Cauliflower Pizza Crust (Gluten-free)

I still owe you guys part 2 of my Christmas recap. It involves me getting tackled, so stay tuned 😉

Yesterday I ran 6 miles. I don’t know what’s up with my body, but it has not wanted to move quickly for a while now. Maybe I need to go running in a sketch neighborhood at 11 PM. Or not.

6 miles, 56:03, 9:20 pace (8:58, 9:14, 9:26, 9:27, 9:29, 9:23). Kyle told me that at least my miles are more consistent. Too bad they are consistently slower…

Last night I decided to make pizza for my parents. I have wanted to try cauliflower crust for a while now, but have been too lazy. My mom got a pizza stone from Kyle for Christmas, so we thought it would be fun to try it out.

I got this recipe from the Detoxinista.I’m going to post it here with my notes as well.

She says it makes 1 large pizza crust. I don’t know if we just used smaller heads of cauliflower, or if I’m a big pig (<–don’t answer that), but these were small pizzas.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Ingredients

• 4 cups raw cauliflower rice (see below for instructions- we used 2 heads of cauliflower for 2 crusts)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/3 cup soft crumbled goat cheese
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• pinch of salt

Directions
Preheat your oven to 400F.
NOTE: If you are using your pizza stone, follow it’s instructions. For ours, we placed the stone inside the oven on the lowest shelf and preheated to 500F for 30 minutes. We then lowered the temperature to 450F before we put the crust inside.

Make cauliflower “rice” by pulsing batches of raw cauliflower florets in a food processor, until a rice-like texture is achieved. And yes, it will smell like farts.

Cook the “rice” by filling a large pot with about an inch of water, and bring it to a boil. Add the “rice” and cover; let it cook for about 4-5 minutes. Drain into a fine-mesh strainer. (We didn’t have a large fine-mesh strainer, so we placed a clean dishtowel into a normal colander and drained the “rice” in there.)

Once you’ve strained the rice, transfer it to a clean, thin dishtowel (or it is already in the dishtowel). Wrap up the steamed “rice” in the dishtowel, twist it up, then SQUEEZE all the excess moisture out! CAUTION- it will be hot! A lot of  liquid will be released, which will leave you with a nice and dry pizza crust.

In a large bowl, mix up your beaten egg, goat cheese, and spices until the goat cheese is uniformly distributed. Slowly add the “rice” to the mixture (if the “rice” is still hot, you want to avoid scrambling the egg). Mix really well until the goat cheese is melted and everything is evenly distributed. It won’t be like any pizza dough you’ve ever worked with, but don’t worry– it’ll hold together!

Press the dough out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, keeping the dough ~1/3″ thick. (It’s important that it’s lined with parchment paper!)
NOTE: Check the maximum temperature your parchment paper can handle. Don’t use foil- the crust will stick. I know from experience…

Bake for 35-40 minutes at 400F.
NOTE: If you’re using the pizza stone, remember to lower the temp to 450F. Slide the dough ON the parchment paper into the oven (don’t place the dough directly on the stone). Bake for ~22 minutes. The crust should be firm, and golden brown when finished.

Remove the dough from the oven and add your favorite toppings. Place back into the oven for ~5-10 minutes until cheese is bubbly/melted. Enjoy!

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

• Servings: 1 small pizza crust
• Difficulty: easy
• Print

Ingredients

• 4 cups raw cauliflower rice (see below for instructions- we used 2 heads of cauliflower for 2 crusts)
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/3 cup soft crumbled goat cheese
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano
• pinch of salt

Directions

Preheat your oven to 400F.
NOTE: If you are using your pizza stone, follow it’s instructions. For ours, we placed the stone inside the oven on the lowest shelf and preheated to 500F for 30 minutes. We then lowered the temperature to 450F before we put the crust inside.

Make cauliflower “rice” by pulsing batches of raw cauliflower florets in a food processor, until a rice-like texture is achieved.

Cook the “rice” by filling a large pot with about an inch of water, and bring it to a boil. Add the “rice” and cover; let it cook for about 4-5 minutes. Drain into a fine-mesh strainer. (We didn’t have a large fine-mesh strainer, so we placed a clean dishtowel into a normal colander and drained the “rice” in there.)

Once you’ve strained the rice, transfer it to a clean, thin dishtowel (or it is already in the dishtowel). Wrap up the steamed “rice” in the dishtowel, twist it up, then SQUEEZE all the excess moisture out! CAUTION- it will be hot! A lot of  liquid will be released, which will leave you with a nice and dry pizza crust.

In a large bowl, mix up your beaten egg, goat cheese, and spices until the goat cheese is uniformly distributed. Slowly add the “rice” to the mixture (if the “rice” is still hot, you want to avoid scrambling the egg). Mix really well until the goat cheese is melted and everything is evenly distributed. It won’t be like any pizza dough you’ve ever worked with, but don’t worry– it’ll hold together!

Press the dough out onto a baking sheet lined with parchment paper, keeping the dough ~1/3″ thick. (It’s important that it’s lined with parchment paper!)
NOTE: Check the maximum temperature your parchment paper can handle. Don’t use foil- the crust will stick. I know from experience…

Bake for 35-40 minutes at 400F.
NOTE: If you’re using the pizza stone, remember to lower the temp to 450F. Slide the dough ON the parchment paper into the oven (don’t place the dough directly on the stone). Bake for ~22 minutes. The crust should be firm, and golden brown when finished.

Remove the dough from the oven and add your favorite toppings. Place back into the oven for ~5-10 minutes until cheese is bubbly/melted. Enjoy!

fitnessmeetsfrosting.com
Credit: The Detoxinista

More TIPS

• This recipe was easily doubled, and I would assume it could be tripled just as easily.
• If you don’t like goat cheese, a more mild cheese like feta (low fat) with a similar texture works. I’m going to try low-fat ricotta, cream cheese, or mascarpone, because Kyle doesn’t like goat cheese.
• Make a double-batch of cauliflower pizza crusts–> make one for now, and save one for later. After baking the crusts and adding the toppings, wrap up the whole pizza in foil, and FREEZE it for a quick “frozen pizza” to enjoy another night! Simply thaw and bake at 400F, as directed below, until the cheese is hot and bubbly.

We were trying to use up leftover chicken, so I made a BBQ Chicken Pizza and a Pesto Chicken Pizza

Hope you enjoy the pizza! If you try different cheeses in the crust, let me know what works out/doesn’t work out!

Have you ever made cauliflower pizza crust?

What’s your favorite pizza? Margherita pizza!