Monday, August 19, 2019

Cauliflower Pizza Crust


I made this Cauliflower crust this past week and I was really impressed.  I made the Mediterranean Pizza.  ~Shelly

Ingredients

  • 1 medium head of cauliflower (6″ – 7″ wide or 2.53 lbs) or 5-6 cups of store bought cauliflower rice
  • 1 egg, large
  • 1 tsp Italian seasoning (dried oregano or basil)
  • 1/8 tsp salt
  • 1/4 tsp ground black pepper
  • 1/2 cup Parmesan or Mozzarella cheese, grated/shredded
  • Cooking spray 


Instructions

  1. Preheat oven to 375 degrees F and line baking sheet with unbleached parchment paper or silicone mat.
  2. Rinse cauliflower, remove the outer leaves, separate into florets and chop into smaller pieces. Process in a food processor in 2 batches, until “rice” texture forms (skip if using store-bought “rice”). Transfer cauliflower rice on a prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 mins.
  3. Remove cooked cauliflower rice from the oven, transfer to a bowl lined with a double/triple layered cheesecloth or linen towel, and let cool for 5 minutes. Then squeeze the liquid out of the ball (cauliflower inside the cheesecloth) as hard as you can. Be patient and do this a few times until barely any liquid comes out. Muscle work.:)
  4. Increase oven temperature to 450 degrees F. In a medium mixing bowl whisk the egg with dried herbs, salt and pepper for 10 seconds. Add cheese and squeezed cauliflower; mix very well with spatula until combined.
  5. Line same baking sheet with new parchment paper or silicone mat (just make sure to scrape off any bits of cauliflower) and spray with cooking spray. Transfer cauliflower pizza dough in the middle and flatten with your hands until thin pizza crust forms. 
  6. Bake for 20 minutes, carefully flip with spatula and bake for a few more minutes.
  7. Top cauliflower pizza base with your favorite toppings and bake again until cheese on top turns golden brown.
  8. Slice and enjoy.
Mediterranean toppings
Tomato sauce, bell pepper, tomato, olives,
red onion, feta cheese and parsley.

Tips for Best Cauliflower Pizza Crust:


Squeeze More Than You Think You Can

The best advice I can give you for foolproof cauliflower pizza crust – squeeze cooled cooked cauliflower very well. You really do need to squeeze out more water than you think you’ll ever be able to. Squeeze and then pass it to a husband, if necessary. Cauliflower should be pretty dry. I squeezed and then moved the cauliflower around a bit, and squeezed again. If your arm is sore for a bit after, you did it well.

Make 2 Pizzas

Make 2 pizza crusts at a time if you want to feed more than two. Unless you are cooking cauliflower pizza crust recipe only for yourself. Definitely need to double the recipe. Means two large heads of cauliflower.

Use Cheesecloth or Linen Towel

  • You can find cheesecloth in most well-stocked supermarkets.
  • Linen towel works great too.
  • You can throw both in the washer.

About Baking Sheet

  • More likely your crust will not cover as much of a pan as shown in the picture above. It depends on the size of your round pizza pan. And if you are using rectangular baking sheet, size will vary.
  • Any baking sheet with parchment paper works.
  • You can use pizza stone lined with parchment paper.

How to Make Cauliflower Pizza Crust Without Food Processor

  1. Grind cauliflower florets in 3 – 4 batches on the lowest setting.
  2. Grate cauliflower.
  3. Buy pre-made cauliflower rice.

How to Freeze Cauliflower Pizza Crust

  1. Bake, cool, wrap in plastic or place in resealable extra large Ziploc bag and freeze.
  2. Thaw completely before baking with toppings.

From:  ifoodreal.com




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