A paleo recipe for cauliflower pizza crust. This is the perfect grain free option for when you still want to indulge in pizza, crispy edges and all!
Confession time.
I hate reading food blogs that talk about the food.
Is that weird? I like pretty food pictures and good recipes but text about the food itself is just so….boring.
For example, discussing this pizza would go something along the lines of:
“I seasoned the cauliflower with some bold spices and it baked up to a surprisingly crisp crust. Definitely not something you’re going to confuse with real pizza dough, but quite delicious as far as cauliflower goes. I kept the toppings simple making a spicy sauce from some canned diced tomatoes and red pepper flakes, crumbled some meatballs I had on hand on top and then garnished with cilantro.”
Um, I think I just put myself to sleep.
Want to know what ingredients are in a recipe? Read the ingredient list! Want to know how it comes together? Read the directions part! No need for redundant ramblings with your thesaurus in hand for synonyms of “delicious”.
I want to be entertained when I’m reading a blog. Which is why I usually ramble on over here on different tangents. Well, that and I also just like to talk a lot and since 99.9% of my friends live at least 2 hours away, I come to you, dear internet.
The problem with all that is when I don’t have some tangent to talk about (like today). Although, I have been pondering the whole process of scabs for the past 2 hours as I’m being tormented by one on my knee that is itching me TO DEATH. Why, if a scab is the body’s way of healing and protecting from infection, does it start to itch like crazy therefore causing you to inevitably rip scratch it off as soon as it gets close to healed and reset the whole damn process?
But scabs are probably a tangent most want to avoid when the subject at hand is food. So I’ll stop. But seriously, can anyone explain that?
So now you just read a post about nothing really.
Sorry about that. But the pizza crust really is kick ass. I promise.
Cauliflower Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 1 bag frozen cauliflower, 1 head of fresh cauliflower would work too, see note
- 2 cloves garlic
- 2 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 egg, beaten
- 1/2 teaspoon herbs de provence
- 1/4 cup almond flour
- 1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes
- salt & pepper
Instructions
- Place frozen cauliflower in a bowl with 2 tablespoons water, cover and microwave for 3 minutes (it will not be fully cooked, just thawed at this point). Remove from microwave, drain water and transfer to a food processor.
- Add the garlic cloves to the food processor as well.
- Process the cauliflower & garlic for about 15-30 seconds until it's finely chopped.
- In a skillet over med-high heat, add the olive oil. Once hot, add the chopped cauliflower and sauté for about 5 minutes until cooked through.
- Transfer cauliflower to a large bowl and add remaining ingredients. Mix well until thoroughly incorporated.
- Preheat oven to 400 degrees and line a baking sheet with parchment paper or a silpat.
- Turn out the cauliflower dough onto the baking sheet and form a ball.
- Gently press the ball of dough into a round shape until it's just less than 1/4" thick.
- Bake for about 30 minutes then broil for another 3-5 minutes. Edges should be brown and crispy at this point.
- Remove from oven, top with whatever toppings you choose and return to oven to bake at 400 degrees for another 5-7 minutes.
Notes
Nutrition
Nutrition information is automatically calculated, so should only be used as an approximation.
Gina Matsoukas is an AP syndicated writer. She is the founder, photographer and recipe developer of Running to the Kitchen — a food website focused on providing healthy, wholesome recipes using fresh and seasonal ingredients. Her work has been featured in numerous media outlets both digital and print, including MSN, Huffington post, Buzzfeed, Women’s Health and Food Network.
Confession: Regardless of the fact that I ramble on and on for hours on my blog, I usually skip the text and look at the recipes and the pictures when I read other food blogs. I only read the text when I like the person and the recipe, and I want to leave them a comment to tell them I like them and their food, but I feel like a douche if I haven’t read a single thing they wrote. Anyway, I like your stories, and today your post about nothing was still entertaining. Also, I’ve been dying to try cauliflower crust!
haha, glad I’m not alone ;)
Haha I totally agree…I often just “skim” the food posts. Im just starting my own blog and will try to avoid this habit…although Im sure I will be so excited about some recipes I miiiiiiiight end up being guilty of rambling myself ;)
Going to be trying this – with coconut oil.
Man, I’m glad you said that. It’s the reason I love coming to your blog and not other food blogs, and it’s the reason I’m not a food blog because I’ve not mastered the art of taking pretty food photos to allow me to talk about something completely different.
5 stars for sure. ;)
I love that we made cauliflower crust on the SAME DAY! :)
twins! ;)
Oh man, I’m one of those boring bloggers that talks about food!! :( However your cauliflower crust looks great! I need to try this, way better for me than pizza dough!
Where do you get your nutritional yeast?
Wowzer. Thanks for this recipe — I’ve just gone sugar and wheat free so I’m definitely going to try this!
IVE BEEN CURIOUS TOO LONG…I need to give this a try.
Girl, I am with you! Though sometimes I’m probably guilty of describing the food in my blog posts, most of the time I talk about how I came to make the recipe based on a random incident or thought that occurred that day. Hrm. I look at it this way: I’m not a food writer, so I won’t write about the food :) However right now I will comment about how I want to make this. I’ve seen this “craze”, so to speak, about using cauliflower to make pizza crust and I honestly didn’t think it was possible. You’ve made it possible. The world makes sense again. I gotta try this, and soon!
I totally had my doubts too when it came to this crust thing. I’m a changed woman.