Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Who doesn’t like Pizza? Think no one. People like my mom who call it ‘hard-Rotis-with-toppings’ like it too, especially thin crust ones. It is definitely one of the best inventions by our Italian friends, isn’t it?

Now the health-conscious fraternity is always looking for new ways to turn everything unhealthy into healthy food. We have seen all such manipulations with our favorite pizza with thin crusts, whole wheat crusts, no cheese toppings, for crying out loud. People following keto, low carb/whole 30, veganism have added multiple modifications too.

One such modification is changing the base completely from the regular maida/all-purpose flour crusts to vegetable-based crusts like this one with Cauliflower rice crusts. Now, you know me and my love for experiments. I too had joined the bandwagon but have fallen in love with it and have become a regular in the house. Hubby dearest took a while but loves it too now.

PREPARATION TIME: 15 minutes
COOKING TIME: 50 minutes
SERVINGS: 1 pizza
DIFFICULTY SCALE: High

INGREDIENTS:

For the pizza base –

1. Cauliflower – 1, medium size
2. Corn starch – 2 tablespoons, optional
3. Flaxseed powder – 2 tablespoons
4. Chia seed powder -2 tablespoons
5. Dried herbs – 1 teaspoon
6. Garlic powder – 1 teaspoon, optional
7. Salt – to taste
8. Butter paper sheet

For the toppings –

9. Mix Peppers – 1 cup
10. Mushrooms – 1 cup
11. Onion – ½, small
12. Rocket Leaves – a handful
13. Olives – a few
14. Mozzarella Cheese – ¼ cup, grated
15. Dried herbs – 1 tablespoon
16. Salt – to taste

For the Arrabiata sauce –

17. Tomatoes – 3, medium
18. Onion – 1, small
19. Garlic clove – 1
20. Lemon juice – 1 tablespoon
21. Basil leaves – a handful
22. Olive oil – 1 tablespoon
23. Sugar – 1 teaspoon, optional
24. Salt – to taste

UTENSILS/EQUIPMENT:

1. A microwave/OTG
2. Non-stick pan
3. A food processor/grater
4. A boiling pan
5. Mixing bowl

RECIPE:

For the pizza base –

1. Nicely wash and dab the cauliflower dry.
2. Grate the cauliflower florets to get cauliflower rice. You could use a food processor or a hand grater for this.
3. Add 2-3 cups of water in a pan and boil it.
4. Once the water is boiling, add in the cauliflower rice to it. Cover the lid and let it cook on medium heat for about 5 minutes.
5. Drain the cooked cauliflower rice in a muslin cloth and let it strain and dry for about 10-15 minutes.
6. Once it has cooled down, create a pouch of the rice in the muslin cloth and drain all the excess water. This is an important step to ensure a dry crust, so ensure that there is no water left. (I drain all this water, since it’s high in nutrition and added it to my Arrabiata sauce).
7. Grind the flaxseed and chia seeds separately.
8. Mix a tablespoon of water in the flax seed powder and mix well. Let it sit for 4-5 minutes.
9. Add the cauliflower rice, chia seed powder, dried herbs, garlic powder, and salt to the mix. Remember that the sauce and veggie toppings would also have salt, so add salt accordingly.
10. Add in the flaxseed – water mix to the bowl.
11. Adding corn starch helps the base to become slightly stiff, but you could omit it as well if you wish to have a grain-free option.
12. Mix everything together.
13. Take a butter paper sheet and place it on a microwave-safe tray. Throw some corn starch on the butter paper so that the base doesn’t stick to it.
14. Take the mixture and place it on the butter paper and flatten it with your hands. Ensure that it is about 2-3 inches thick so that it doesn’t break easily.
15. Place it in a pre-heated OTG/oven at 180 degree Celsius for 30-35 minutes.

For the Arrabiata sauce –

16. Take a pan and add some olive oil to it.
17. Finely dice an onion and add it to the pan. Peel a garlic clove and crush it and add it to the pan as well.
18. Roughly chop the tomatoes and add them to the pan once the onions turn translucent.
19. You could add some of the squeezed cauliflower water in the sauce.
20. Add some salt and a little bit sugar and cover the lid and let the tomatoes cook for about 4-5 minutes.
21. Squeeze in some fresh lemon juice and roughly chopped basil leaves and the sauce is ready.

For the toppings –

22. Take a non-stick pan and add a little olive oil to it.
23. Thinly slice all the bell peppers and mushrooms and add them to the pan. Add very little salt and sauté the veggies.
24. Add in a thinly sliced onion and add it to the pan.
25. Take the veggies off the heat. They should still have a bite to them and should not be soggy.

Pizza Assembly –

26. Once the pizza base is baked, allow it to rest for 2-3 minutes.
27. Apply the Arrabiata sauce generously and add the sautéed veggies on top.
28. Grate some cheese and place the pizza in the OTG/oven for another 10-12 minutes till the cheese melts.
29. Sprinkle some dried herbs, olives and rocket leaves and serve hot!

Please remember to adjust the salt quantity in the pizza since the base, sauce and the veggies have salt. You could also omit the salt while sautéing the veggies. Feel free to add zucchini, cherry tomatoes, boiled corn or any other veggies of your choice.