Tuesday, October 22, 2013

Easy Cauliflower Pizza

When I posted this photo of the cauliflower crust pizza I made two weeks ago, I immediately got questions about the recipe.

And the long and short of it is - I did use a recipe but I modified it a little.

So, in typical April fashion, I'll post my hodge-podge recipe here along with a link to the original recipe I used as a base.



Easy [and Delicious] Cauliflower Crust Pizza
Recipe adapted from Lauren Conrad


Ingredients
  • 1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower
  • 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese
  • 1 egg, beaten
  • olive oil (optional)
  • 1/4 cup italian-seasoned breadcrumbs (optional)
  • pizza sauce, shredded cheese and choice of your toppings*

Instructions


To "rice" the Cauliflower: Take 1 large head of fresh cauliflower, remove 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). 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. The remainder can be used to make additional pizza crusts immediately, or can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

To Make the Pizza Crust:

  1. Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray.
  2. Allow cauliflower to cool slightly once removed from the microwave.
  3. In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup of cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. Add seasoned breadcrumbs, stir. Transfer to the cookie sheet, and using your hands, pat out into a 9" round. Optional: Brush olive oil over top of mixture to help with browning.
  4. Bake at 450 degrees for 15 minutes.
  5. Remove from oven.
  6. To the crust, add sauce, toppings and cheese. Place under a broiler at high heat just until cheese is melted (approximately 3-4 minutes).

*Note: Toppings need to be precooked since you are only broiling for a few minutes.

Okay, big, fat, polka-dotted elephant in the room...by adding italian-seasoned breadcrumbs this is technically no longer a breadless pizza. However, the breadcrumbs are optional. I added them because they helped the crust hold together a little better and soaked up some of the moisture from the cauliflower. Also, it added a little seasoning to the crust mix.

Also - random question. The other day when I said the word cauliflower I might have been a little chastised for the way I pronounce the word. Call - ee- flower instead of Call - i - flower. The i sounds like a long "eeeee" sound instead of short like in the word "ick". So, do you say Call-ee-flower or Call-i-flower?



Linking up with Blissfully Miller and Let's Get Bananas.

8 comments:

  1. Once we get a food processor from our registry, this is one of the things I am definitely going to try one day!

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  2. I've heard of cauliflower pizza crust and never tried it. But, now that I've got a recipe in front of me and everything in the fridge to make it, we will definitely be trying this for lunch. Thanks for the recipe! O, we say it with the short I too lol. Just depends where your from ;o)

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  3. I've ALWAYS wanted to try this! We love pizza, but struggle trying to make it healthy so this seems like the perfect solution. We will be trying this soon!

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  4. It's pronounced with a short i. You can listen to it at Merriam-Webster's website:
    http://www.merriam-webster.com/dictionary/cauliflower
    I wouldn't tease you for the way you pronounce it though. I only tease people for REALLY off pronunciation - like when my husband says yuge instead of huge. :)

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  5. OMG!! I've been wanting to make some cauliflower pizza!! I'll be saving this. Thanks for linking up!!

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  6. Staying at my parents this week and they have a food processor. I may have to take the opportunity to try ;)

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Comments make me SO happy! Go ahead...make my day. ;)

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