Cauliflower Crusted "Pizza"

piz·za

 [peet-suh]

noun

a flat, open-faced baked pie of Italian origin, consisting of a thinlayer of bread dough topped with spiced tomato sauce and cheese,often garnished with anchovies, sausage slices, mushrooms, etc.

Also called pizza pie.

(care of dictionary.com)

We love our pizza. We usually order online and because the restaurant KNOWS us (okay, we tip pretty well too), it's almost always here in no time flat. We've only had to call for the whereabouts of our pizza once. So when I heard about a cauliflower crust for pizza, I was intrigued. I mean, HOW can CAULIFLOWER replace a bread dough crust? Of course after trying the cauliflower fried rice, HOW could I NOT try pizza with a cauliflower crust!? Not wanting to get my hopes up that a cauliflower crust would replace my ordering out or my homemade whole wheat flower pizza crusts, I did some research. I also set my mind on the FACT that cauliflower crusted pizza would absolutely NOT taste as good and would NEVER replace "real" pizza.

(Let's face it, how REAL can it be, if there are a ton of ingredients I can't pronounce? Not that I don't know all the ingredients to my homemade whole wheat pizza crust, because I do. And THAT is a REAL pizza. Of course, it never turns out like ordered out pizza; I just tell myself it's because I left out all the non-pronounceable ingredients. ;)

EVERY link I came across stated the same sentiment: cauliflower crusted pizza is GOOD! But HOW good is good? Because pizza and my kids, let's just say if the pizza doesn't show up in a box, it could be a LONG night. (Yes, we went through a phase where even if we were at a restaurant specializing in pizza, the kidlets would NOT eat the pepperoni pizza. Take it home and open it up in a box... DEVOURED. I'm working on picking the "particular" (read: "picky") out of my kidlets. 

Finally, the piece of truth I had been looking for:

"I’m not going to lie and say it’s just like eating a flour pizza crust because it’s not. But surprisingly, it’s not like eating cauliflower either. I’m not even sure that you’d be able to guess what it was made of if someone hadn’t already told you. The one problem I find is that while it’s not impossible to pick up a piece and eat with your hands, it’s much easier to use a fork. We feel that’s a small price to pay though in order to feel better about what we’re eating."

With this truth, I decided I could LIVE with cauliflower crusted pizza. But I'd start small. JUST in case the kidlets rebelled against such an idea. And IF they rebelled; it meant I had a WHOLE pizza to eat to myself and I wouldn't want to COMPLETELY overdo it.

Cauliflower Crusted "Pizza"

(First made & devoured  23 Feb 13)

What you need: 

"Pizza" Crust:

One head of cauliflower

1 cup cheese (I used mild cheddar cheese)

1 egg, beaten

1 tsp oregano

1/2 tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp salt

Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.

Now, PRETEND I took a photo of ALL my ingredients for making this pizza. (One day I WILL come back and update with photos of the ENTIRE process WHEN I make this again; because I WILL make this again. And again. And again. It's THAT good!)

Because my cauliflower sits in my refrigerator ready to be used, I just took out two halves and put them into a double broiler; or should I call this a steamer? REGARDLESS, I steam my cauliflower as we do not own nor use a microwave in our home and you can steam your cauliflower however you like. I steam it around 7 minutes, or until it is fork tender. If you don't have your cauliflower sitting in your refrigerator all ready to go, make sure you take off the leaves and as much stem as you want. I DO keep some of my stem, but not ALL of it.

Next it's time to "rice" the steamed cauliflower. Because it is now fork tender, you just have to run it through a food processor by pulsing a couple times and set aside in a mixing bowl. Viola:

Remember, I have a REALLY tiny Cuisinart, so it takes some time to actually process one entire head of cauliflower. Add in your cheese and beaten egg and combine.

Next get a creepy (and wrinkly, sheesh) picture of your hand holding all the seasonings:

Also rather dry thanks to desert living.

Add your oregano, garlic powder, and salt to the "dough" and combine. Spoon out your dough onto a prepared cookie sheet. (Read: "prepared" means you've coated the cookie sheet with oil or a non-stick spray to prevent your pizza from sticking.)

Then, ever so carefully, begin to spread out the "dough" into a circle, a square, or whatever shape of "pizza" you would like to have.

I attempted a more circular/oval looking pizza.

Bake for 15 minutes.

It looks and SMELLS delicious!

Now, top your pizza with whatever you like! Just remember, whatever you put on HAS to be ready-to-eat (that means it's already cooked) because there are only 3-4 minutes of cooking time remaining.  I cooked up some chicken breast on the stove top while the cauliflower steamed.

Just chicken breast, salt, pepper, garlic and paprika.

While the crust baked, I prepped my pizza sauce.

What you need:

Pizza Sauce

1 15 oz can tomato sauce

1 tsp each of oregano, parsley, paprika, pepper

1/2 tsp each garlic powder, onion, salt

ALWAYS check the ingredients on your can of tomato sauce BEFORE adding ANYTHING. My tomato sauce comes salted AND unsalted. (I think even the salted cans need an extra sprinkling of salt to get just the right pizza sauce flavor.) Mine also has onion and garlic in it, along with other spices. Take it SLOW when adding spices to your tomato sauce. You do NOT want to end up wasting an entire can of tomato sauce because you were overeager to get the results you wanted. (Don't be like me.) Taste your sauce in between each added spice until you get the results YOU want.


Start TOPPING the Cauliflower Crusted "Pizza"!

I did cheese and turkey pepperoni and cheese for the kidlets, while I had chicken, easy on the cheese, and fresh sliced/chopped basil leaves.

Place your pizza in the broiler drawer/under the broiler for 3-4 minutes. I have ALWAYS been terrified of the broiler drawer or any recipe step telling me to use my broiler. I don't know why. HOWEVER, when my pizza came out four minutes later:

"I LOVE MY BROILER!!!!!!!!"

This pizza was SO good. And the kidlets SCARFED it down. Five minutes later EVERYONE was asking for more. We all had to settle for fruit with the promise that Mommy would make pizza again for lunch the following day. 

You can add any other toppings you want. I usually add bell pepper to my homemade pizzas, but didn't want to spend an extra few minutes sautéing them to the "crispness" I like. Next time, while the cauliflower is steaming, I might throw in a bell pepper. Or sauté one while the crust cooks. Either way, I'm making this again. And again.

And again.

:)