Cauliflower Pizza Crust Topped with Arugula Salad

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When I was writing this post years ago,  I had a health scare and for a minute (a day, actually) I waited to hear test results.

It could have been the kind of news that tells me I won’t see a walker or failing eye sight or hip replacements because my time is up.

During those 24 hours,  old age seemed like a prize. I have always felt a heavy dose of compassion for my mother in law, because she is in her late 80’s and her body is showing the signs of well-deserved wear and tear.  She uses a walker, her eyesight and memory have lost their way a bit. Her hip needs replaced again.

But during that waiting period,  my perspective changed and I now see old age as good fortune. She has made it through life without a premature illness, car accident, or assault. She is not at the end of her life, for her family tends to live into the 90’s and one grandmother lived to be 106. It’s not the fullness of life one still has in their 60’s, maybe even in their 70’s.

It’s these aged survivors get to see their children grow old, their grandchildren graduate college and even their great grand children walk and talk. It’s such an honor to be witness to that, even with some disabilities.

What was the secret to living so long? I can’t scientifically claim to know, and although they weren’t drinkers or smokers, I think their secret was in their food source. They lived almost exclusively from the food they raised on the farm. As I thought about this and the good phone call I received, I fell even more in love with food from my local farmers.

The cauliflower and the arugula were purchased from local Amish farmers at the Tuesday Franklin Farmer’s Market. I had both items in my refrigerator nearly two weeks before I was able to use them. Amazingly, they were still good enough to make this pizza with.

Cauliflower is Healthy

Cauliflower has the disadvantage of being white. White foods don’t have the same healthy zing appeal as the green or purple food, so I wanted to make sure you knew that cauliflower is high in Vitamin C, omega 3 fatty acids and has special properties (as all cruciferous vegetables do) to fight cancer.

It contains allicin, which helps prevents strokes and  improve heart health. It also helps to maintain healthy levels of cholesterol, and helps with cancers that primarily affect woman, due to indole-3-carbino, which which helps metabolize estrogen.

Cauliflower helps the body to detox, fight inflammation, and aid the digestive system. Low in calories, high in nutrition and available year round, cauliflower is at the ready for roasting,  steaming, mashingfried rice, making soup or serving as a low-carb pizza crust.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust, a Blogger’s Favorite

I’ve seen lots of blog posts about a cauliflower pizza crust and I thought making one would be easy.

Not so fast. There are two predominant recipes, one with almond meal and one without.

I  saw different cooking methods for the cauliflower, different baking times, different baking temperatures. So many opinions, yet all with the same goal in mind, which is getting the cauliflower to crisp up enough when it bakes.

I discovered that cauliflower tends to want to steam underneath and not get crispy and that without parchment paper, it will stick and be a hot mess. But each post I read bragged about the wonderfulness of the recipe, and I was hooked to give it a try.

What Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe Did I Follow?

I followed all of them. I took a little of this one from Recipe Girl, a little of this one from Detoxinista, and I even tried the idea of almond meal that I read about on Food Loves Writing, where the pictures are very appetizing. The almond meal recipe is probably a bit more bread like. You can try that recipe or the one I ended up with, which does not have almond meal.  You will enjoy both types as long as you bake your crust long enough.

I made three different pizza. The first one I did not bake first and it took a long time to get brown. The second and third pizza I pre-baked the crust and decided that is the way to go.

You can try all kinds of toppings, but cauliflower seems to love a little olive oil and crushed red pepper. I put crushed red pepper both in the crust and on top of the pizza. It was especially good topped with a little arugula salad. The pepper bite of arugula served my pizza well.

Tips for a Good Cauliflower Pizza Crust

  • Use a food processor to crumble the cauliflower. It’s faster. You can use a grater if you don’t have a processor.
  • Microwave the cauliflower without water, prior to mixing with other ingredients.
  • Use parchment paper. This recipe sticks easily.
  • Use a very hot oven, and bake first for at least 20 minutes before adding toppings. The crust should be golden brown in the middle.
  • Don’t use more than one egg per 2 cups of cauliflower crumbs.
  • If you do use almond meal, it will be a little more bread-like.

Topped with tomato and fresh mozzarella for baking.

This is the almond crust that was pre-baked for 25  minutes first.

More Cauliflower Recipes from Spinach Tiger

Other Good Cauliflower Dishes from Food Bloggers

Spaghetti with Cauliflower, Chile and Parsley Gremolata  by Taste Food

Roasted Curry Cauliflower by Summer Tomato

Whole Head Roasted Cauliflower by Food Republic

Print Recipe
5 from 2 votes

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Cauliflower Pizza Crust for a gluten free or low carb pizza.
Prep Time15 minutes
Cook Time40 minutes
Total Time55 minutes
Course: Entree
Cuisine: Italian
Servings: 2
Author: Angela Roberts

Ingredients

  • 1/2 large cauliflower
  • 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
  • 2 tablespoons parmesan or pecorino cheese or any combination
  • 1 egg
  • 1 tablespoon parsley
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
  • 1 teaspoon Italian dried herbs
  • 1 teaspoon olive oil
  • salt pepper
  • Toppings of choice for pizza example of what I used below
  • mozzarella cheese
  • thinly sliced tomato
  • arugula tossed in a tiny bit of olive oil and vinegar

Instructions

  • Preheat oven to 450 degrees.
  • Using a food processor or grater, crumble cauliflower into tiny pieces.
  • Microwave for 8 minutes or steam until cooked through.
  • Cool.
  • the rest of the ingredients and form into a circle for a pizza crust.
  • Line baking sheet with parchment (even if you are using a pizza stone).
  • If you are using a pizza stone, get it hot first.
  • Bake the crust without the toppings for 20-35 minutes. This will depend on how thick your crust is, etc.
  • Once golden brown, top with toppings of choice and broil for 5 minutes until cheese is melted.
  • I topped my pizza with the arugula after it came out of the oven.

Please follow me on instagram. If you make this recipe,  please tag me #spinachtiger.

If you love this recipe, please give it five stars. It means a lot. xoxo


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24 Comments

  1. I just tried this recipe. It was amazing! I liked yours better than others on the net because of the crushed red pepper. Thanks for the advice on the parchment paper too. It worked like a dream. I like that you did not have the 1:1 ratio of cheese to Cauliflower too. I don’t think you need that much. Thank you for sharing!

  2. Pingback: Cauliflower Tex-Mex Veggie (no flour) Pizza | FOODalogue
  3. Good grief this looks amazing. I have not heard of this before…as I spend a lot of time circling around in my little world. I will make this, definitely, more than once and hope it tastes as good as yours. Bravo.

  4. This cust is a godsend! It looks totally delicious and is arbless. UMM hello my bestest friend ever!

  5. 5 stars
    First of all, I’m relieved you’re relieved and all is well!

    We must be reading different blogs. This is my first exposure to cauliflower pizza crust – and I’m totally going to try it and soon!

  6. Oh, Angela, it’s so overwhelming to be that sick! I vividly remember this past February, feeling like I was going to die and being so comforted by Paul’s words in 2 Corinthians when he talks about despairing of life itself–that is exactly where I was. But he says God allowed him to experience that so he’d depend on God and not himself! So thankful you’re OK and well and baking cauliflower pizza crusts. See you soon!

  7. Hope you’re OK Angela. Everyone who reads this post will be wishing you all the best. Sometimes things happen, and all you can do is go with the flow of the moment…even if that’s 24 hours of fear. It’s natural. At least you can be happy knowing that you eat well and quite healthy, so hopefully that will keep your body strong!

  8. Glad you’re ok, that must have been a horrible 24 hours. Longevity in a family usually is a good sign that you will have a long life. Of course, they didn’t have the same environmental poisons when they were young. Good to do well by ourselves as we grow old… so that we may grow old.

  9. sorry to hear about your health scare – i know that must’ve been horribly worrisome, although it sounds like it brought about some good soul-searching as well. i’ve actually made a version of this cauliflower pizza crust before + while i liked the flavor, i really wanted to play around more with the texture (it was a bit soggy, not nearly crisp enough) before blogging about it. i might try adding the almond meal, as you mention, or play around with adding panko or another binder in there. i really want to perfect the recipe because the flavor was wonderful!

  10. Goodness, so happy you received good news. Must have been stressful no doubt. I make a version of this crust but yours looks so much better. Have to try it.

5 from 2 votes

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