So as I promised you last week, pizza is the order of the day today. Healthy, delicious, gluten-free, low-carb and veggie loaded. Bam!
Pizza has become such a dirty word lately and if you mention it in the same sentence as the word healthy, most people just think it doesn’t exist. Healthy pizza… kind of like unicorns… Well, I’m here to tell you that it does exist and you can eat as much as you want guilt-free. The first thing we’ll do is swap the regular flour crust for a cauliflower one. You might have heard of it before, but if you haven’t, don’t run! I promise you it is tasty, satisfying and you won’t miss the dough crust at all. Next thing, we will load the pizza with vibrant veggies. Sprinkle some cheese on top – done. One healthy cauliflower pizza coming right up!
So I hear you asking how on Earth would you make a crust out of cauliflower??
Turns out, very easily. You cut up a head of cauliflower into florets and mince in the food processor until it resembles rice.
You then boil it with a pinch of salt for a couple of minutes, just to soften the cauliflower and partially cook it. Now, the next step is very important, otherwise the crust will turn out soggy and won’t hold together. Line a colander with a cheese cloth (or a clean kitchen towel if you don’t have one) and tip the cooked cauliflower “rice” into it. Rinse with cold water (otherwise you will get burnt) and then wring it to squeeze as much liquid as you can out of it. Put the squeezed out cauliflower mixture into a bowl, add eggs, parmesan, oregano and a pinch of salt and mix well.
We will bake the crust in an oven dish lined with baking paper to prevent sticking. Spread the mixture into a nice round of about 1/2 cm thick and bake for 30 minutes.
Whilst you’re waiting for your crust to bake, cut up and prepare your toppings. Now, there’s no limits to your imagination here, use whatever you love on pizza. I used tomato puree, sliced tomatoes, mushrooms, red onion and red, green & yellow peppers.
This is what your crust will look like after half an hour in the oven, delicious and golden and ready to take on the goodness. Veggies on, a sprinkle of oregano and into the oven for another 15 minutes.
And finally, sprinkle with shredded cheese (I used emmental because I prefer it to mozzarella, but feel free to use whatever you like) and return into the oven for another couple of minutes, just so the cheese gets melted.
And then TUCK IN! Mmmmmhhhh… pizza heaven. And any leftovers (not that there will be any) can be eaten later, this cauliflower pizza is just as delicious cold as it is hot.
If you find you have made more cauliflower base mixture than what you need, it can be frozen without a problem and used later. And if you’re worrying about the crust falling apart and not holding together, don’t! It works as perfectly as dough crust would, holds together really well and can be eaten with your hands for an authentic pizza experience 🙂
I hope you try it out and let me know how you like it! Have a great week everyone!
- 1 small cauliflower (6 cups florets)
- pinch of salt
- 2 eggs
- 1 cup grated Parmesan
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- tomato puree
- tomatoes, sliced
- mushrooms, sliced
- red onion, sliced
- coloured peppers (yellow, green & red), sliced
- oregano
- cheese (mozzarella, or any other you like - I used emmental)
- First, we prepare the cauliflower base. Take 1 small cauliflower apart into florets (I got 6 cups out of mine). Put into the food processor and mince until it resembles rice. Boil with a pinch of salt for 2 - 3 minutes.
- Before we mix it with the rest of the base ingredients, we need to squeeze as much water as possible out of it, otherwise the base would be soggy. For this, line a colander with a cheese cloth or simply a clean kitchen towel if you don't have a cheese cloth and tip the cauliflower into it. Run some cold water all over it, otherwise you will get burnt whilst you're wringing it out. Then twist the cloth and squeeze as much liquid as you can out of it.
- Next, put the squeezed cauliflower into a bowl, add the eggs, Parmesan, oregano and a pinch of salt and mix really well.
- Line an oven dish with baking paper to prevent sticking and spread the mixture onto it about 1/2 cm thick. Bake in a 200ºC oven for 30 minutes.
- Once the base is baked and golden, take it out of the oven, cover with your chosen toppings (except cheese) and a sprinkle of oregano and return to the oven for another 15 minutes.
- Finally, take out, sprinkle with shredded cheese and bake for just 2 minutes more, so it melts.
- The above toppings are the ones I used, but you can use any you like and prefer on your pizza. No limits here!
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