Eating Clean: Cauliflower Crust Pizza

When people are trying to eat healthy, one of the hardest things to give up is pizza. There is a reason it is American’s favorite food. The gooey hot cheese, the perfectly soft yet crunchy dough, sweet tangy sauce and yummy toppings are just too delicious to refuse. Oops, even that got me drooling a bit. But you don’t have to throw your plans of eating clean and healthy out the window for that one slice of greasy pizza. Luckily, there is a healthy alternative for pizza.

Enter: Cauliflower Pizza!

Unlike regular pizza that has dough made of flour and sugar, this crust is made out of cauliflower!

Like you, I was a little skeptical about using cauliflower to make a pizza crust. I mean I don’t want it ON my pizza, why would I want the foundation to be made from it? But trust me when I say that for a healthy alternative to pizza, it is pretty impressive and tasty.

Hold up, let’s be honest here. It is not the same as eating a flour pizza crust, so I won’t pretend it is. It still feels like you are eating pizza, you just can’t go into it expecting it to taste the exact same. But it doesn’t feel like you are eating cauliflower either. In fact, if you tried it before you knew it was cauliflower, I’m not sure you’d guess what it was. It still has that same cheesy and delicious taste just so much healthier! Do you like a crispy crunchy edge to your crust? Cauliflower pizza does that too.

Pizza is one of my favorite foods but I don’t like the guilt or how I feel physically after I eat it. Between a veggie crust and veggie toppings, I feel good eating this. Just like flour pizza, you can add a variety of toppings all to your heart’s desire: mushrooms, spinach, onions, black olives, squash, eggplant, cheese, zucchini, and tomatoes, really, the options are unlimited! You can top the pizza with whatever you like, just make sure the toppings are pre-cooked since you’ll only be broiling the pizza for a few minutes.***

So yes, pizza CAN actually be healthy and taste good too!

Overall, I am very pleased with the outcome and will most definitely be making it again. I hope you give it a try and enjoy it too!

RECIPE: (adapted from here and here)

Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Ingredients:

1 head of (riced) cauliflower
1/2 - 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese* (I used part skim)
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 - 2/3 tsp Italian seasoning
2/3 tsp crushed garlic
1/2 tsp garlic salt
Salt & pepper to taste
olive oil (optional) ** 
Pizza sauce
Choice of toppings***

*Depends on how cheesy you like it. I’d use more if I could.

**This made my pizza more oily than I would have liked. Next time I’ll skip it.

***Meats and veggies need to be pre-cooked before placing them on the pizza. After the crust is baked, the pizza is only under the broiler to melt the cheese, not long enough to properly and safely cook meats and veggies.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 450F.

Line a baking sheet with parchment paper. (I used aluminum and it ripped easily)

“Rice” the Cauliflower:

Take 1 large head of fresh cauliflower, remove stems and leaves, and chop the florets into chunks. Add to food processor and pulse until it looks like grain. Do not purée it by over-pulsing. I am pretty sure you can use a cheese grater if you don’t have a food processor. Put the grated cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl and cook for 8 minutes (time depends on microwave power, so you may need to reduce or add to this cooking time). There is enough natural moisture in the cauliflower so there is no need to add water. It will cook itself. One large head should produce approximately 3 cups of riced cauliflower. The remainder can be used to make additional pizza crusts immediately, or can be stored in the refrigerator for up to one week.

Place the cooked Cauliflower Rice on a tea towel and squeeze out all the water. as much of the water as possible. You want it as dry as possible so there won’t be extra moisture in the crust. Excess moisture will prevent the crust from crisping.

In a medium bowl combine the dry Cauli-Rice, egg, mozzarella, and spices and mix to combine well.

Press the cauliflower mixture into an even thickness (about 1/4 – inch thick) on the prepared pan.

Bake for 15-20 minutes or until the crust is firm and golden brown.

Remove the pan from the oven and turn on the broiler.

Top the cooked crust with sauce, cheese and toppings of your choice.  Place under the broiler until the cheese is bubbly and melted. Approx 5 minutes.

Look how yummy that looks! I only added cheese this time, but next time, bring on the toppings! ENJOY!!

In full disclosure, mine turned out a little mushier than it was supposed to. As you can see, this is what happens when you don’t get enough moisture out of the cauli-rice. I clearly needed to put it back in and cook it a little longer. When I used a spatula to scoop it up at first, it crumbled into a gooey glob of goodness! Because it has a lighter consistency, it is hard to eat with your hands; it is much easier to use a fork. If you ask me, I’ll take eating pizza with a fork any day if it means I can feel better about what I’m eating.

{If you try this out, I’m interested to know your thoughts! If you adjusted the recipe at all,

what did you do and how did it work out?! Feel free to share comments below!}

I am not a dietician and don’t pretend to be. Please consult your Dr. for questions and nutritional advice. Recipes and comments are my take on Eating Clean recipes. I cannot guarantee that recipes are 100% Clean. They are loosely based on what I interpret or consider acceptable options for this lifestyle.