Cauliflower Crust Pizza Revisited

I posted a cauliflower crust pizza recipe last year, but since then I'm come to perfect my recipe. With the addition of coconut flour instead of almond flour, I've discovered that the pizza gets much more sturdy after baking. I also added some mozzarella cheese in with the cauliflower 'dough' to help hold it together and give it a bit more crunch. This one definitely holds up, no silverware needed!
Give it a try!

Due to the fact that my husband gets home so late from work, I only have horrible lighting to work with. Hopefully I'll be able to take better photos soon!

Ingredients: Serves 2 people (you can easily double the recipe if you'd like)

1/2 head of cauliflower, cut into florets

1/4 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

1/4 cup parmesan cheese

1 tablespoon coconut flour

1/8 teaspoon garlic powder (or 1 clove of minced garlic)

1/8 teaspoon dried basil

1 teaspoon psyllium seed husks (will work without it)

1 egg

In a steaming pot steam the cauliflower florets until soft and set aside to cool.

In a bowl mash or rice the cauliflower florets until they resemble white rice. Place the riced cauliflower in a mesh cloth or rag and squeeze excess water out over a bowl or into your kitchen sink. You really want to squeeze the crap out of it and get as much water out as possible, thus allowing your crust to get nice and crispy. 

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.

Return riced cauliflower to a bowl, it should resemble a dry puree or dough. Add in all the remaining ingredients, mixing and kneading well until completely combined. On a baking sheet lined with parchment paper (that has been sprayed with cooking spray or oil) mold the cauliflower dough into a rectangular shape. I find the rectangle shape allows the dough to crisp up the best, but you can also do two round personal pizza's instead.

Bake pizza for 20-25 minutes or until it just starts to brown on the top. Remove from oven and carefully add pizza toppings of choice. I did kale and mozzarella with truffle oil for me and pepperoni for my husband. Bake for another 10 minutes or so.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza (GF)

I decided to try making cauliflower crust pizza a few weeks ago and loved it. This time around, I added my own spin to the recipe I had followed. To my surprise, my husband even liked it. Don't get me wrong, it definitely doesn't make an exact substitute for regular, yeasty and yummy pizza crust. But it's a great low carb and gluten free alternative if you're watching your waist line. For the pizza toppings, I made two completely different flavors. One pizza had pesto sauce, mozzarella, fresh sliced tomatoes, and basil. The other had olive oil, mozzarella, onions, spinach, and I drizzled it with truffle oil right out of the oven. I actually preferred the taste of the pesto and tomato pizza with the cauliflower crust, which is surprising because I LOVE truffle oil. Nonetheless, both pizzas were delicious and I will be making this pizza crust WAY more often.



Ingredients for crust:

1/2 a head of cauliflower, chopped
2 egg whites
1 clove of minced garlic (or 1 tsp garlic granules)
1 tablespoon finely chopped basil
1/4 cup parmesan cheese
1/2 cup almond meal
Dash of salt
Dash of pepper

 In a pot steam the 1/2 head of chopped cauliflower until it's soft. Remove from heat and mash with a potato masher until it reaches "riced" consistency (the cauliflower will look like white rice). Carefully put the rices cauliflower in a thin towel or cheese cloth, and wrap up, twisting and squeezing out excess water. Squeeze hard, you want the cauliflower to be dry.

Once cooled, add in clove of chopped garlic, egg whites, parmesan, almond meal, basil, salt, and pepper. (You can add in any seasonings you like, oregano, cayenne, etc). If the 'dough' is too sticky, you can add more almond meal or parmesan, but it should be fairly wet so that you can mold it into crust. Preheat oven to 400 degrees (if you have pizza stone, place in oven as it's heating to ensure that it's nice and hot when the dough is ready to bake.

 On a piece of WELL greased (or  sprayed with cooking spray) parchment paper, mold the 'dough' into 5-6 inch rounds and place onto baking sheet or pizza stone. Bake about 20-30 minutes, or until the crust is starting to brown around the edges. It will look burned, but the outside needs to get dark for the inner part of the pizzas to be crunchy. Remove from oven and cover with pizza toppings. Return to oven until cheese is melted and enjoy.

Pizza with Truffle Oil

A couple of weeks ago, I decided to make pizza from scratch, rather than using the trader joe's pre-packed dough. Instead I used Tyler Florence's recipe and it wasn't bad. It made about two thick-crusted pizzas, and I decided to make Garlic Balls with the leftover dough...mmmm. On one of the pizza's I did half pepperoni (for my picky boyfriend Brett) and half potato truffle pizza. The second pizza was covered with sauteed onions, truffle oil, and arugula.

Surprisingly, the potato pizza was more of a hit with my guests than the other. I tried potato pizza for my first time while I was living in Florence. There was a little store by my school that sold it by the slice. It's amazingly delicious. Next time I'll have to make an entire potato pizza, rather than just half, and maybe I'll force Brett to eat it :)

Potato Pizza Ingredients:

prepared pizza dough

1 yukon gold potato

shredded mozzarella cheese

shredded fontina cheese (optional)

olive oil

truffle oil

Turn the oven to 450 degrees and place an empty pizza pan in it to heat up. Meanwhile,

roll out the pizza dough, and then finely slice the potato VERY thin. When the pan has been in the oven to heat, remove from oven, place dough on top and quickly brush dough with olive oil. Sprinkle with a dash of salt, pepper, and garlic granules. Quickly add a layer of the cheese, then a layer of potato slices (kind of fanned out). Drizzle with olive oil and throw it in the oven for 12-15 minutes. Once the pizza is ready, remove it from the oven and lightly drizzle with truffle oil if you have it.

Onion and Truffle Oil Pizza Ingredients:

Prepared pizza dough

1/2 red onion, thinly sliced

1 cup sliced mushrooms

shredded mozzarella cheese

shredded parmesean cheese

olive oil

truffle oil

arugula

In a saute pan on medium low heat, add a tablespoon of olive oil, onions, and mushrooms and allow them to carmelize. Stir the onions frequently until they are translucent, then take onions and mushrooms off the heat. Turn oven to 450 degrees and place an empty pizza pan in it to heat it up. Roll out the pizza dough and when the pan is heated, quickly place it on the pan and brush with olive oil. Sprinkle with a dash of salt and garlic granules. Add a layer of sauteed onions and mushrooms, then top with a generous layer of mozzarella cheese. Sprinkle with the parmesean cheese, then throw in the oven to bake for 12-15 minutes. Once the pizza is ready, remove from the oven and add a layer of arugula on top. Drizzle with truffle oil and voila!

Garlic Balls:

prepared pizza dough

freshly chopped garlic

olive oil

salt

Roll out the dough into 1 1/2 inch thick balls. Place on a sheet pan and drizzle with olive oil. Add the chopped garlic and mix, so that each ball is covered in olive oil. Bake in a 450 degree oven until golden brown. Once removed from oven, toss in the remaining olive oil from the sheet pan and serve.