This gluten free cauliflower crust made the best flat bread pizza I could have asked for! I have been wanting to try making a cauliflower crust forever but I kept hearing words like “soggy”, “eggy” or “omelet like”, none of which work well with pizza, so I was apprehensive. My eye caught a post recently that claimed to have the secret to a perfect cauliflower pizza crust and I immediately had to check it out. It sounded promising and the photos looked great, so I gave the method a try, but altered the recipe and added some ingredients. I was really pleased with the outcome and can’t wait to make it again! What I loved about it is that it was not soggy, not eggy and more “bread-like” than some other recipes out there. I added the almond meal because I thought it might make the crust drier and more bread like and it was!

 First begin with 1 large head or two small head of raw cauliflower. Clean and cut the head into florets. Now using your food processor, pulse the cauliflower into “rice” like pieces. You’ll need about 4-5 cups of the riced cauliflower. If you do not have a food processor, you can use a larger box grater to get a similar effect, but don’t cut into florets. Instead, either quarter the head or cut into thick slices. It will be much easier to handle and grate.

In a large pot, boil about an inch of water, then add the cauliflower. Cook for 4-5 minutes, then drain and cool. Now here is the most important part! Once cooled, you must squeeze out all excess water. If you don’t, your crust will be soggy. I put the cauliflower in the center of a clean dish towel and twisted it into a pouch. Then I squeezed and squeezed and squeezed until no liquid was coming out. Make sure you cool the cauliflower or you will burn your hands! I didn’t wait long enough and it was too hot to handle, so it took me a bit longer than it should have. Once you can’t squeeze out any more liquid, empty the cauliflower into a large bowl, then preheat your oven to 400 degrees. Line your baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.

Now add 1 beaten egg, 1/2 cup goat cheese, 1/2 cup almond meal, 1/2 tsp baking powder, 1 tsp dried basil, 1 clove of minced garlic and salt and pepper to taste. Work the ingredients into a “dough”. Combine it really well and even work it with your hands, if need be. Roll out your “dough” to be about 1/3 inch thick on the lined baking sheet. If you want thicker crust on the edges, like a regular pizza, then form the edges to desired thickness. Bake in preheated oven for 30-40 minutes. Start checking at 20 minutes, especially if your oven runs hot. Mine only tool 30 min, though the original recipe called for 35-40 minutes of baking time.

 While your crust is baking, select your pizza toppings and prepare them. I cut my crust in half when it was done and made 2 different types of pizza. The first one, shown above, had fresh mozzarella, sun dried tomatoes, fresh basil and onions. It was so delicious, but I have to admit the second one was our favorite!

I fried up sliced baby bella mushrooms with onion. Then I took some real bacon bits that I buy at Costco and fried them up afterwards, until crispy. I laid them on a paper towel to drain, while I assembled the pizza. The bottom layer is this wonderful marble blue jack cheese, that I found at Sprouts Market. I added the mushrooms and onions, then topped with the bacon. I returned both pizzas to the over for about 5-8 minutes to melt the cheese and meld the flavors together. I served it with a cucumber salad and a glass of wine. A perfect “date night” or movie night meal!

This pizza was smaller than I anticipated. This recipe would feed about 3 adults, with a salad. If I were making this for the whole family, I would double the recipe.

 

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