BUT it was good--even Bill agreed. He said that he would eat it even if I was allowed to have the regular flour crust. It has a slight veggie taste, of course, but it's definitely a fine stand-in for "real" pizza. The crust doesn't get crispy, so you may need a fork... however, if you're like me, you want to eat your pizza with your hands. I found that if I handled it like one of those big slices of New York pizza (fold it and stuff it in your face), I didn't miss the fork.
Also, you can eat a whole 9" pie if you make your crust like this. For a girl like me who loves to eat, that's a huge bonus on pizza night.
And now, without further ado, I give you (*drum roll*) Cauliflower Pizza!
Doesn't it LOOK like real pizza? I can't wait to try other toppings!
Cauliflower Pizza
1 cup cooked "riced" cauliflower (directions below)
1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1 clove crushed garlic
1/2 teaspoon garlic salt
olive oil or cooking spray
Whatever toppings you want. For my pizza, I used:
1/4 cup Great Value pizza sauce (lowest carb count I could find)
pepperoni (I put about 10 on the pizza, but you could put more)
1/4 cup mushrooms (I sauteed mine for a couple of minutes.)
To “Rice” the Cauliflower:
Take 1 large head of fresh cauliflower, remove large stems and leaves, and chop the florets into chunks. Add to food processor and pulse until it looks like grain. Do not over-do pulse or you will puree it. (If you don't have a food processor, you can grate the whole head with a cheese grater. I used a grater the first time I made this and bought a food processor the next day because 1-I liked this pizza THAT much, and 2-It sucked to use the grater. Use a food processor if at all possible.)
Place the riced cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 8 minutes. There is no need to add water, as the natural moisture in the cauliflower is enough to cook itself.
One large head should produce approximately 3 cups of riced cauliflower. (With a grater, I only ended up with about 2 cups and made them both into pizza crusts.) The remainder can be used to make additional pizza crusts immediately, or can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.
Before using the riced cauliflower, be sure to squeeze out any excess water using cheesecloth. Then squeeze it out again. Squeeze it! Squeeze it good! (I didn't do this the first time and I think it contributed to the soggy crust.)
To Make the Pizza Crust:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Brush a thin coat of olive oil over your pizza stone. I know they're non-stick, but you'll be happy you put the oil on it. It won't add that much fat. Just do it. (OR you can spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray. I haven't tried this method because I love my pizza stones SO much.)
In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. Add oregano, crushed garlic and garlic salt, stir.
Transfer to the stone by plopping little bits of dough all over the middle of it. Using your hands, pat it into a 9" round.
Bake at 450 for 15 minutes. (Check it after about 13 minutes. I cooked two at a time using my convection oven and they cooked pretty fast.)
Remove from oven. At this point, the crusts can be frozen or used immediately. Loosen the edges of your crust by running a metal spatula around it before you add the toppings. You may have to do this again after broiling.
To the crust, add sauce, toppings and cheese. Place under a broiler at high heat just until cheese is melted (approximately 3-4 minutes).
Enjoy!
Nutritional information for one ENTIRE crust (without toppings):
calories 434
fat 25g
carbs 13
fiber 5g
protein 41g
I plan to use this crust for every kind of pizza you can imagine. My head is spinning with crust seasoning and topping combinations! All of those pizza cookbooks I've collected don't have to be donated because I will definitely use them! Woohooo!!
Credits:
I followed this recipe: http://www.eat-drink-smile.com/2011/04/cauliflower-crust-pizza.html
Which originally was inspired by this one that was featured by Dr. Oz on his show: http://blog.yourlighterside.com/2009/05/low-carb-pizza-dough-cauliflower.html
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