Easy Cauliflower Crust Pizza

This recipe and photos were provided by Sally Roeckell of Table and Dish and were originally published at 365Barrington.com.

With the popularity of eating gluten-free, eating clean, and detoxing our bodies from processed foods that can have harmful effects, there has been a quest to make quality food taste great too. One road block to eating clean and detoxing our bodies can be the busy lifestyles and unpredictable hours so many of us keep. So, easy is essential.

Keeping comfort foods like pizza on the menu can be tricky when you’re trying to keep a healthy diet afloat. Today’s recipe is a hit in my house: Cauliflower Crust pizza. It’s been gaining popularity over the past few years. I’ve mentioned in past posts that my mother owns a restaurant in Michigan. She serves this pizza to her gluten-free customers and they can’t get enough of it.

It all starts, obviously, with cauliflower. About one medium head will do. You can grate it on a box grater or simply grate it with a food processor. But if truly easy is what you crave, you can buy cauliflower in Heinen’s produce department already grated for you. Life is busy!  These little conveniences make my day. When it’s worth it I will put in full effort. I make my own pastas after all. Little conveniences that lighten your load without compromising quality or taste are always a win.

For this recipe, you simply microwave the cauliflower pieces for 10-12 minutes until tender then pour the cooked pieces into a cheesecloth-lined bowl. This is an important step that I don’t see in most of the recipes I’ve seen floating around the internet. This is the step that will ensure you have a non-soggy pizza crust you can slice and pick up in your hands like any other slice of pizza. You use the cheesecloth to squeeze all the moisture out of the cauliflower. Wring it tight.

Then simply mix the ingredients together. As you can see here I used a larger shred cheese this time. I actually think it works better with a finer shred.

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Ingredients

• 1 Pound cauliflower
• 1/2 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
• 1/4 cup parmesan cheese
• 1/2 teaspoon oregano
• 1/2 teaspoon kosher salt
• 1/2 teaspoon minced garlic (or more to taste)
• 2 eggs lightly beaten

Method

• Preheat oven to 375°.
• Line a baking sheet with parchment paper.
• Break the cauliflower into pieces and pulse in a food processor until fine. Or use Heinen’s pre-grated cauliflower and skip this step.
• Microwave in a microwave safe bowl on high for 10-12 minutes, until tender.
• Let cool.
• Place cauliflower in a bowl lined with cheesecloth.  Gather ends and squeeze all the moisture from the cauliflower.
• In a bowl combine cauliflower, cheeses, salt, oregano, garlic and eggs. Mix well.
• Transfer to your prepared parchment-lined baking sheet.
• Spread the mixture into a circle resembling a pizza crust.
• Bake for 20 minutes.
• Remove from oven and top with desired pizza toppings, then return to oven to bake for an additional 10 minutes.

One of the beautiful things about pizza is the endless combinations of toppings to suit every taste. The same applies here: spinach, mushrooms, olives, chicken, peppers, basil, garlic, anchovies…you get the idea!

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