I love pizza. Oh, it’s a little ridiculous. And yes, I still get the rando pizza cravings from time to time, but about 99.99% of the time, MEATZA hits the spot and I can go on my merry way.
This time was different.
In a house all by myself with no one to keep me company but GCB and Scandal re-runs, I was seriously Jones-ing for something sauce-y and bread-y and loaded with everything worth living for. We had all the fixings for MEATZA since I’m made one last week, but the idea just wasn’t that appealing. Unfortunately, MEATZA gets overwhelmed by…well…all that meat floating around on the bottom where a nice, doughy base once was.
I resisted the urge to call this a “Cauliflower Pizza Crust.” Yes, it’s got cauliflower as a base, but I feel pretty proud of myself for departing from the cauliflower-and-mozzarella crust that has been around the blogosphere for some time. I wanted to make a bread-like crust that a) was 100% Paleo, and b) wasn’t the almost cookie-like texture of most almond flour based crusts.
The verdict? I played with the ingredients a bit and ended up with a thin-ish crust that was delightfully crisp around the edges and that held the weight of my toppings well enough for me to eat it all with my hands…and I use a LOT of sauce, people! You can season it as you like since cauliflower is nice and bland and won’t mask any flavors.
Ingredients
1/2 Large Head of Cauliflower
1/4 c Flax Meal
1/4 c Almond Meal
2 Eggs + 1 Egg Yolk
1/2 t Baking Soda
1 t Italian Seasoning
1/2 t Salt
1/2 t Black Pepper
Toppings of choice
Instructions
Chop the cauliflower into florets and place in a food processor. Pulse until you get a rice-like consistency (I did mine in batches)–if you’ve ever made cauliflower rice before, this is the same deal.
Place cauliflower “rice” in a microwave-safe bowl and nuke for 6 minutes on high, or until tender. Allow to cool slightly.
To the cauliflower, add the flax, almond meal, eggs, and seasoning. Mix well until you have a sticky ball of dough. Press down onto a greased baking sheet (or Silpat! I LOVE mine–thanks Adam & Pete!)***. Bake crust at 350 degrees for 30-35 minutes, until browned and crisp around the edges.
Remove crust from the oven. Smother in toppings of your choice. Broil for 5-8 minutes, or until your toppings have been cooked through to desired done-ness.
Enjoy!
YES…I see the irony in putting cheese on top of my pizza when I went to such lengths to make a dairy-free crust. If you want a Paleo, not Primal, pizza, just don’t put cheese on top 
***Since the wedding is finally behind us, we’re finally putting our wedding gifts to good use! Ross (and men in general) totally under-utilized the registries, so our gifts ended up being mostly kitchen stuff. NICE kitchen stuff. No complaints here. So, in honor of the people we love most and their unbelievable generosity, I’m making an extra special effort to put my new appliances and gadgets to use on the blog. Stay tuned for more!
Yes! I’m totally going to make this. The meatza is a little too much forme sometimes so this looks great for the pizza craving.
I made this! I must say that I’m pretty much floored that it works to make pizza crust from cauliflower. I’m realizing that cauliflower is such an amazing little guy. Of course it doesn’t replace the real deal pizza crust for me, but it’s nice to have a wheat-free option. Thanks for sharing!
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Wow! We just made this, and I am seriously amazed. Hubby was shocked it was so good and pizza-y. Satisfied my pizza craving way better than meatza ever does!! The only thing I’ll do differently next time is try using our pizza stone (duh!) to see if that makes the center a bit crispier. Thank you for sharing!
Yummy! Easy to make & a great flavor. It is filling, but not nearly as “heavy” tasting as crusts made out of mostly almond meal. The only issue is that the crust can be somewhat soggy, but I will also try a pizza stone next time. Thanks for sharing this recipe!
Thanks! I have definitely found that the pizza stone helps a ton.
I have a question, I saw a post to squeeze/strain excess water content in the cauliflower with a cloth (they had a name for a special cloth, don’t remember) would this help.
Yeah, you can strain with cheese cloth. I generally don’t use it, though.
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Could I use broccoli instead? Hubby is on the London AS diet and cauliflower is questionable.
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I want to try this and I also have a pizza stone. I have one question though. What would you use besides flour or cornmeal to prevent the “dough” from sticking to the pizza stone?
I don’t put anything down except a little oil, but maybe a little flax meal would work?
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