Make a healthier pizza crust out of cauliflower; then add your favorite toppings like sauce, cheese and fresh basil or grilled vegetables.
Let’s face it, as much as we all LOVE pizza it can put a strain on the old waistline. For a few years now, I’ve seen pizza crust being made out of a myriad of vegetables like zucchini, sweet potato and the most popular, cauliflower. And let me tell you, I was a bit of a skeptic. How can you make a crust out of vegetables and be able to hold the toppings? My curiosity got the best of me and I was pleasantly surprised on how easy it was to make pizza using cauliflower as my “dough”.
Learn how to make a healthier pizza crust option with cauliflower. #pizza #healthyeating #cauliflower Click To TweetI’m still on the path to wellness by reducing my caloric intake and exercising. Even though the weight loss is coming off slower each week, I’m still down 23 lbs. I have a bit more to go, but slow and steady wins the race right? This was one of my main reasons to try making pizza using cauliflower as the crust because we do love our pizza on Friday nights and wanted to make a healthier option.
For the crust, you’ll need cauliflower, Parmesan and Mozzarella cheeses (I used part skim), fresh basil, garlic powder, egg and extra virgin olive oil. Start off by cutting down the head of cauliflower into florets and rinsing them under cold water and drain. Place the cauliflower in your food processor; then pulse until fine.
Remove the cauliflower and place on a clean kitchen towel; then ring out the cauliflower over the sink to remove as much excess water as you can. If I can give you a word of advice, once you ring out the cauliflower, rinse the towel well and wash it in the laundry as soon as you can. I put mine in the towel laundry basket and by the next day I was running around the house looking for where that God awful smell was coming from; then remembered it was probably the towel and sure enough, it was.
When the cauliflower looks like pizza dough, place it in a mixing bowl and add your other ingredients. The main ingredients you will need to hold it together will be an egg and olive oil, but I wanted our crust to have some flavor so I added shredded Parmesan cheese, part skim shredded Mozzarella, fresh basil and garlic powder.
Now this is the step I would change next time. Once I mixed all of the ingredients together, I placed them in a greased cake pan. My original idea was to make a deep dish style pizza, but I wouldn’t recommend doing it like this again because though the dough held together, it was hard to get out of the pan. Instead, I would either make these appetizer sized by using a mini muffin tin or lay the crust flat on a non stick baking sheet to make it easier to slice. Once you decide, par-bake your crust for 5-10 minutes until it “puffs” up a bit and turns slightly brown; then remove from the oven and add your toppings.
Because this was my first one, I used marinara sauce, part skim shredded Mozzarella cheese and fresh basil as my topping, but the variety of toppings are endless so make it your own. Once you add your toppings, place the pizza back in the oven for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese is melted.
My husband and I really liked this Cauliflower Crust Pizza though next time, I’m going to make it with fresh tomatoes, mozzarella and basil (Margherita style). Like I said earlier, it was a bit hard to get the pizza out of the pan I used so I think I’ll use the mini muffin tin next time. The flavor was incredible and I didn’t think it tasted like cauliflower at all. Not bad for a healthier alternative; which is lower in calories & fat and higher protein & fiber than a typical NY style slice of thin crust cheese pizza. ~Enjoy!
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- 1 Head Cauliflower
- 1/4 c Shredded Parmesan Cheese 1/2 oz
- 1 1/4 c Part Skim Mozzarella Cheese; divided
- 2 tbsp Fresh Basil chopped; divided
- 1/2 tsp Garlic Powder
- 1 Large Egg
- 1 tbsp Extra Virgin Olive Oil
- 1/2 c Prepared Marinara Sauce
- Cooking Spray
- Preheat oven to 375 degrees F.
- Cut down the head of cauliflower into florets. Rinse them under cold water and drain. Place the cauliflower in your food processor; then pulse until fine.
- Remove the cauliflower and place on a clean kitchen towel; then ring out the cauliflower over the sink to remove as much excess water as you can.
- Place the cauliflower in a mixing bowl and add the Parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup of the Mozzarella cheese, 1 tbsp. of the basil, garlic powder, egg and olive oil. Mix well.
- Place the dough on non stick baking sheet sprayed with cooking spray and form into an oval or rectangle; about 1/2" thick (or use a mini muffin tin and line the bottom and sides with the cauliflower mixture). Bake for 5-10 minutes until the dough starts to "puff" up and turn slightly brown. Remove from oven.
- Add the sauce, the remaining 1 c. of Mozzarella cheese and 1 tbsp. basil to the top and bake for another 5-10 minutes until the cheese has melted.
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