Cauliflower Pizza Crust

It seems that cauliflower pizza crust is taking the blogosphere by storm and everywhere you look there is a variation of this gluten-free wonder. And why not? Cauliflower is a good source of vitamin C and manganese, contains high amounts of vitamin K and omega-3 fatty acids, and gives you a good dose of fiber to boot. Best of all, it's a fun way to eat cauliflower! But how can you make it a crust?

Well, the first problem in turning cauliflower into a crust that you can load up with your favorite pizza toppings and actually pick up by hand, is that the moisture in cauliflower works against you. Sure, you can boil it and try to squeeze out the liquid by hand (ugh!) or you can dry it out during the cooking process. That's what I do here in this recipe. The result is a very descent crust which serves nicely for an assortment of toppings. But be careful with how many toppings you use or you will need to eat it with a fork. Regardless, this is a very delicious and nutritious alternative to pizza dough. Yum!

Ingredients

• 1 medium head of cauliflower
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/3 cup (about 4 oz.) goat cheese (chèvre)
• 1/2 cup grated romano or parmesan cheese
• 1 teaspoon oregano
• 1/8 teaspoon kosher salt

Method

1. Preheat the oven to 375ºF on convection (400ºF if you don't have a convection oven).
2. Clean and de-stem the floretts from the cauliflower head and place in a food processor. Depending on the size of your food processor, you may need to work in batches for the next step.
3. Pulse the cauliflower in the food processor until the cauliflower resembles rice (see below).
4. Turn out the processed cauliflower onto a greased rimmed baking sheet. Spread out evenly on the cooking sheet (see below).
5. Cook the cauliflower for 20 minutes in the preheated oven until you start to see little brown bits forming. Remove and let cool for 10 minutes.
6. In a medium-sized mixing bowl, add the cauliflower, egg, cheeses, oregano, and salt. Mix thoroughly together with your hands until fully incorporated.
7. Place a piece of parchment paper on a 9 x 13 inch rimmed jelly roll pan. You can also use a cookie sheet but the jelly roll pan is the perfect size (see below). It is VERY important to use parchment paper for this process otherwise your crust will burn!
8. Press out the cauliflower mixture evenly into the pan going up to the edges (see below).
9. Turn off the convection setting on your oven and set to 400ºF.
10. When the oven is heated, bake the crust for 30 to 35 minutes until dark golden brown (see below).

After you finish the crust, load it up with your favorite toppings and cook at 400ºF for about 10 minutes. Eat and enjoy immediately!

Step 2: Ready to pulse!

Step 3: Cauliflower "rice"

Step 4. Ready to cook!

Step 7: TIP--crush the parchment paper into a ball and then
unroll it to flatten it out. This will remove the annoying "curl."

Step 8: Cauliflower mixture pressed into the jelly roll pan.

Step 10: Golden brown and delicious!

Add any toppings you like to make a fabulous gluten-free pizza!