Cauliflower-Crust Pizza

Soooo. Long time, no see.

I hate that it's been almost a month since I've posted. I wish I could say it was because I was out of the country on some fantastic vacation, or because I won the lottery and was just too overwhelmed with phone calls of congratulations, or something else equally as exciting. Instead, my reasons center around work, more work, trying to get the house ready to sell, state testing at work, and more work. :(

However, I do have some good news: I have started to find ways that I enjoy eating cauliflower! I know, not quite as exciting as you had hoped, but hey--still exciting for me, nonetheless. Seriously. I used to hate cauliflower. Not as much as I hate brussel sprouts, but I really, really disliked cauliflower. Or so I thought...

Ben decided a few weeks ago to start a new, super-low-carb diet, so I've reverted to trying to find ways to make and eat traditionally "carby" foods. Enter this pizza crust. It had been suggested to me several months ago by a fellow MRC dieter on a message board I participate on, so I thought I'd give it a try. The original recipe is from RecipeGirl.com, and it really turned out well. The only downside was that--after adding the cheese on top of the pizza--it seemed to be kind of high in fat and calories . So, we decided that we will try again (with some modifications) on Sunday night. I was thinking that if I use parmesan in the crust instead of mozzarella, it should cut back on the fat/calories and also crisp it up a little more (the center was a little soft--not bad, but we prefer crispy pizza crusts). I will definitely plan on updating the blog with the parmesan-cauliflower adventure after Sunday, so be sure to check back.

Here is the recipe for the crust, as well as how I put together our pizzas last night:


Cauliflower Pizza Crust
1/2 large head of cauliflower (or 2+ cups shredded cauliflower)
1 large egg
1 cup finely shredded mozzarella cheese
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic


 Shred the cauliflower into small crumbles (I used a cheese grater). You'll need a total of about 2 cups or so of cauliflower crumbles (which is about half a large head of cauliflower). Place the cauliflower crumbles in a large bowl and microwave them for 8 minutes. Give the cauliflower a chance to cool slightly.

Preheat the oven to 450 degrees F. Spray a cookie sheet or pizza pan with nonstick spray (or use a nonstick surface). In a medium bowl, mix the cauliflower crumbles  with the remaining crust ingredients. Divide the "dough" into 2 portions, and pat the "crust" to form two pizzas on the prepared pan (or into a single 9 to 12-inch round). Spray the crust lightly with nonstick spray and bake for 15 minutes (or until golden). Remove the crust from the oven and turn the heat up to broil.

I then made one pizza (Ben's) into a buffalo chicken pizza, and one (mine) into a simple veggie and chicken pizza.

For the buffalo chicken pizza, I spread 1 tablespoon of Bolthouse Farms Ranch Dressing onto the crust (because it's only 45 calories and blue cheese isn't allowed on Ben's diet), then 1 oz each of shredded mozzarella and cheddar cheeses (reduced-fat cheddar) and approximately 3 oz of chicken that had been tossed in Frank's buffalo wing sauce. On my pizza, I used 1 tablespoon of the ranch dressing (only because I was out of regular pizza sauce--but it turned out delicious with the ranch), 1 oz each of mozzarella and cheddar cheeses, some chopped mushroom and grape tomatoes, and about 1/2 to 1 oz of chopped, plain chicken breast.

Broil the pizza 3 to 4 minutes, or until the toppings are hot and the cheese is melted and bubbly. Cut into slices and serve immediately.  I swear, you can't tell that it's cauliflower!

Here is the nutritional information for the crust recipe as well as each pizza. Like I said, it turned out a little higher in fat and calories than I thought it would. Tomorrow night--during my re-do--I plan to use parmesan in the crust, maybe a mix of parmesan and mozzarella on top, and less cheese overall on top.

**UPDATE: Made the pizza crust with parmesan and while it was delicious--much more crisp and had a bit of a smoky flavor, yum!--it turned out to actually be higher in fat and calories than the mozzarella version. Oops. So, I highly recommend using the parmesan if you aren't watching fat/calories all that much (granted, it's still healthier than any restaurant or frozen pizza you get!), but not if you're really trying to cut back and watch your calorie intake. In that case, stick with the mozzarella.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust Nutritional Information
(for the entire batch of the "crust")
Calories: 440
Fat: 25g     Sodium: 805mg     Carb: 10.5g     Fiber: 5g     Protein: 42g

Buffalo Chicken Pizza Nutritional Information
(uses 1/2 of the batch of the "crust")
Calories: 460
Fat: 33.6g    Sodium: 742mg     Carb: 8.63g     Fiber: 2.83g     Protein: 53.5g


Chicken and Veggie Pizza Nutritional Information
("uses 1/2 of the batch of the "crust")
Calories: 390
Fat: 26.23g   Sodium: 742mg    Carb: 8.63     Fiber: 2.83     Protein: 37.41g