January in the kitchen – Cauliflower Crust Flatbread or Pizza

Cauliflower Crust Flatbread

Substituting Cauliflower for rice, couscous, pasta, or other wheat products is newly popular. It’s especially useful for those avoiding gluten or carbohydrates; and an easy (and delicious) way to get some extra vegetables into your diet. This recipe for a cauliflower crust was inspired by one on the blog “Health on Top“.

I must admit it turned out very well; my family gave it thumbs up. I’ll be repeating the recipe with varied toppings.

There are a few tricks you should be aware of before you start.

• Grind the cauliflower fairly small (rice sized) in your processor.
• Cook it slightly softer than you would use if stir-frying. 8 minutes was perfect in my microwave but every appliance is different.
• Line a colander with a tea towel and pour the cooked cauliflower in to cool.
• Once cool, squeeze as much liquid as possible from the cauliflower before mixing with the other ingredients. Squeeze more than you think you need.
• Line your baking sheet with a non-stick silicone mat or parchment paper.

Cauliflower Crust (for each crust serving 1-2)

• I small to medium cauliflower, cut into florets
• 1 egg
• ½ cup of low moisture mozzarella, shredded
• ¼ cup of grated parmesan
• 1 teaspoon of oregano
• Salt and pepper to taste

1. Preheat your oven to 450 degrees F.
2. Rice the cauliflower in a food processor.
3. Place in a microwave safe bowl, cover, and microwave on high for about 8 minutes, until cooked.
4. Place the cauliflower in a tea towel lined colander and cool.
5. Once cool, squeeze as much liquid as possible from the cauliflower.
6. Mix the squeezed cauliflower, egg, cheese, oregano, salt and pepper together.
7. Press the mixture into a circle on the lined baking sheet, pressing it out evenly with your fingers or flat bottom of a glass. My crust was about 12 inches.
8. Bake for 15-20 minutes until brown. 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

 

Assemble the toppings

Let your imagination run wild here although I wouldn’t use anything too runny. This is probably the time for more of a white flatbread than one with traditional red sauce.

I made two pizzas. One was vegetarian and had ricotta, pesto, shredded mozzarella, Parmesan, and shaved Brussels sprouts. The other had shredded mozzarella, carmelized onions, sliced spicy sausage, and Parmesan.

1. Once topped, put them back in the oven.
2. Bake another 10 to 15 minutes until the cheese is melted and toppings lightly browned.
3. Cool for a couple of minutes before cutting into wedges.

Served with a green salad we had a dinner with three vegetables (Brussels sprouts topping), gluten free, low carbohydrate, and positively delicious.

I’m taking this to share with Angie (from the Novice Gardener) and friends at Fiesta Friday #50. There is definitely something to celebrate this week.

And I think the group at Real Food Fridays will enjoy it as well.

After all, Friday is Pizza or Flatbread night, right?