Monday, January 9, 2012

Cauliflower Crust Pizza


I was actually planning on blogging about Triple Chocolate Baileys Biscotti today. I had the photos ready to go and everything.
But...then I saw this curious sounding recipe on Pinterest.
By the way, if you haven't checked out Pinterest by now, you really shouldn't.
Seriously.
Don't do it.
It will suck up your time and leave you rubbing your eyes saying, "What do you mean it's 4 o'clock in the morning and I'm still sitting in front of my computer?"
Anyway...back to the biscotti. Or rather, lack of biscotti in this blog. (Don't worry I will get to it next time! Update: click HERE!)
This is about Cauliflower Crust Pizza.
Honestly, I have no words to describe how tasty this is. I made everyone in the family try it WITHOUT TELLING THEM what it was made of -- they LOVED it. They had no idea it was cauliflower.
The person that created this is a super genius.
SUPER.
GENIUS.
Here is where I fond the recipe: Eat. Drink. Smile.
Look how deliciously pizza-y it is...


Cauliflower Crust Pizza
(Slightly adapted from Eat. Drink. Smile.)

Ingredients
1 cup cooked, riced cauliflower
1 cup partly skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
1 egg, beaten
1 tsp dried oregano
2 cloves minced garlic
1/4 tsp garlic salt

pizza sauce (~1/4 cup)
 shredded cheese (~1/3 cup)
 additional toppings of your choice
Note - toppings need to be precooked since you are only broiling for a few minutes.
I used:
green pepper
mushrooms
green onion
zucchini

Directions
To "rice" the cauliflower: remove stems and leaves, and chop the florets into chunks. Add to food processor and pulse until it looks like grain. Do not over-do pulse or you will puree it. (If you don't have a food processor, you can grate the whole head with a cheese grater). ** I used a cheese grater as I was a little worried about over processing in the food processor. It worked great.
Place the riced cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl and microwave for 8 minutes, stirring gently halfway. There is no need to add water, as the natural moisture in the cauliflower is enough to cook itself.
One large head should produce approx 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.

To Make the Pizza Crust:
Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Line a cookie sheet with parchment paper.
In a medium bowl, stir together 1 cup cauliflower, egg and mozzarella. Add oregano, minced garlic and garlic salt, stir. Transfer to the cookie sheet, and using your hands, pat out into a 9" round. (I did an 8" round and found it worked really well for me - I think 9" might be too thin. But that's going to be a personal preference. Mind you, during cooking my 8" round probably grew to a 9" round on it's own.)

Don't be scared with how it looks now. The transformation is about to begin!

At this point, just before popping in the oven, Beth, from Eat. Drink. Smile recommends brushing with olive oil to help with browning. I simply gave it a light spray with cooking spray and it worked nicely.
Bake at 450 for 15 minutes.

Look how crust-like it is! Eeeeeeeee! It's so exciting!
Is it sad that this is making me so happy?

Remove from oven. To the crust, add sauce, toppings, and cheese. Place under broiler at high heat just until cheese is melted. Approx 3 - 4 minutes.


Sooooo yummy.

Okay. Three things about this recipe.
1. It is a little tricky to pick up and eat. It doesn't get crunchy like a traditional pizza does. You may have to break out the forks. (I found as soon as it cooled a little bit I could pick it up no problem, it was just a little droopy)
2. It's NOT "pizza" pizza. It's not going to taste like bread. BUT I can almost guarantee that no one will ever guess it is cauliflower. (The kids will never know!) You really do have to try it to believe it.
3. Don't be tempted to double this and make one large pizza with it. The middle will be soggy. (I made the recipe twice to get the 2 beautiful looking pizzas in the photos.) 

I went on the Fitday website and input all of the ingredients in the crust and with my toppings to find out some information on this pizza as compared to a regular cheese pizza with veggies of the same size (8").
Here is what I was able to figure:
Cauliflower Pizza - 502 calories, Cheese Pizza - 855 calories
Cauliflower Pizza - 18 carbs, Cheese Pizza - 109 carbs
Cauliflower Pizza - 42 gr protein, Cheese Pizza - 33 gr protein
Cauliflower Pizza - 31 gr fat, Cheese Pizza - 32 gr fat
For the Cauliflower Crust ON IT'S OWN - it is 380 calories. That's it!

So, basically, you can eat a whole 8" cauliflower pizza for 500 calories!!!
Am I the only one that thinks that is amazing?
And, ummm.... from 109 carbs to ONLY 18! How is that possible?
I am pretty sure I couldn't eat a whole one. I had half of one for dinner with some salad and I am stuffed. It is very rich with all that cheese!

UPDATE:  I made a chicken and spinach pizza and just wanted to share some photos! It looked (and tasted) so yummy!


A little pizza sauce, some chopped onions, chopped tomato, chopped spinach, and some pre-cooked, chopped chicken.
Isn't it pretty?
Yes, I think pizza is pretty.
And - I still can't believe that the entire pizza is only 500 calories. *Boom* Mind blown.


I just want to end with a disclaimer. The nutritional info above was estimated using the Fitday website and should not be taken as gospel.

Like this recipe? Check out our Spicy Valentine Cauliflower Hearts.

Be sure to head over to Carole's Chatter for some fantastic links!

49 comments:

  1. This i have to try!!!!!...and i love cauliflower

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  2. Let me know what you thought of it, if you do try it Fay. I loved it! :)

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  3. I saw the recipe on Pinterest too and I made this the other night and loved it! Yours looks very Pizzaish!

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  4. Whenever anything needs to be scrubbed at my house I will let it soak for a while in a vinegar water mixture it works great. It may help with the scrubbing you had to endure.

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  5. I have recently gone gluten-free in my eating and am figuring out how to replace the gluten products in my cooking....I have your cauliflower pizza "bites" (you know, the stuck ones!!) in my oven as I type this, though I adapted it to a single round deep dish stone. We'll see how it turns out! I just pinned this one, though, and I like the idea of pre-baking the crust then just broiling the toppings. Thanks!

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    1. Let us know if it works as a single, large crust. And definitely let us know if you give this recipe a try! I think this one is my favorite. :)

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  6. Could you make this with the cottage cheese instead of the mozzarella, like you do for the pizza bites?

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    1. I don't see why you couldn't. That being said....eeep! I am not 100% sure. If you try it then please let us know :)

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    2. I used 3/4 cup 2% cottage cheese and 1/4 cup low-fat mozzarella. It worked great. My 6 year old wasn't crazy about the crust, but my 3 1/2 year old didn't even notice it was different. I thought it was a great alternative to regular crust.

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  7. This passed the hubby test.....he loved it so much I had to make another

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  8. I made this tonight with a couple of alterations--I didn't have fresh garlic so I substituted garlic powder (1/2 tsp for the 1 clove), and I didn't have fresh cauliflower so I used frozen--microwaved it then "riced" it in batches in my magic bullet. I DID double the recipe to make one big pizza and it worked great!! (I did pre-bake it a couple of minutes longer, though.) I topped it with spaghetti sauce, mozzarella, mushrooms and turkey bacon. My hubby said he prefers regular crust, but that this was pretty good. I, however, thought it was AMAZING for an easy, gluten-free recipe that tastes like it should have WAY more carbs in it than it does! And my nearly 20-month-old daughter (who is now gluten-free as well) kept saying, "Pizza! Pizza!" before she shoved nearly half a slice in her mouth. So I'd say it got her approval as well! Thanks for the recipe!

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    1. After you cook and rice the cauliflower put it in a paper towel and strain the moister out. It makes for a crispier pizza crust that you can pick up with your hands :-)

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  9. As an avid WW worker & member.. Your picture shows two pizza crusts (8") each(?).... so can you eat one pizza or do you get them both for the 502 calories....

    Like Lots of Food... Thanks for your posts...
    Cynthia Russell
    Slidell, La.

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    1. You can eat one 8" pizza for the 500 calories

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    2. Amazing! Kids and hubby loved it and they are picky. Kids never new it was different.

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  10. The pizza is PHENOMENAL! My husband and I have been doing the primal/paleo thing for almost a year now, and I was really missing pizza - we live in New York! But this? THIS is just as good, and I'm so excited about it! Thanks for posting! I've pinned it and I will spread the word far and wide :)

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    1. Yay! So glad you enjoyed it :) Thank you for pinning. This pizza is oe of my favorites :)

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  11. This is making me so happy, with my anti-carb diet. Thanks for sharing, it is priceless.

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  12. Is there an alternative to microwaving it? I try to avoid the microwave.

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    1. I don't have a microwave, so I put the cauliflower in a pan and simmer it on low. The moisture in the cauliflower is sufficient to cook it. It takes about 15-20 minutes simmering and I stir it frequently to make sure it doesn't burn.

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  13. I'm going to try this because of two reasons; I love Pizza, and I hate Cauliflower

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  14. my mom and i loved this except that the crust was really soft so it started to fall apart wen we put it on a plate. maybe next time i'll strain some of the liquid out and see if that works (:

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  15. Any way to figure out how many grams of fiber? I would like to see how many weight watchers points plus one of the pizzas is. Thanks, looks great and can't wait to try it!

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    1. Hmmm... you could use a website like Fitday or Myfitnesspal or caloriecounter to figure it out, I would think. You would just have to enter all the ingredients in and it should tell you! Hope that helps :)

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  16. Besides the cottage cheese substitute for the mozzarella cheese in the crust, does anyone know what else would work? Obviously, cheese has to go on as a topping, but I'm really trying to limit cheese in my diet so if there is something else that would work to really bind the cauliflower crust, I would love some alternative suggestions!

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    1. I just use half the cheese to make it healthier and it still tastes great.

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    2. There are 'cheeses' that can be made from all sorts of nuts, soy and a few veggie recipes. Maybe search vegan nut cheese. I like the macadamia and almond ones for some things. It won't get melty like pizza cheese thoughm so would put that on top and real cheese in w/ cauliflower.

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  17. Love caulicrust pizza. I've been making it for years. Just so you know, this recipe was created a long time ago by Jamie VanEaton at http://yourlighterside.com/tag/pizza-night/ and has several nummy versions. Over time and experience we've found you do NOT need to cook the cauliflower (ratio: 1 cup raw riced cauli, 1 cup mozarella cheese, 1 egg and whatever spices). Works great every time! Love your blog.

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    1. Thank you for the tip and your kind words :)

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    2. I am so glad I gave this a try. I used pre-chopped cauliflower. I did not cook it before mixing. I put mine on the pan so it would come out a bit thin. After adding toppings (turkey pepp, parmesan cheese, crushed red pepper) and cooking, I was able to hold the slices with no problem. I may never have "regular" crust again. Thanks so much for sharing this recipe. Found it on Pinterest.

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  18. I made this tonight - I am not a cauliflower lover and it was so delicious! Much more than I had anticipated. Definitely making this again. FYI to any Aussies: I'm not sure what size cauliflowers are in other parts of the world, but my cooked cauliflower yielded 7 cups! I also drained off some of the liquid as others have mentioned in their comments. Baked at 220 degrees celsius.

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  19. i am so going to make this! we have changed our eating habits to paleo, and this will fit in perfectly! i miss pizza so much! hope this fills the void!

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  20. I made this for the first time last night! We are doing the SCD plan so this works out great for us. We just use a different cheese. I wanted a pizza I could pick up so I tried a trick I had read about and it worked like a charm. All you have to do is place the cooked drain riced cauliflower in a thin dishtowel, then twist! By getting out all the excess fluid, the crust actually is able to be picked up after cooking!

    I'm off to go read more of your blog as Paleo is really close to SCD and I need more great ideas! Thanks!!

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  21. I will have to try this one. I have tried one in the past and it didn't work out. Had a pretty good taste, but didn't harden up like a crust like I would have wanted. Has anyone tried what the previous person said and used raw?

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  22. I just made this and I have to say BRAVO. I can't believe how good this is. I do not like cauliflower. I used raw and it was just fine. I forgot to cook it and it was delicious.

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  23. Hi from kuwait..
    I just made this and it was amazing but I used different cheese called "qashqawan" and used different toppings "mushroom and asparagus" and it worked cery fine!
    P.S : excuse my english.

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  24. Looks delish! I was wondering have you tried to freeze the crusts?

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    1. We haven't ever frozen the crusts. I would love to know how it works. Please let us know if you give it a try!

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  25. Sounds delicious. Can this be made without parchment paper? Could I Pam the pan instead? Thanks.

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    1. I have never tried it without parchment paper, I find the bits around the outside that overhand the paper tend to really stick to the cookie sheet. I think without the paper you would run into some major sticking issues!

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  26. My sister and I tried your recipe on yesterday and we gave it a two thumbs up awesome... While we were putting it together, at times we felt like we were doing a competition food challenge, but we had fun. We will definitely do it again but have all our veggie toppings chopped and ready beforehand. Thanks for the recipe.

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  27. This is wonderful...microwaved entire medium-size head for six minutes. Chopped into food processor, riced beautifully. I put leftover bits of chichen on top with roasted onions, zuchini, summer squash, etc. Delicious!
    I am thrilled to have found this site! Thanks for great ideas!

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  28. I am a pizza lover and decided to try this crust...boy was I amazed. It's delicious. I swapped half cup of mozzarella cheese for fat free cottage cheese because someone else said it worked and at half the calories it was worth a try. I ended up making 4 mini pizzas so my kids and i could share. I baked at 550 for 10 minutes (always cook homemade pizza at the highest temp your oven will go, trust me!) Then I put on my two, the full 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese and used regular pepperoni instead of turkey because my turkey didn't look edible anymore, I was not impressed. ..anyway! Then broiled for a couple minutes. Having half the pizza didn't cut my caloric intake in half but it made it a 334 calorie lunch that was delicious. My 2 and 4 yr old didn't notice the crust was different and theirs was healthier with meat instead of pepperoni. I will definitely be making this often

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  29. Best Cauliflower Crust I have ever had! My friend and I were literally high fiving each other afterwards it was so amazing!

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  30. I made this tonight. We roasted veggies on the grill to put on top. I used a 9 inch pie pan, lined with parchment paper. I admit that I didn't read the directions well and mixed the cheese into the cauliflower before the microwave. So I only microwaved it 6 minutes and then added the seasoning and egg. It still worked fine...maybe better, I don't know. In any case, my husband and I split it. It was plenty and he said he liked it, which says a lot because he normally only says things if he doesn't like it. It looked nice too!

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