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Cauliflower crust for pizza

Cauliflower crust for pizza

Much thanks to Barbara Swell for the original recipe behind this. Seriously, buy all of her books, especially the ones about pie.

This one takes a bit of work, but it's fun, and it's worth it. This is a way to make pizza slightly more healthy (although you can still load it with cheese--I won't judge). The crust can be made in advance and frozen, and prepared pies also reheat very well (way better than traditional pizza crust, believe it or not). This is not a replacement for traditional pizza crust, but, honestly, it scratches the same itch.

This is good with dollops of ricotta, arugula, roasted red peppers, tomatoes... whatever! (Note, if doing greens like arugula, add them fresh at the end!)

Ingredients

1 whole cauliflower Medium to large size

Cheese cloth You may be able to get away with using a fine mesh colander and a spatula, but it is easier to squeeze water out using cheese cloth

2 eggs

1 cup shredded mozzarella

2 tbsp coconut flour

Around 1 tsp salt Amount depends on size of cauliflower

Around 1 tsp pepper Amount depends on size of cauliflower

Herbs Dry or fresh

Pizza toppings, additional cheese, etc.

Servings

Around 6

Time

Crust

Prep: 10-20 minutes

Bake: 20-40 minutes

Final Pie

Prep: ? minutes Unless you're doing something elaborate, toppings should be able to be prepped while the crust is baking

Bake: 5-10 minutes

Total

40-80 minutes

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat oven to 400 degrees.
  2. Cut cauliflower into florets.
  3. In batches, pulse cauliflower florets in a food processor until coarsely ground
  4. Boil the ground cauliflower in shallow water for a few minutes to par cook
  5. Using cheese cloth and a colander, drain the water from the cauliflower, and squeeze the cheese cloth to get out more water. Careful, it will be hot!
  6. Let cool for just a bit; you don't want the egg cooking in the next step, and the mozzarella will be easier to work with if the cauliflower isn't too hot.
  7. Add the egg, mozzarella, coconut flour, salt, pepper and herbs, and mix to incorporate
  8. Spread the mixture onto a large baking sheet lined with parchment, and pat it down until evenly thin.
  9. Bake crust until golden brown (15-20 minutes).
  10. Add toppings, cheese first, then bake until the cheese is gooey and the toppings lightly browned (5-10 minutes).