What's For Dinner? : Week 2

Thursday is already here in this short work week! I have been looking forward to sharing this recipe with y'all since I made it.  So let's get right to it!

Cauliflower Pizza
Our family adores pizza and we have tried tons,several, HUNDREDS  quite a few cauliflower crust recipes.  They come out way to mushy, soupy, or more like a casserole than a crust.  The taste is the there but what is missing is the feeling of eating a piece of pizza.  Something I can hold in my hand or cut through with our slicer and here that crisp crunch of the crust. You feel me, pizza lovers??

So I found a recipe I hadn't tried here at Lucky Penny and decided to give it a go. 

Here is what you'll need:
~1 medium head of cauliflower
~1/4 tsp Kosher salt
~1/2 tsp dried basil
~1/2 tsp dried oregano
~1/2 tsp garlic powder
~1/4 tsp crushed red pepper flakes (I like spice, you could cut this out or use less)
~1/4 cup parmesan cheese
~1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
~1 egg
~your choice of sauce and toppings

***Here is how this recipe was different.  It had me heat my pizza stone before putting the crust on it.  It had me cook the crust on oiled parchment paper on the stone.*** 

First you need to cut your cauliflower into florets and then get them nice and tiny in a food processor.  Or blender.  Whatever you have handy so you don't have to chop it all finely by hand. {Oh yeah, you should be preheating that oven at temp of 450. And don't forget to pop that empty pizza stone (or cookie sheet) in there too!}

You microwave that beautiful mess for 4 minutes. Then let it cool!! Don't rush a good thing people. You will also burn your pretty little paws on the next step if you do rush it!

When your heap of cauliflower is cool, dump it onto a tea towel or thin dish towel.  Then wring out all the excess water.  Cauliflower is one of the veggies that holds a lot of moisture naturally and you well, you just steamed it.  This step has always played a big roll in my pizza crust success. I squeezed and squeezed and got quite a lot of water out. 

Then dump your crust back into a bowl, and add all the ingredients listed above (except the sauce and toppings!)  Mix well with yo' hands!

Then form your crust on that oil piece of parchment I mentioned earlier.  You are going to place that crust on your hot stone.  Cook for 8-11 minutes then remove from the oven for your next step. 

Before cooking

After. Do y'all see how nice that is cooking up? This mama was feeling pretty hopeful about this crust!

Next add your toppings.  For sauce, if you are keeping it clean, mix no sugar/no salt added tomato sauce with some oregano, basil, and smidge of garlic salt to create your own clean sauce.  Spread that on.  Then add whatever you like.  My boys requested "peppy-oni" pizza so I used some turkey pepperoni.  Eh, not the cleanest but, it's better than frozen or delivery. *ahem*

Then pop your pizza back into the oven for an additional 5-7 minutes until the cheese is nice and melty.  

Y'all, I took it out and looked at those crispy edges and was just delighted.  I couldn't wait.  But let me honest, mmmmk.  It wasn't as firm as I'd have liked it to be.  And it stuck to the parchment.  So here is my little tip.  If you have a pizza stone, lightly grease it, and cook it straight on the stone.  I think that would have made all the difference.  The flavor of this pizza was phenomenal it was definitely sturdier than other recipes I've tried, but still could use improvement.  

So get to adding this to your list of must-tries and let me know how it turns out! :)