese. Stir to combine, until cauliflower mixture looks dough-like. Drizzle olive oil evenly over a baking sheet and form "dough" directly on baking sheet, about 1/2 inch thick. Bake for 12 minutes, or until crust is golden and firm. Top with toppings of your choosing and bake for another 5-8 minutes until bubbly. Let cool about 5 minutes before slicing and serving.
