I love pizza. I really truly do. However, my stomach doesn't seem to register the full feeling when I eat pizza. That is, until 30 minutes or so later when I bloat up like a big balloon after I stuffed my face with just one more slice, or two. Add on some of those little delicious breaded chicken bites and see goodbye to your daily calorie allowance. And possibly, your weekly caloric deficit.
As I mentioned in my check-in post, I like to splurge a little on Fridays. Get a little crazy with my menu, go off the wagon if you will. This past Friday I decided to use those extra points I had racked up with a nice bottle of Pinot with Jason, so I had to be a little creative with my dinner choices.
Enter cauliflower pizza crust. I have heard about this for quite some time and was intrigued to try it but had nightmares of the possible outcome. I mean, it is cauliflower after all. Considering cauliflower is not even on any pizzeria's menu as a possible pizza topping, how could an entire pie created with it be even remotely good?
But boy, was it good. So so good. And it was relatively easy to make, definitely no more work than tossing your own dough. I could even eat it like a real slice of pizza which just overall added to the appeal and made me feel like I really was eating a big, cheesy slice of pie!
I kept it simple with the toppings for the first attempt, but I would definitely love to try it topped with some turkey pepperoni and maybe a few more veggies. I don't know how well it would hold up with an excess of toppings, but play around with it and see what you can come up with!
Cauliflower Pizza Crust makes approx 10-12 inch pizza, serves 2 hungry adults (or possibly 4 with a large salad on the side)
1 small head of cauliflower
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning Blend
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese (Use the good stuff, it's well worth it!)
1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 tsp jarred minced garlic
1 egg
Toppings of your choice. I topped our pizza with NoName pizza sauce and more mozzarella cheese.
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
Wash your cauliflower and cut into pieces. You mainly just need the florets, so try to cut off as much stem as possible. Place into your food processor and pulse until you get a cauliflower snow/rice texture. I ended up with about 3 cups of cauliflower rice from my head of cauliflower, you may end up with a little less depending on the size head you use, but that's okay. Place the cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl & zap for 3-4 minutes.
This is probably the most important part of making your crust; once your cauliflower is done in the microwave, dump onto a clean tea towel and allow to cool enough that you can handle it without burning the skin off your hands. Once it is cool enough that you can safely handle it, wring the heck out of it and get as much water as you possibly can out of the cauliflower. This ensures you end up with a crispy pizza crust, instead of a soggy inedible mess. Unless you like eating your pizza with a spoon, I highly recommend that you do not skip or rush this step.
I kept it simple with the toppings for the first attempt, but I would definitely love to try it topped with some turkey pepperoni and maybe a few more veggies. I don't know how well it would hold up with an excess of toppings, but play around with it and see what you can come up with!
Cauliflower Pizza Crust makes approx 10-12 inch pizza, serves 2 hungry adults (or possibly 4 with a large salad on the side)
1 small head of cauliflower
1 Tbsp Italian Seasoning Blend
1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese (Use the good stuff, it's well worth it!)
1/4 cup shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
1 tsp jarred minced garlic
1 egg
Toppings of your choice. I topped our pizza with NoName pizza sauce and more mozzarella cheese.
Preheat your oven to 450 degrees.
Wash your cauliflower and cut into pieces. You mainly just need the florets, so try to cut off as much stem as possible. Place into your food processor and pulse until you get a cauliflower snow/rice texture. I ended up with about 3 cups of cauliflower rice from my head of cauliflower, you may end up with a little less depending on the size head you use, but that's okay. Place the cauliflower in a microwave safe bowl & zap for 3-4 minutes.
This is probably the most important part of making your crust; once your cauliflower is done in the microwave, dump onto a clean tea towel and allow to cool enough that you can handle it without burning the skin off your hands. Once it is cool enough that you can safely handle it, wring the heck out of it and get as much water as you possibly can out of the cauliflower. This ensures you end up with a crispy pizza crust, instead of a soggy inedible mess. Unless you like eating your pizza with a spoon, I highly recommend that you do not skip or rush this step.
After you wring it out, add the cauliflower into a large mixing bowl and add the egg, parmesan cheese, italian seasoning and mozzarella cheese. Mix it all up and form into a ball.
I know what you are thinking- you are thinking it looks like a ball of seasoned cauliflower. Trust me on this one...
Now, you should have a baking sheet or pizza stone. Lining either with parchment paper, lightly spray with olive oil cooking spray and roll your cauli ball onto the baking sheet. You don't want it to be too thin, but not too thick either. This is one of those things I can't really provide an exact thickness or size for, as it largely depends on how much cauli snow you ended up with from your head of cauliflower.
Put your crust into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. You want it to be nice and golden brown, but not burnt. Keep a close eye on it once you near the 15 minute mark as all ovens temp differently.
Put your crust into the oven and bake for 15-20 minutes. You want it to be nice and golden brown, but not burnt. Keep a close eye on it once you near the 15 minute mark as all ovens temp differently.
You see what's happening here? Doesn't that look delicious? To be honest, I could eat the whole pan of just this just as it is. It smelled absolutely amazing when it was baking and it was a serious test to my self control to have to sauce it & dress it and put it back in the oven again.
Once your crust is nice and golden, take it out and dress your pizza as you desire. Place it back into the hot oven and bake for about 7-10 minutes.
Be sure to let your pizza sit for at least 2 minutes before cutting into slices & serving.
And voila- cheesy, goey cauliflower pizza that I bet you at first glance, even you will forget it was made with a vegetable as the main ingredient!
Once your crust is nice and golden, take it out and dress your pizza as you desire. Place it back into the hot oven and bake for about 7-10 minutes.
Be sure to let your pizza sit for at least 2 minutes before cutting into slices & serving.
And voila- cheesy, goey cauliflower pizza that I bet you at first glance, even you will forget it was made with a vegetable as the main ingredient!
Enjoy!
xoxo,
Amanda
Nutritional Information per serving: WW Points+ (crust only): 4
Calories: 195 | Fat: 8.2G | Carbs: 16.4G| Fibre: 7.2G| Protein: 16.7G
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