I avoided cauliflower at all costs until a few years ago…broccoli? I loved it! Raw, steamed, whatever. But cauliflower was just blah to me. Then an acquaintance told me her daughter loved roasted cauliflower, so I tried it in the hopes that my daughter would love roasted cauliflower. And guess what…I loved roasted cauliflower!
So we eat it pretty regularly around here. I can’t get enough of the stuff! And then I started seeing all these pins and posts about cauliflower breadsticks, and cauliflower pizza crust. What?! I’ve watched from afar for a long time; I had to find out what it was really like.
Now, keep in mind this is the first and only time I’ve ever eaten cauliflower crust pizza. I have nothing to compare it to…I do have a friend who made it and her advice was to make sure you squeeze all the water out of the cauliflower before you bake it, so that was my focus. I also did not have a trusted recipe to try- I just googled it and went with one I saw on allrecipes.com because I like that site.
Basically, I put half of a giant head of cauliflower in my blender/food processor piece by piece (and learned that for food processing stuff it’s not very good) and then steamed it with a little water in the microwave. Then I let it cool for a little while in the refrigerator. Next came the getting rid of the water fun. I wrapped it in a thin white cloth and squeezed…and wringed…and squeezed…and smooshed…and squeezed…and wringed…and so on until my hands hurt.
After it was as dry as I cared to get it, I mixed it up with a parmesan cheese blend, an egg, and spices. Then onto the parchment paper-lined baking sheet it went. There I flattened it as best I could. It did feel like working with flour. Then it baked for 15 minutes, I checked it and put it in for another five. When it was done I topped with sauce and mozzarella cheese and put it back in until the cheese melted and it looked like this…
It came out really good! My husband and sister loved it; the only child who tried it, did not like it, but I think it could grow on him. It definitely felt like a crust, and the flavor was nice. It folded up like a piece of pizza might, but could be held in your hands. We did not need a fork and knife for this cauliflower crust pizza.
You can find the recipe I used here…http://allrecipes.com/recipe/232930/cauliflower-pizza-crust/
It was a little more work than I’d like for a regular night. If my food processor was better, that would help. And the second time around is always a little faster, and a little smoother, so that would help too. I’ve also heard you can make them ahead and freeze them. I would like to try that!
Overall, it was a huge success! And I will make it again..I just might rope someone else in to squeeze all the water out 🙂
Have you tried cauliflower crust pizza or breadsticks? I’d love to hear what you’ve tried!
Leave a Reply