Cauliflower has come along way in the culinary world over the past few years. Gone are the days where you were subjected to eating cauliflower only one way, drenched in a cheesy sauce and served up with a side of steamed carrots or green beans along side some sort of meaty protein. These days you can get pretty much anything made from those perfectly white florets, from being blitzed into a pasta sauce to replace creamy béchamel, to being made into vegetarian burger patties and even into a gluten free pizza base, like this one.
Now you can’t compare this cauliflower pizza base with your traditional wheat based pizza base, they are just so different in taste and texture. For starters you cannot achieve the doughy texture that comes with a deep-dish pizza or the crispiness of a thin crust pizza. But what you can achieve is a crumbly texture, speckled with grain like shapes of cauliflower and crumbles of ground almonds. And once baked to a golden brown complexion this tasty pizza base will bind together so it won’t fall apart, meaning it can be picked up in your hand and eaten just like a regular pizza.
And secondly the flavor of this grain free pizza base is absolutely spectacular. The combination of the cauliflower florets, ground almonds and parmesan all blitzed together gives this pizza base a flavor sensation that cannot be beat. It is also not as heavy as wheat-based bases so it is a great option for anybody looking for a lighter and healthier alternative.
Top the base with a thin spread of basil pesto then load it up with crispy free-range bacon, salty creamy feta and caramelized fried onions. Then finish it off with a good helping of stringy mozzarella cheese. I mean how good does that sound?
And how good does that look? And if you don’t have these topping on hand then no problem, this base will go with pretty much anything and everything. So ditch the takeaways and make this in your kitchen tonight…you wont regret it I promise.
Enjoy.
Now you can’t compare this cauliflower pizza base with your traditional wheat based pizza base, they are just so different in taste and texture. For starters you cannot achieve the doughy texture that comes with a deep-dish pizza or the crispiness of a thin crust pizza. But what you can achieve is a crumbly texture, speckled with grain like shapes of cauliflower and crumbles of ground almonds. And once baked to a golden brown complexion this tasty pizza base will bind together so it won’t fall apart, meaning it can be picked up in your hand and eaten just like a regular pizza.
And secondly the flavor of this grain free pizza base is absolutely spectacular. The combination of the cauliflower florets, ground almonds and parmesan all blitzed together gives this pizza base a flavor sensation that cannot be beat. It is also not as heavy as wheat-based bases so it is a great option for anybody looking for a lighter and healthier alternative.
Top the base with a thin spread of basil pesto then load it up with crispy free-range bacon, salty creamy feta and caramelized fried onions. Then finish it off with a good helping of stringy mozzarella cheese. I mean how good does that sound?
And how good does that look? And if you don’t have these topping on hand then no problem, this base will go with pretty much anything and everything. So ditch the takeaways and make this in your kitchen tonight…you wont regret it I promise.
Enjoy.
Guilt-Free Cauliflower Pizza
Serves: 2 small pizzas
Ingredients
- 5oz (140g) free-range bacon
- 1 onions, finely sliced
- 2 tablespoons olive oil
- ¼ cup basil pesto
- ½ cup grated mozzarella
- 1oz (30g) feta, crumbled
- a few sprigs of thyme and chopped parsley or micro herbs
For the base
- ½ cup almond meal
- 12.5oz (350g) cauliflower florets
- 2 free-range eggs, lightly beaten
- ⅓ cup grated Parmesan
- salt and pepper
Instructions
- Turn grill on in oven. Line a tray with parchment paper and put bacon on. Place under grill and cook till crispy. Set aside. Cut into pieces.
- While bacon is cooking add oil to fry pan and cook onions over a medium heat until caramelized. Set aside.
- Place the cauliflower florets into food processor and blitz for about 15secs or until it becomes like small crumbs. Place into bowl a large mixing bowl along with the almond meal. Add eggs, Parmesan and salt and pepper and mix till combined.
- Preheat oven to 390 (200C). Line a baking tray with parchment paper and divide mixture into two and shape into two 8” (20cm) square pizza bases. Place into oven for 15-20 minutes or until golden on top.
- Spread the basil pesto over the bases and top with the free-range bacon, onion, feta and mozzarella. Cook for a further 5-10 minutes or until cheese melted. Finish off by sprinkling thyme and parsley or micro herbs on top before serving.
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