Making Cauliflower-Crust Pizza
I prepared it last night. Did it on a baking stone and it came out just fine. See for yourself.
It was a 15-incher, half & half. One side was pepperoni & onion, and the other ham & mushroom. Greek Kalamata Olives par tout — with the pits, which is the only way to go on a pizza. They shrivel just a bit and the tastiest part is the meat right up next to the pit. In order to get max flavor from both the onion and the mushroom, I ran them through a cheese grater. The canned sauces at the supermarket all had dammed high fructose corn syrup (HFCS). …The hell? So, I just got a small can of tomato sauce and added pizza spice (oregano, basil, garlic) and some additional garlic powder. Also, even though there's lots of cheese in the crust, I did put additional over the sauce in the standard pizza-making fashion.
I doubled the recipe, and like Debs, didn't spice the crust. For a 15" stone, I first spread some bacon drippings very thinly, then used a plastic spatula to spread the dough. The stone had an edge, so I was able to build it up around the side, rendering a pretty thin crust in the middle. The one downside is that it's not nearly as rigid as wheat dough. I think next time I'll try a thicker crust. I also intend to experiment with things like celery root and almond flour.
It was very filling. I had not eaten a thing since breakfast and I was stuffed midway through that second slice. Very filling and satisfying. All that said, and it's very good, it does lack the wonderful chewiness of standard pizza.
Final tip: get some of those red pepper seeds, and rather than sprinkle them on the pizza, add a load of them to a few tablespoons of olive oil, mix them around, and let 'em set for a while, as you're making the pizza. Then drizzle the olive oil all around.
WHAT IT'S ABOUT AND HOW IT WORKS
Free The Animal is an eclectic writing project about everything since November 2003. 23 years, 5,500 posts, 5 million words.
It's a paid membership blog. Most posts are free and public, but only paid members can comment. What determines whether it's free or paid is when I publish. Monday through Friday, free and public. Saturday and Sunday, for paid members. That's it. Membership info here.
Try adding an egg to the cauliflower. The protein in the egg works as sort of a glue to hold things together.
Try Muir Glen's Organic pasta sauce–it's usually in the organic section of the grocery store. All organic, no HFCS, sweetened with organic cane juice. Comes in several flavors. I use it for pizza sauce, sauce ingredient in my vegetarian lasagna, and as straight up pasta sauce. Great stuff.
Yep, the egg is in there.
Pretty awesome I have to try this. Funny how we share a love for pizza its the only thing I will cheat for and actually really really enjoy! Nothing beats a good pizza and good remark on the olives I agree 100%…….
I hate cauliflower – might another vegetable work?
Try adding some chia seed to the crust.
Dave:
I'm going to try different things, like celery root and such. However, do note that the crust doesn't have even the slightest cauliflower taste. Think of it this way: you probably wouldn't enjoy chewing on wheat grain, or even soaking and cooking it. But ground and used in baking, it tastes great.
Doesn't it make you crave real pizza?
I think quite the opposite, Naomi. At least in my case.
[…] how much I always loved pot pies, and wouldn't it be great to make one. Then it dawned on me: cauliflower crust, just like for pizza. Click on the image to […]
We make this recipe all the time! Sometimes we use raw turnips instead of the raw cauliflower. Tasty, tasty!