Cauliflower Pizza Crust (Gluten Free)

Gluten-Free Doesn't Have to Mean Pizza-Free!

My husband has been dealing with some gut issues for almost four years. Recently, he went to see a naturopath for the first time. The naturopath did some interesting tests that I've never heard of but found quite fascinating. He believes that gluten, wheat in particular, may have a negative affect on my husband's body. He "prescribed" a gluten-free trial run for the following month- effective immediately.

Well... my husband is the only one I cook for besides myself. If he had to go gluten-free, then so was I! I went home and started purging our pantry of wheat flours, whole wheat spaghetti noodles and pastas, granolas that contained gluten, and the like.

That was 8 weeks ago.

I must say; I have noticed a difference in my OWN health by going gluten-free. Perhaps because most breads, which I LOOOOOOOOOOVE once loved turn to sugar in the body. By cutting out gluten, we also cut out the majority of our sugars. (I usually don't make "sweets" unless they are made with honey or fruit. I also don't buy sweets. We don't even own table sugar! ... How un-American. I know. haha)

Does that mean we have to give up foods we love? Like pizza? I have found the answer to be- absolutely not! Okay, okay. Sure you can probably make pizza without gluten, but you have to use exotic and unusual flours and ingredients. Right? No!

Take two normal ingredients plus your seasonings, and you have....

Cauliflower Pizza Crust!*

Prep time: 15 minutes active time + 15 minutes chilling= 30 total minutes

Cook time: 20 minutes without toppings + 10 minutes with desired toppings= 30 total minutes

Total time: 1 hour

Yield: 1 medium sized (maybe 8") pizza

Ingredients:

Crust:

-1 head of cauliflower

-2 eggs

-desired seasonings: salt, pepper, turmeric, italian seasonings, oregano, garlic powder

Toppings:

-pizza sauce: I use tomato paste with a couple of T. of water to thin paste & add seasonings

-pizza toppings: anything goes! Meatballs, onions, spinach, artichoke, sliced tomatoes, cheese, etc

-cheese!!! Lots and lots of cheese- the more the merrier. 

Process in Pictures:

Begin with one head of cauliflower. Remove the cauliflower base. (And save it for your compost!)

Chop into florets and place into a blender to grind into small pieces. 

I used my new non electric manual blender! Several turns later....

Place the cauliflower grinds into a steaming basket, or as I did, into a pot with water covering the bottom. Steam the cauliflower... WARNING: It's slightly stinky. At least I don't care for the smell.

Once the cauliflower is tender, strain the excess liquid from it. 

CAUTION: I burned myself and broke a wooden spoon while doing this step. haha... User error, more or less. But just know- it's hot! And vintage wooden spoons are fragile.

Allow the cauliflower to cool for 15 minutes. 

In the meantime, preheat the oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit OR 204 degrees Celsius.

Once the cauliflower has cooled, add two eggs to the bowl. 

Look at my beautiful farm fresh eggs- so golden!

Including your desired seasonings, mix the cauliflower and eggs.

Pour your cauliflower crust onto a pizza pan and smooth it into a circle. I'm telling y'all. THIS is the pizza crust for me. I am TERRIBLE at making pizza circles with dough. But this was SO easy.

NOTE: Notice the liquid around the edges of the crust. I could have strained more liquid than I did.

Pre-cook the cauliflower crust for 20 minutes in your preheated oven. When it comes out, it will be soft, but firm. The edges you see around my pizza are the result of excess liquid in my cauliflower and egg mixture. Eggs will make the brown bubbling you see. Harmless, but not pretty. 

Add your pizza sauce and desired toppings, and cook for 10 more minutes. I made a simple cheese pizza for testing purposes.

While your pizza is cooking, make a scrumptious salad and homemade salad dressing!

Once the pizza is finished cooking, serve it with a glad heart. You can serve your family "pizza" without it turning to sugar in their bodies. ;-)

Q&A

Is the texture of the crust similar to dough crust?

- No! You will likely eat this pizza with a fork. It is softer than dough pizzas, but it does still stay together and in one piece if you are to pick it up.

Did it pass the "keeper recipe" taste test from your handsome husband?

- Indeed, my husband IS handsome. And YES! He really liked this pizza crust. He was surprised that it was made from cauliflower because it tasted nothing like it smelled. haha ;-)

Does this pizza crust "rise" while cooking?

- No. However thick you spread it into a circle is how thick it will be when it comes out of the oven.

Could I add my own flours, etc, to make the crust like thin crust pizza?

- I honestly have no idea since I have not experimented with it. I would imagine so, however, because this seems to be a basic "cauliflower cake" recipe. When I make bean burgers, salmon cakes, zucchini cakes, and the like- which are all basically the same recipe with variations- I sometimes use brown rice flour to make them more firm. I'd think it would work somewhat the same.

Please let me know if you tried this recipe and how it turned out. It was SO incredibly easy and delicious!

God bless you and keep you,

~Raquel

*This recipe is not my original creation. You can find a variety of cauliflower crust recipes online.