Wednesday 21 March 2012

:: humpday brilliance ~ cauliflower crust pizza ::



It's one exciting day in our household  -  I can now make my pizza & eat it too!

Pizza is so good; great, in fact. I am yet to meet someone who doesn't like pizza. I'm not talking about your cheapo Eagle-Boys. I mean the one that you can get adventurous with at home... think chicken, cranberries, pumpkin, spinach, fetta etc etc. I see amazing ideas for pizza toppings constantly, yet I never make them because one thing stops me.

.the cursed crust.

There is just far too much white crust in ye olde pizza, and even though it's hot & soft, and pulls apart ever-so-nicely, I still dread the after-bloat like the plague.

This is all now a bad dream. We have had pizza twice this week, thanks to the lovely Beth over at Eat. Drink. Smile. I can now make my pizza (in absoultely record time too, there is no fuss here!) and eat it totally guiltlessly.

Sorry, I am just so, so excited. It was too easy, and cooked just like the best crust!! It pulled apart like a crust, and tastes like a crust. Ladies & Gentlemen, we have a winner!

Cauli-Crust Pizza

2 1/2 cups cooked, "riced" cauliflower
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
2 eggs, beaten
1 tsp dried oregano
1 tsp crushed garlic
salt/pepper

Afterwards: pizza sauce, shredded cheese and your choice of toppings.

Method:
1} It's so easy. Start with a raw head of cauliflower, and chop about half of it into "trees" (the recipe said remove the stems but I included them and it worked fine. Not the main woody stem, obviously).
2} Throw them in the food processor (luuuurve it) and wizz it into "rice". Not pulp.


3} Put it in a microwaveable bowl, cover with plastic wrap and microwave for 8 minutes (no water).
4} Take off the plastic, throw in everything else and mix.
5} Pat it into a circle/square/whatever onto a tray with lined with greaseproof paper.


6} *Optional* Spray or paint your raw crust with olive oil so it browns a bit. Put it in the oven at 220'C.

DONE.


Now for the trick. While that is cooking for 15mins, cook your toppings. You can't put raw toppings on the crust because it's already going to be cooked. Depending on what you're putting on top, you might have to cook some of the toppings before starting the crust. I fried some onion/bacon/capsicum/celery together. Then separately fried some chicken with some spices.

(below, cooked toppings added, ready for the final browning)


Once the base is out (um... YUM!) spread your pasta sauce, onion, chicken and then top with some cheese. Throw it straight back in the oven and watch the cheese melt. You're going to want to watch it because you're going to want to taste-test that baby the minute it's done, I guarantee.

What do ya reckon????!

We loved it so much, I did a pumpkin/chicken/baby spinach version a couple of days later.


And just to continue showing off my amazing "can't-believe-it's-not-crust" crust:


Amazed yet? Have a piece.


Note: If you go to the original recipe I linked back to, you'll find that I've doubled the ingredients. It was far too small. One person pizza maybe?
Also: If you don't have a food processor, you can just grate the cauli on your cheese grater.

 I hope this has inspired you, just a tad.

Love me.

3 comments:

  1. Mmmmmmmmm!!! Friend! This looks delish! I am a middle piece kind of girl, strictly because I am not a fan of crust. This looks dee-friggen'-lsih!

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  2. Doing this one tonight :D We accidentally bought two full size cauliflowers :P

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    Replies
    1. Do it Kim!! It works and it's gooooood! Just make sure it's nicely browned before you add the toppings!

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