Cauliflower Crust

I have been hearing about a cauliflower crust for pizza for a couple months now. Maybe it has been around for much longer, but I decided to cut back on my flour and sugar intake so I think these types of recipes just started to jump out at me. A couple days ago I bought the cauliflower and yesterday I finally made the pizza.

Since I had seen so many different recipes, I couldn't decided which was best. So, as is usual for me, I took the best parts of a few and made my own.  The first thing I didn't like about many of the recipes was the fact I had to cook the cauliflower first and then squeeze the water out. That seemed tedious and time consuming.  So I ran the head of cauliflower through my juicer. I only removed the leaves and I didn't even bother to steam it first.  I figured it would get cooked while baking.  I was right.

The next change I made was to add more eggs and cheese than I had seen in many recipes. I am a big cheese fan and I figured my eggs were small.  I liked this idea so the crust would have more ways to stick together after baking.

The one thing I am going to change next time is the size of my pizza.  I pulled out my 12" stone and used all the dough.  The crust turned out a little too thick for my liking.  It held together just fine, but I had to use a fork to eat the slice.  I am going to go for a thinner, crispier crust next time around. I will either adjust the recipe quantities or use a bigger stone. Right now, I am guessing I am going to go as thin as a little less than a 1/4 inch in thickness.

Cauliflower Crust Recipe

ingredients:

1 head of cauliflower
2 eggs
1 cup grated cheese (your favorite variety)
1 Tbs. Italian seasoning
1 tsp. basil

directions:

Juice the whole cauliflower, minus the leaves.  Blend the dry cauliflower pulp with the other ingredients.  I used my electric mixer to make the dough smooth. Since I am an old Pampered Chef dealer, I used the trick I was taught and first laid down a sheet of parchment paper on my pizza stone. It prevents cookie dough was sliding off the edge during baking and I wasn't sure if this dough might try and do the same thing.  So, just in case...

I baked the crust for 30 minutes on 350° and then turned it down to 200° for ten more minutes.  I may have to adjust this slightly next time since I am going to go for a thinner crust.

Next, I topped the cauliflower crust with cheese, homemade pizza sauce and whatever else I had in the refrigerator that look like it would be tasty on a pizza.  I left it in the oven about 15 more minutes until the cheese was bubbly.

Here are more reasons to enjoy a healthier crust:

Top 8 Health Benefits of Cauliflower