Eat the Crust First

Do you remember Pizza Hut's cheese filled crust? Like many other people, I used to eat the crust first and be overwhelmed with cheese before I had even taken a bite of the cheese and veggie topped delight. 

This is a pizza that's going around the Internet right now. The crust is made from cauliflower and cheese and then most people top it with more cheese. 

I love cheese, but I don't think I could handle the cheese overload I used to love as a kid. So, my version has the cheese in the crust, but then I just topped it with tomato sauce and roasted veggies. Delicious!

Just read the recipe through before you start cooking your cauliflower. I misunderstood the recipe I originally tried and thought my cauliflower was supposed to be cooked before I started and that it didn't matter how I cooked it. 

It mattered. And boiling it made my cauliflower too wet. The crust still worked, but it took three times as long to cook!

Cauliflower Pizza - makes one small 9-inch pizza

1 cup cooked and riced cauliflower, directions follow
1 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1 egg, beaten
1 teaspoon oregano, finely chopped
1 clove of garlic, minced
2 tablespoons tomato sauce
1/3 cup roasted eggplant and zucchini, chopped
1 tablespoon olive oil

1. Start by cooking and ricing your cauliflower. Use only the florets and cut them into chunks. Add them to a food processor and pulse them until they look like rice. You could grate them with a cheese grater, but that would be a lot of work!

2. Place the uncooked, riced cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl, add 1/4 cup of water and microwave for 6-8 minutes. Stir at the 3 minute mark.

3. Now preheat your oven to 450 degrees and oil a cookie sheet (or two cookie sheets if you're doubling the recipe to cook for two).

4. Combine cauliflower, cheese, and the beaten egg in a medium bowl and mix well. Add in the oregano and minced garlic and continue to stir until combined.

5. Transfer mixture to the prepared cookie sheet and shape into a 9-inch round. Brush the crust with a little olive oil to help it brown if you like and bake for about 15 minutes.

If you boiled your cauliflower before ricing it, cook for about 45 minutes to dry it out...

6. Next top with sauce and veggies and broil for about 2 minutes, or until the veggies are warmed.

7. Allow pizza to cool slightly, then cut and serve!