A Healthy Makeover: Cauliflower Crust Pizza

I have been reading and seeing this concept on all of the healthy eating sites I visit and I honestly had been hesitant to try it because some of the other cauliflower recipes I’ve tried haven’t really been monumental. I love, love, love my cauliflower fries, but cauliflower mashed potatoes? Not so much. But a friend here at work raved about this pizza crust so I decided that I’d give it a try…I could kick myself for waiting so long.

Honestly, this is one of those things that I’m going to try to slip under Hubby’s nose…he’s not a big veggie eater, but he’ll usually try something if I tell him I think he’d like it. I’m not even going to tell him, because just the word “cauliflower” will turn him off. But I truly think he’ll actually like this.

Okay, so this could be a deceiving recipe if you think just because there’s cauliflower in it that it’s low calorie. It’s definitely low carb, but unless you use fat free cheese, you’re going to get a lot of calories in just the crust alone. That’s not even including the toppings (you’ll probably add more cheese on top, right???)…

Which brings me to another point…the OTHER thing I’ve never been a fan of is fat free cheese…uhh, what’s the point? But after I figured out how many calories even 2% cheese adds, I broke down and decided that since the crust will be pretty flavorful, and the cheese is not the star of the show, I’d try it. Yet again…completely sold on it now. Don’t get me wrong, I’m not going to be sprinkling it on much of anything, but for this or similar uses, I’m totally using it. By doing this, it saved me 100 calories …that’s 100 calories I could use on TOP of the pizza!

Alright, let’s get to it!

Ingredients:

1 cup shredded cauliflower (it’s also called “riced”, which means you need to get it down to rice-sized bits using a shredder or food processor)

1 cup FAT FREE shredded mozzarella

¼ cup egg substitute or 1 egg (the nutrition info below is for egg substitute)

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp crushed garlic or one garlic clove

½ tsp garlic powder

1/2 tsp fresh ground pepper

Non-stick or olive oil spray

Toppings of your choice (Note: if you are using toppings that need to be cooked (raw meats, etc.), you will want to cook them before putting them on your pizza. You are only "finishing" the pizza under the broiler once the toppings are on.)

Preparation:
The above will serve two, but I know some people who can eat a whole one of these. It’s supposed to make one 9” pizza. I tripled the recipe because we were cooking for others, so honestly, unless you are making it for just one person and you are a pizza eater, you’ll want to make two. You can always eat leftovers (I did and it's just as good the next day!). NOTE: One cauliflower head will make 3-4 cups…

1. Preheat your oven to 450.

2. Place shredded cauliflower in a microwaveable bowl and microwave for 8 minutes (longer if you are increasing the recipe). Press and drain any fluids that arise from the microwaving.

3. Let cool for about 5 minutes.

4. Spray your pizza pan or baking sheet with non-stick spray.

5. After the cauliflower cools a bit, add the rest of the ingredients and mix until all is incorporated.

6. Place on the pan/sheet and spread into the pizza crust shape you are looking for: round, square, rectangular, you get the picture. You can brush or spray the top of the crust with olive oil to aid in browning.

7. Bake for approximately 15 minutes or until golden brown…you want it to begin to “crisp” up.

8. Remove from the oven and set the oven to broil.

9. Place all of your toppings onto the crust and then return to the oven to broil for about 5-7 minutes or until the toppings begin to brown/melt.