Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Equipment you will need:

• Food processor

• Nut bag

• Mixing bowl

• Pizza dish or baking tray

Ingredients

• 1 Cauliflower (about 500g)

• 1 cup of brown rice or buckwheat flower.

• ½ cup of brewery’s yeast

• 2 tablespoons of chia seeds with 6 tablespoons of water

• ½ cup of apple puree

• ¼ of a cup of ice cold water

• 1 tablespoon of tahini

• juice of 1 lemon

• Dried oregano

• Dried basil

• Fresh or dried garlic

• Pinch of sea salt & pepper to taste

TOPPING IDEAS

• Tomato puree.

• Sliced tomatoes

• Sweetcorn

• Mushrooms

• Fresh bail leaves

• Olives

• Red onion chopped

• Additional brewers yeast

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The amazing cruciferous vegetable cauliflower, makes one of my favourites recipes with cauliflower… Cauliflower Pizza Crust! Cauliflower crust has become very popular within the low carb and paleo communities because it’s loaded with all the flavours of pizza, without using refined carbohydrates or any fuss with baking breads. I like to pair cauliflower with familiar pizza seasonings such as oregano, garlic and onion amongst an entire menu/meal plan with ideas on how to make your own pizza crust.

I’ve played around with this recipe for a couple weeks now as I wanted to ensure I had a good, flavoursome strong base that would support all the delicious toppings that are now available.  When I think of pizza crust I think of several variations - doughy, crispy, thick crust, thin crust etc. This pizza crust recipe is more thick,  doughy and gluten free than thin.

Instructions

Firstly place the chia seeds in a bowl with your 8 tablespoons of water and allow this to be absorbed in to a gel which takes up to 10 minutes.

Place the cauliflower in a food processor until it forms a crumbly flour mixture. This will take about 2 minutes.

Then place the mixture in a nut bag and squeeze all the excess liquid through. This may seem a laborious task but it's an important part of the process. Cauliflower contains a great deal of fluid which will make the difference between a firm, crispy secure base and a soggy bottom which falls apart after a couple of hours. No one wants a soggy bottom; especially on their pizza base!

Next place your cauliflower in a mixing bowl with the chia seed gel, apple puree and brewers yeast and stir until evenly blended. Allow this process to be absorbed for around 10 minutes.

Now add the brown rice flour, lemon, Tahini, herbs and seasoning.

I knead the mixture into a dough with my hands while slowly pouring in the ice cold water. This helps to make a sticky dough consistency.

To prevent the base sticking whilst cooking, generously line a pizza dish or baking tray with olive oil and then evenly sprinkle some flour on top before you spread the dough over it.

Bake the base in the oven at 150C for 20-25 minutes. You may want to check your pizza base half-way through the cooking time, as it may need to be flipped over. Once your base is firmly cooked and slightly crispy remove it from the oven and add your tomato puree and additional vegetable toppings. Then place in the oven to cook for a further 5-7 minutes.

Remove from the oven and serve with your fresh basil leaves and an additional sprinkle of brewers yeast for that delicious cheesy flavour.

This meal is packed full of fibre and essential vitamins and minerals. It’s a great alternative pizza for anyone with gluten intolerances or those with celiac disease.