Who Needs the Bread Anyways?
#Pizza seems to be the universal love language. Who doesn’t swoon over melted #cheese and perfect #tomato sauce spread on a base of crisp, toothsome #carbs? But, just because we all love it, doesn’t mean we all can eat it. Majority of clients I see are #gluten and #diary sensitive and for me personally, if I ate a doughy cheesy pizza my #digestivesystem would be in ruins. But that doesnt mean I dont love pizza!. So here's my favourite #lowcarb #healthy #crust alternative. Yes it's #cauliflower - full of #liver #detoxing, #hormone balancing goodness in every way. This #cauliflowerpizzacrust is so good you wont miss the original. And it can easily be made #vegan by substituting the #eggs with #flax eggs (1 tbsp ground flax & 2.5 tbsp water mixed together is one #flaxegg).
Prep time: 15 mins Cook time: 45 mins
Serves 4 (makes i large pizza)
INGREDIENTS
Cauli crust
1 cauliflower (about 750g/1lb 10oz)
100g ground almonds
2 eggs, beaten (or flax egg if vegan)
1 tbsp dried oregano
½ tsp garlic powder
½ tsp onion powder
2 tbsp nutritional yeast
Salt and pepper
Filling
227g chopped tomatoes (glass jar or fresh)
1 tbsp tomato purée
1 garlic clove, crushed
½ large aubergine, thinly sliced lengthways into long strips
2 tbsp olive oil, plus extra for greasing
1 small red onion, cut into 8 wedges
½ small bunch basil, leaves picked
125g vegan mozzarella
25g vegan Parmesan (or vegetarian alternative), grated, plus extra to serve
a few pinches of chilli flakes
rocket
black olives
INSTRUCTIONS
STEP 1
Heat oven to 200C/180C fan/gas 6.
Remove the leaves from the cauliflower and trim the stalk end, then cut into chunks.
Pass the cauliflower florets through a food processor to make the cauliflower rice. Or grate by hand using a box grater.
Transfer cauliflower rice to a large mesh sieve and bring a pot of water to boil. Place seive overtop of pot and cover with lid. Steam for 5 mins to soften. Let cool.
Using a nut bag, ring all liquid out cauliflower. The more liquid you can get out of the cauliflower, the crispier your crust will be. If you dont have a nut milk bag tip the cauli onto a clean tea towel and scrunch up the tea towel and squeeze as much liquid as you can out of the cauliflower, then transfer to a clean bowl.
Stir in the ground almonds, egg, oregano, nutritional yeast, garlic & onion powder and plenty of seasoning.
Line a baking tray with baking parchment and grease with oil. Mound the cauliflower mix into the centre of the tray, then use a spoon and your hands to spread out into a 30cm round. Make it a little thicker at the edges to create a ‘crust’.
Bake for 15-20 mins until golden brown and starting to crisp a little at the edges.
Remove from oven and set a new piece of parchment over the top of the pizza. Using your hands carefully flip the pizza crust so the top is now face down. At this point you can remove all parchment if you want as it will no longer stick to anything. Cook for an additional 5-10 minutes, or until edges are golden and crispy.
STEP 2
Meanwhile, heat a griddle pan, brush each aubergine slice on both sides with a little of the oil, season and cook for 5-6 mins, turning once, until softened and charred – you’ll need to do this in batches. Transfer to a plate.
Brush the onions with oil, season and griddle for 5-8 mins until softened and charred.
To make the tomato sauce, whizz the canned tomatoes, tomato purée, garlic and some seasoning in a blender until smooth. Transfer to a small saucepan, bring to a simmer and cook gently for 8-10 mins until thick (you don’t want any watery tomato soaking into the cauliflower base). Tear half the basil leaves and stir through the sauce.
STEP 3
Once the cauliflower base is cooked, set aside to cool a little.
Turn the oven up to 240C/220C fan/gas 8.
Spread the tomato sauce over the base, sprinkle over the vegan parmesan, then arrange the aubergines, red onion, olives and vegan mozzarella (slices) on top.
Scatter over the chilli flakes and return to the oven for 5-8 mins or until the cheese has melted
Remove from oven and allow to cool for 5 minutes before serving. Then shave over a little more vegan parmesan and scatter with the remaining basil and rocket leaves
