Cauliflower Pizza Crust {GF + Low-Carb + Vegetarian}

Guiltless Cauliflower Pizza Crust: Gluten Free  +  Low-Carb  + Vegetarian

The Versatility of Cauliflower--Who Knew?

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

It seems apparent to me now that in spite of all of the time I've spent watching shows like Chopped and Iron Chef America on the Food Network that I know practically nothing about cooking beyond the most conventional forms of cooking knowledge--stuff like, don't chop your fingers off and salt your water before cooking pasta as well as an understanding of basic ingredient combinations and uses.  But, recently, with my growing interest in eating vegetarian, raw, Gluten Free, and low-carb foods I'm discovering a whole different set of cooking techniques and ingredients, as well as some surprising but wonderful uses for those ingredients.

Perhaps the most versatile ingredient I've been working with recently is cauliflower.  Cauliflower seems, in many ways, to be a magical vegetable to eaters of raw, Gluten Free, and low-carb diets.  You can make it into a lower-carb version of mashed potatoes referred to as "Cauli-mash" or "Cauliflower Mash," you can food process it into a raw rice-like substance called "Cauli-rice," and you can use the florets in place of noodles in an otherwise traditional-style macaroni and cheese (I highly recommend this, by the way!).  But, cauliflower has yet another trick up it's sleeve--it can become that food of the Gods, PIZZA!  

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

I've always heard that bacon is the hardest things for vegetarians and vegans to give up and, also, the hardest food for them to continue to resist eating through the course of their commitments to either diet.  I think pizza is that evil, siren of a food for a lot of Gluten Free and Low-Carb eaters.  In fact, I know that many people who have gone Gluten Free due to Celiac Disease or other issues crave pizza so much that they dream about it at night.

Happily, dreams can come true--at least in the realm of pizza consumption--regardless of whether you're eating a Gluten Free and/or Low-Carb diet through the versatile miracle that is cauliflower.  I discovered this through the website of The Detoxinista whose recipe for a cauliflower pizza crust formed the basis of my own.

The first time I made the cauliflower pizza crust I did not have all of the proper ingredients (I was  missing goat cheese) and I winged it, using a reggiano instead.  Needless to say, the recipe didn't turn out well.  BUT, it was a good trial and error experience because it led me to a Q&A with The Detoxinista about how to make the recipe itself--rather complicated--a bit more simplistic for the everyday, at-home cook.  And, it gave me a good idea of how much or little I can tweak the recipe without causing a pizza-tragedy to ensue.

Cauli-Rice

While the original recipe from The Detoxinista calls for food processing cauliflower florets into a rice-like consistency, steaming this "cauli-rice," and then putting it into a cloth to wring out the extra water, I found that this process can be significantly simplified.  Instead of steaming the "cauli-rice" and then expelling the water from it--which, frankly, was not pleasant as the "cauli-rice" did not cool quickly and the water expelled was very hot!--you can freeze the food-processed cauliflower florets (no cooking necessary) ahead of time, defrost in a colander and THEN proceed on to your squeezing.  Still, perhaps, a little time consuming, but at least this way you are squeezing out cold water onto your hands rather than nuclear hot water!

Before I get on, finally, to the recipe let me say that this Cauliflower Pizza Crust is simply amazing.  To boost the flavor profile, I added some fennel seeds, a dash of smoked sea salt, and pepper to the crust "dough" in addition to the oregano called for and, also, opted to use herb-encrusted goat cheese for extra herby-flavor.  In the future I'd like to add some fresh rosemary and maybe garlic to the crust.

I got a little more creative with my toppings than The Detoxinista in her post, using an organic store-bought red sauce, mozzarella cheese, crumbled herbed goat cheese, minced garlic, chopped spinach, sundried tomatoes, and a ton of fresh, chopped basil.  

[RECIPE] Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Ingredients

Baked crust waiting
for toppings!

• 1 Medium-Large Head Cauliflower, broken down into Florets
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1/3 C. soft herbed Goat Cheese; plus more for topping
• 1 Tsp. dried oregano
• Fennel Seeds; to your taste
• Smoked Sea Salt; to your taste
• Black Pepper; to your taste
• TOPPINGS--chopped spinach; goat cheese; mozzarella (fresh or shredded); organic red sauce; minced garlic; sundried tomatoes; fresh basil (chopped)

Directions

Done!

1. Place cauliflower florets in food processor in batches and process into a rice-like consistency to make Cauli-rice.
2. Freeze Cauli-rice in air-tight container or freezer bag.
3. Remove Cauli-rice from freezer and let thaw in a colander; transfer to thin dish cloth or cheese cloth and wring out excess moisture.
4. Beat egg and add 1/3 C. herbed goat cheese and Cauli-rice with excess water expelled; mix well to fully incorporate all ingredients.  Add oregano, fennel seeds, salt and pepper and mix.
5. Cover a square or round baking sheet with parchment paper--Don't forget this!--leaving crust about 1/3inch thick (I just eyeballed it) press and form the dough into the pan making the edges a little higher to form a traditional crust-look.
6. Bake at 400 degrees F. for 40minutes; remove from oven and cover with desired toppings before returning to the oven for additional 10 minutes.
7. ENJOY!  

Baked Cabbage Wedges and Cauliflower Mash {GF + Veg. + Low-Carb}

I know, I know, you're wondering who in their right mind would think eating Baked Cabbage Wedges and Cauliflower Mash, let alone eating them together, sounded like a good idea for a tasty meal.  I was admittedly curious but reticent when I saw the recipes that inspired each of the components of my dinner.

Baked Cabbage Wedges and Cauliflower Mash
{Vegetarian + Gluten Free + Low-Carb}

The thing that really saved the idea of baked cabbage for me was that I've been eating baked cabbage in one form or another for a long, long time.  My grandmother immigrated from the Ukraine when she was just a kid and brought with her Eastern European food traditions like stuffed cabbage which I, along with the other grandchildren, got to eat--whether we liked it or not, sometimes.  Without that sort of early-life primer for appreciating cabbage I'm not sure I would've gone all in on the idea of baking cabbages marinated in lemon, oil, herbs and spices.  The Cauliflower Mash I was a little less hesitant about, mainly because in recent weeks I've seen and created for myself some amazing recipes that have convinced me that cauliflower is a most versatile wonder of the vegetable kingdom.  Raw and Low-Carb eaters, for example, make "cauli-rice" out of it and Low-Carb and Gluten Free eaters make totally grain-free pizza crusts using cauliflower as the dominant ingredient (I'll get to both of these phenomena in future posts).

The benefits of eating a meal of cabbage and cauliflower follow from the fact that both are super-low calorie, no-fat foods that are very low on carbs.  Neither is very high in protein (something to think about when you are meal planning) but both pack a lot of vitamin  C.  And, for those of you planning your meals around a tight budget, these are CHEAP vegetables.  Cooking for a specialty diet can get pricey when you have to acquire specialty, high-priced ingredients.  I assure you that you can eat you fair share (and more) of cauliflower and cabbage and not even begin to break the bank.

For the Baked Cabbage wedges recipe I used the following recipe, Baked Cabbage as inspiration but made my own changes to turn the dish into a vegetarian dish (I omitted the bacon) and I played around with the contents of the marinade to suit my tastes.

For my marinade I used the following ingredients:

• 1/4c. olive oil (approx.)
• 2 tblsp balsamic vinegar
• Juice of 1 lemon
• 3-4 cloves garlic, minced
• 1 tblsp (approx) sun-dried tomatoes, minced
• Fresh Herbs (basil, rosemary, sage); minced
• Fennel Seeds, a dash
• Dried Thyme, a dash
• Salt + Pepper, to taste
• Optional: grated Parmesan Cheese (about 1/2 tablespoon)

As detailed in the original recipe, linked above, I heated my oven to 425degrees F. and cut my cabbage into 4 wedges.  I laid the wedges on to individual pieces of tin foil large enough to totally encompass them and drizzled the marinade evenly onto the wedges before wrapping them tightly in the foil.  I cooked the wedges for 40minutes, but turned my oven off with about 15minutes left to go on my timer.  When the timer goes off, remove and serve!  Easy!  I topped my cabbage wedge with about 1/2 tablespoon of finely grated Parmesan cheese, but it's definitely not necessary so people with sensitivity to milk products or vegans can easily omit it.

For my Cauliflower Mash I took my inspiration from this truly decadent recipe, Decadent Cauliflower Mash but decided I was going to tone the decadence of my version down some.  I followed the recipe's instructions for the most part but decided to omit the heavy cream, butter, and the cheese called for in the recipe.  Instead, for my "wet" ingredients I used:

• 4oz block of herbed goat cheese (chevre)
• 1/3c. 0% plain Greek Yogurt
• 3 tblsp olive oil (in place of cream and butter while cauliflower cooks in microwave)
• 4 cloves garlic, minced (added to cauliflower while it cooks in microwave)

When my cauliflower mash was done cooking in the microwave (10minutes in microwave safe bowl that also contained my olive oil and minced garlic) I transferred the cauliflower, my goat cheese, and my Greek Yogurt to the blender.  I blended until I achieved a pretty smooth texture.  My mash was a little grainier than the mash in the recipe that used the butter, heavy cream, and copious amounts of cheese, so if you want your mash to be super soft and silky you might bump up the fat content some to achieve that texture.

My Baked Cabbage Wedges and Cauliflower Mash made for a great low-carb, vegetarian, and Gluten Free meal and I especially enjoyed pairing it with a nice glass of Zinfandel!

p.s.--I discovered, when I made dinner tonight using my Cauliflower Mash, that it makes an EXCELLENT healthier substitute for creamy-style polenta!  Who knew?  Throw some tomato-veggie ragu on top and you're good to go.

Happy, Healthy, Weird Eating!

Kate