I’m reposting this for Kitchen Stewardship’s October Fest Carnival of Super Foods. Visit Kitchen Stewardship for more Super Foods Recipes as part of the October Fest Carnival of Super Foods. Next week’s theme: “Un-Processed foods”.
I’ve had several people express interest in my pizza crust, so I thought I’d do a tutorial with photos. It’s very simple.
1st you have to steam your cauliflower. I used a head and a half, but I usually use one package of frozen. The frozen was much easier as I didn’t have to chop it. I usually steam it in the microwave for 8 minutes. If you’re trying to fool your children, make sure they are not in the house when this is steaming as it smells pretty rank.
After the cauliflower is good and soft, you need to chop it up. I use a food processor, but it’s from like 1972 and it basically purees everything. I’m sure more modern processors have adjustable cutting styles. You want the cauli to resemble short grain rice. You can use a ricer or a cheese shredder. That is what I used before I confiscated borrowed my mother’s food processor circa 1972.

To the chopped cauli, I add two eggs, one teaspoon each of oregano, basil, thyme, black pepper, and a lot of salt. Cauli needs a lot of salt, imo. I mix that up and then I add a full bag of shredded mozzarella cheese.
VERY IMPORTANT: Spray or butter your baking pan EXTREMELY well. Then take your “batter” and pour it into the baking pan. I spread it out in the pan as thin as I can with out it breaking apart. NOTE: this is not like a real dough, but it’s really wet and sticky. Use a spatula to get even coverage.
Your oven should have been preheating at 425 degrees Fahrenheit while you prepped the cauli. Now pop the crust into the hot oven and bake for 15 minutes. Your kids will really believe pizza is baking at this time. It smells so good.
After the time is up, your crust should look like this photo. It should be nice a crispy at the edges and browned all over. If it’s not brown enough, put it for another 5 minutes or so.
Because I try to be honest, unlike some who write recipes on their blogs and neglect to tell you of the failures or problems with their recipes, I want to warn you this crust will have stuck to the pan, even though you greased it. I take a spatula and carefully run it around the edges and then slipping it under in the middle. The edge will break a bit, but it’s ok, once you top it and bake it, no one will notice. It may work better with one of those new non-stick baking sheets. Don’t use wax paper. The wax paper melts into the cheese and it’s just a horrible sticky mess. Don’t ask me how I know, just trust me on this one.
Now you can top it with whatever toppings your family likes. I used pepperoni and ground meat with more cheese.

I had to make today’s pizza in two pans as my usual pan is holding the brisket in the fridge! This amount of crust will make enough for two smaller pizzas or one large cookie sheet pizza. It feeds 2 hungry boys who think they are teenagers, one hungry husband and me with usually two pieces leftover for lunch tomorrow. One piece fills me up, it’s so good.
I hope this explains how to make this wonderful sneaky pizza crust. The credit belongs to Jamie van Eaton who developed this. I believe she also uses this for calzones and such, though I’ve never tried it. Give me a shout out if you try this or if you have any questions. It’s really perfect for low-carb as cauli is so low in carbs and everything else is basically protein. It was a blessing for us when we would have a pizza cravings.












Mar 24, 2009 @ 17:50:01
Ohh, thank you for posting this! I have been wanting to try it and see if the family notices. BTW, get any mail lately?
Mar 25, 2009 @ 06:45:47
Jenn, Yes I did receive your card! Thank you so much for the coupons. I’ve been meaning to sit down and write you an email. Funny thing, I saw in Sunday’s Lowe’s ad, they have that exact brand. Time to stock up sista!
Day Three in Paula’s Kitchen | Happy to be at Home
Mar 24, 2009 @ 19:03:30
Mar 24, 2009 @ 21:30:35
I’ll have to try this. What would happen if the cauliflower was chopped up while raw, then barely steamed? Do you think that would work?
Mar 25, 2009 @ 06:48:24
You could do it either way, chop up first then steam or the way I have it. As long as the cauli gets really soft so it won’t taste like you’re biting down on a piece of cauli. It’s supposed to taste like pizza LOL.
Mar 24, 2009 @ 21:52:08
What a great idea! I generally use ground beef and turkey sausage to make pizza crust but cauliflower would certainly lower the fat content quite a bit and lend some variety. Thanks for sharing it!
And thanks for stopping by Plain Ol’ Food, too.
My sister and I just started a new wordpress blog to chronicle our adventures with diabetes, exercise, and nutrition. We’ll have low carb recipes and pictures there. Yum!
Mar 25, 2009 @ 06:49:54
Dbatagrirlsclub, my younger son likes the meat “crust” better. He asked for that next time. The only problem I find with that is it shrinks up in the initial cooking and loses so much volumne. The cauli crust doesn’t shrink, it expands from the cheese melting. I look forward to your new website. Will the link be provided on Plain Ol Food?
Mar 25, 2009 @ 14:51:30
I tried Jamie’s recipe and really like it. I didn’t have a sticking problem but it did come out just a tad soft. But we really enjoyed it.
I also get those low-carb wraps and they work pretty well for stuff…
Mar 25, 2009 @ 15:15:53
Adrienne, we like the low-carb wrap things, but I try not to use them too often as they have such weird stuff in them. Well, the La Tortilla ones don’t, but the Mission does. I have a hard time finding La Tortilla in my area. Mission must have the monopoly on them.
I think Jamie might flip her crust over and bake it longer to get it crisper, but that’s just too much work for me LOL.
Mar 26, 2009 @ 22:38:19
that’s crazy! we dn’t need no carb or anything- but I just gotta try that “crust! Amazing!!!
Mar 27, 2009 @ 06:31:56
VF, it’s really good too. Seriously, my kids ASK for it!
Jun 06, 2009 @ 18:57:04
I do like the cauliflower recipe but we like the zucchini recipe better. It holds up better for me. Our favorite is bbq chicken pizza.. yummy!
Have a wonderful weekend!
Vikki
BTW thanks for the link to my blog!
I’ve just found your’s but I’m sure liking it.
Hugs,
Jun 08, 2009 @ 05:21:12
Thanks Vikki! I love your blog too. I’ll try the zucchini soon. Our garden decided to produce all of a sudden.
Oct 15, 2009 @ 12:51:40
I have a head of cauliflower in the fridge that I wasn’t sure what I was going to do with – NOW I know!
This is great because it is gluten free also!
Oct 15, 2009 @ 14:17:01
Exactly Christy! I’m always on the lookout for low-carb options to high-carb favorites. Hope you enjoy it.
Oct 15, 2009 @ 18:25:59
I. Am. Amazed. This is an incredible option for my mil who has diabetes. And I’m LOLing at your honesty! That’s great!!
This recipe definitely ups the nutrition of a pizza. I just can’t wait to try it. I’m still amazed. So cool!!!
Thank you for joining the October Fest Carnival of Super Foods! Next week’s theme is Un-Processed Foods, or things you could buy in the store but choose to make at home. (Got anything else with vegetables where grains go?)
Hope to see you back!
Katie
Oct 16, 2009 @ 06:35:21
Thanks Katie! It’s so very difficult for those with Type II Diabetes (or Type I for that matter) to find things that won’t spike their blood sugar. I hope this works out for you! There’s a whole bunch of things I sub cauliflower for rice or pasta and surprisingly, it’s really good.
Oct 15, 2009 @ 20:41:24
Ohh I also have a huge cauliflower waiting to be eaten! This sounds yummy and I love pizza, so whats better than a healthy one?
Great Post!
Michelle aka Health Food Lover.
Oct 16, 2009 @ 08:27:32
I hope it works out for you!
Oct 16, 2009 @ 07:55:50
what a fun and delicious looking pizza crust! we’ll have to give it a whirl. Thanks!
Oct 16, 2009 @ 08:27:16
Thanks so much! I hope you enjoy it.
Oct 20, 2009 @ 19:45:15
I’m intrigued and a bit intimidated. :>) Seems when I cook cauliflower, it ends up watery. Any tips? I linked to this in my weekly roundup – link is here. Thanks!!