I have this love affair with food, but I have known for quite some time, that I will have to reform some of my foodie ways and start making healthier versions of the things I love. I am getting older and I certainly don't want to grow horizontally. I decided to try making a cauliflower crust pizza to satisfy my hankering for ooey gooey cheesy pizza. It was a great success.
Well.
Almost.
It was tasty, and filling and cheesy and saucy and all the great things a pizza should be, so I thought I could make this pizza and trick my son into eating more vegetables by not telling him the crust was made with cauliflower.
I made two pizzas. A supreme pizza loaded with veggies, sweet Italian Turkey Sausage and Pepperoni for me and a plain Pepperoni for him. I tried very hard to pass this vegetable crust pizza off as the real thing. Let me tell ya, it was an epic FAIL. My son is quite the pizza connoisseur because I have taken him to some of the best pizzerias in Los Angeles and his nine year old taste buds are pretty refined when it comes to pizza, so passing off a pepperoni pizza on cauliflower crust didn't quite fly. Our conversation went like this:
Me: "I have got a surprise for you!"
Little Man: "What is it mom?"
"Me: "PIZZA!!!"
Little Man: "YAY !"
My son was really excited. Very excited.
Until he put the pizza in his mouth...
Little Man: "What did you make this with, it tastes like dead vegetables mixed with garlic. I need to help you next time mom, so I can see what you put in this stuff" "Stick with your original pizza recipe mom"
Okay, so for him, no es bueno, but I LOVED IT! Now, don't get it twisted, it does not taste 100% like the real thing, but it is pretty close and very very tasty and the cherry on top is that its healthy and low carb. This is a great way to eat healthy and still enjoy some of the bad stuff we aren't supposed to have. I really like stuff I'm not supposed to have, so finding ways to make things that are bad for me, good for me is a win win in my book. Are you ready to try some healthy pizza?
You will need one head of fresh cauliflower. Put it in a food processor or use a cheese grater until it looks like snow. Microwave it for 5 minutes and then dump all of it in a towel and squeeze all of the water out of it. You must get as much of the water and moisture out of it as possible for your crust to turn out good.
Add all of the spices and an egg and mix it together
Use parchment paper (not wax paper) and shape dough with your hands and bake in oven until golden brown
Your crust should be a nice golden brown in 15-20 minutes.
It is very important to precook the crust so that it can withstand the toppings without getting soggy
Add your pizza sauce and spread all over the crust
Ready to go into the oven
The finished product
The pepperoni pizza ready to bake
The finished product was pretty delicious. I made two pizzas and customized the toppings, but you can also make one large pizza, just adjust the toppings if you choose to make one big pizza.
Ingredients
For the Crust
1 large head of cauliflower cut into small pieces
1 teaspoon garlic powder
1/2 teaspoon oregano
1/2 teaspoon pink Himalayan sea salt
1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmesan cheese
1/2 cup freshly shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs
Toppings
Approximately 1 cup pizza sauce
1 1/4 cup shredded Mozzarella cheese
1/2 green bell pepper
1/4 cup sliced red onion
1/2 cup pepperoni
1/4 cup sweet Italian turkey sausage
1/4 cup sliced black olives
Directions:
Preheat oven to 450
Put your cauliflower in a food processor and blend until it is the consistency of snow. (You can try using a cheese grater if you do not have a food processor). Put your cauliflower in a bowl and microwave for 5 minutes. Let it cool and wrap all of the cauliflower in a towel and squeeze all the water out of it. Once you have removed all the water from the cauliflower, put it in a dry bowl and mix in the spices, cheese and egg. You will end up with a cauliflower dough.
Use a sheet of parchment paper and shape your dough into a round pizza, no bigger than your pan or pizza stone. Put parchment paper with the dough on it, onto the pan and bake 15-20 minutes until golden brown.
Spread your pizza sauce on the crust, sprinkle the cheese and your other toppings and bake for 15-20 minutes.
I love to have salad with pizza, so I made a chopped salad and garnished with fresh avocado. Perfect healthy and satisfying dinner.
Bon Appetit!
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