Thursday, February 6, 2014

Cauliflower Pizza Crust – Don’t Let the Name Fool You

The major problem with this cauliflower pizza crust is that there’s already something called pizza. If you’d never heard about pizza before, and someone served this to you, I think you’d really enjoy it. 

Unfortunately, we’ve all had pizza before, and so this will invariably be compared to the awesomeness of the real thing. You know, sort of like what happens to deep-dish, Chicago-style pizza (said the New Yorker).

Regardless, this was very tasty, pleasantly textured, and contains almost no carbs – in case you’re into one of those alternative lifestyles. For the cheese, I decided on goat after seeing this recipe on Detoxinista. All kinds of cheeses are used for this technique, usually mozzarella and something else, but I figured the tart chèvre would best simulate the fermented dough of a classic pizza.

Another important tip is to make sure you use parchment paper. Because of the moisture and cheese, this stuff can stick to foil, but nothing sticks to parchment, which is obviously a key here. You can find it next to the foil and plastic wraps in any large grocery store. 

Texture aside, the flavor of this final product was very pizza-like, and I’ll be doing further experiments to be sure. By the way, if you have a version that’s clearly superior to this one, feel free to share. Otherwise, I hope you give this cauliflower crust pizza a try soon. Enjoy!


Ingredients for one 10-inch pizza crust:
1 head cauliflower (about 3 packed cups ground)
1/2 cup water
- Cook cauliflower with water for 5-6 minutes, let cool, and squeeze out ALL water with a towel. You should have about 1 1/2 cups of dry cauliflower pulp left.
1/2 tsp salt
1/2 ounce finely grated Parmigiano-Reggiano (about a 1-1/2 inch square grated)
2 ounces fresh goat cheese
cayenne to taste
1 large egg

62 comments:

Kitty said...

I would definitely try this, it looks delicious.

Unknown said...

Cool and groovy CJ!
Thinkin outside the box keeps me comin back!

PH said...

God bless you Chef John! I'm into the Paleo diet and now I can eat pizza!

Evan Fields said...

Instead of worrying so much about getting all the water out, could the recipe be made with an egg yolk and albumin powder rather than a whole egg? That would get all the proteins of an egg with about an ounce less water, right?

J to the I said...

YES! Thank you for more Cauliflower uses. Repurposing this bad boy has been a love of mine. It's better than subbing Parsnips for Potatoes in lumberjack hashbrowns.

bdwilcox said...

You forgot the most important aspect of this pizza crust: gluten free. The absence of pizza is one of the major complaints I hear from Ciliac sufferers.

Rivermute said...

Looks fantastic. Personally I am from the school of everything in moderation but alas I have extended family with various demanding dietary needs and band wagon fetishes. Looking forward to trying this out!!

Banina said...

Omg thank you Chef John!

Chef John said...

Even, Great idea. That way people would have a way of using up all that extra albumin powder we all have laying around the kitchen. ;)

Seriously though, who the hell has albumin powder.

Unknown said...

Will try Saturday.

lea said...

Hey Chef John:)
I would like to try that one, but I don`t have a food processor, could you recommend one?
Thanks from Germany ;)

Chef John said...

I use a Cuisinart and it's great.

Unknown said...

Parchment paper?

Megazver said...

Can I substitute with frozen cauliflower and how? Unfortunately, fresh cauliflower is way too bleh and expensive in these parts this time of year.

Chef John said...

Yes, it's sold next to the foil and plastic wraps!

Unknown said...

There are many bad cauliflower pizza recipes out there that I have tried, this one looks GREAT. You are spot on concerning "managing expectations" as well. Thanks Chef!

Audrey said...

I SO want to try this!!!

Anonymous said...

Powdered egg white is common. It is a vital ingredient in Royal Frosting, so would be available wherever cake decorating supplies occur. However, they treat it with chemicals, so...

Anonymous said...

This is hands down the coolest fake out recipe ever! Can't wait to try it!

D.L. said...

You said you were going to talk about why Parchment Paper was critical.

Chef John said...

Okay, just updated post!

Heidi Hoerman said...

I haven't tried the cauliflower crust yet but am fond of the spinach version. There are lots of recipes for it online. There's a picture of one I made here: http://heidicookssupper.com/blog/category/pasta/

Chibby said...

Tried this last night. This one's a keeper! Great for us Atkins dieters.

Chibby said...

This one is a keeper! Thanks, CJ!!!

Unknown said...

We made this tonight. Very good. No goat cheese though.

Unknown said...

Made it Saturday night and my husband thought it a great alternative to pizza, though a ittle more troube. I give it 5 stars.

Rachel Hediger said...

Do you think I could get away with using my silpat mats instead of the parchment paper? Thanks!

Chef John said...

Should work

CaptChris said...

As the astute Mr. Hand from Fast Times at Ridgemont High said, "are you on dope?" Chef John...Why would you ruin a pizza with Cauliflower man? I have friends that are vegans. They're weird, and I truly don't understand them. They were totally engaged until...the meat thing happened! I'm a meat guy, but your video might have been better received by my weird vegan friends if you would have continued with the vegetable theme for the toppings. I made mine with arugula, sliced tomato, avocado, pineapple, and a couple of pinches of finely diced cilantro. It was truly awful, but my weird friends loved it! Kudos Chef John. Pizza Hut delivered my double stuffed, double pepperoni pizza about 15 minutes later.

save me said...

How can I substitute the cheese I am gluten and also dairy free ! Any idea Chef?

Chef John said...

Sorry, no idea!

Unknown said...

Can i freeze the crust for later use?

Chef John said...

Sorry, never tried to freeze!

Mitch said...

Hi There,
Followed the directions and it turned out wonderfully.

Thanks for another great recipe post. (Fresh Mozz is the way to go)

Mitch

Anonymous said...

I hate goat cheese! any other cheese that i can use instead?

Randa Sb said...

Chef John, I love your recipes. They're unique. I did this tonight. I didn't have goat cheese, so I put ricotta instead. I made your secret pizza sauce and put it on the cauliflower crust with the same toppings you used in this video (I just added olives). It turned out AMAZING! my fiance loved it! Thank you!

Randa Sb said...

Chef John, I love your recipes. they're unique. I did this tonight. I put ricotta instead of goat cheese because I didn't have it. I made your secret version of pizza sauce and put it on the cauliflower crust with the same toppings you used in this video (I just added olives). It turned out AMAZING!! My fiance loved it! Thank you :)

Danielle & Kristian said...

I have used zucchini instead of cauliflower to make my pizza crust. No cooking necessary, just shred in food processor, let drain in a colander, keep pressing out excess moisture. Then continue like above. My kids love it!

rancholyn said...

This was simply delicious….My husband gave it 5*

jimicapone said...

I was skeptical but made this anyway last week for my fiance & myself. Were we surprised ! Surprisingly tasty and held together well. Thank you again, Chef John, for another tasty recipe !

Unknown said...

i a from England and i have a fan oven what temperature do you recommend

Unknown said...

I have spent 30 minutes reading and re-reading-
My question to answer:
"Do you grind cauliflower up before cooking? "

All the rest is clear and I have familiarity with all supplies and other ingredients.

So after 30 minutes of attempting to answer that by reading between the lines-

I am going to grind up fresh uncooked Cauliflower first - hopefully that will produce 3 cups
Then add the 1/2 cup water boil 5-6 min
Drain water- end result should be 1 1/2 cup

Here goes... I will re-post IF this does not work.

Chef John said...

Yes, you grind it raw! Forget reading, and watch the video where I'm taking the raw cauliflower and adding it to the food processor. I think that's the part you are referring to. Watch again, and you'll see.

NoUseForAName said...

Hi! Has anyone tried to make the crust in advance? I wonder how long a delay can be between the first and second bake?

Unknown said...

I did not see the indicator that it was a video (small phone) - it helped a lot!

My youngest (13) was "ewe- yuk - I'm not eating that" then when it came out of oven- "that smells good- I'll taste it.- this is much better then I imagined!"

My twins visited from college- "pizza- yum"
When I asked how they liked it- "it was good, a little different- whose brand?" When I explained it was cauliflower and I made it "no way! You did good mom!"

Now I can take this to future parties for us who are gluten free. Thanks!

Unknown said...

Think I'll try juicing the calliflower to keep the juice and add to a green smoothie ... Since the goal is to get the moisture out, what do you think?

Chef John said...

It might take out too much water! But let me know!

Life Saver said...

Fantastic! We love making our own pizza dough but gave this a shot. It was surprisingly convincing and even got a stamp of approval from my baker boyfriend. Will be making it again.

Unknown said...

I feel like I am your number one fan! lol I can watch your videos for days and learn something new! Thank you for this recipe! My step dad is a diabetic and he is getting crabby since he cant have pizza. I made a supreme topping pizza with this (with no sausage) and i used garlic salt and oregano as the seasoning for the dough. Anyways, thanks a lot chef John you are awesome!

Unknown said...

Chef John you never cease to amaze me....I'm definitely going to make this. Thank-you

Unknown said...

Chef John, I made this today and it was amazing! Came out looking exactly like yours and if I didn't know that it was cauliflower I would have never guessed it! Truly amazing taste texture. Next time will double the batch because it was gone in 5 minutes!! Again thank you for this!

CarolinaHotDog said...

Someone earlier asked if there was a way to use frozen cauliflower. I didn't see an answer.

Unknown said...

I Alwas make cauliflower pizza dough but, Never boiled it... just mix it ( after processed ) with 2 eggs and seasonings ( those who wish to make it "crunchier", could use a bit of flaxseed as well. It works ;-)

Murni said...

This is definitely a foolproof recipe!
i don't usually bake. But i did this today and it tasted divine ! Definitely goood for the low-varb diet I'm on :)

Thank you

Unknown said...

I made this tonight and it was WONDERFUL!! Came out perfectly!!

NadiyahB said...

Can we make the dough before hand? Like a day before?

Unknown said...

I have made this two weekends in a row now. Fantastic recipe once again. Thank you CJ!

Unknown said...

There's so many recipes for this but this had a nicer flavor with the goat cheese . Also I use a juicer instead of cooking it and squeezing out the water , perfect every time! Thanks ! Chef John

Neva Lockett said...

Great recipe. I decided to make four small different pizzas. So I rolled the dough into a log with plastic wrap cut it into fourths and then flattened each one out with my tortilla press on parchment paper. Four little 'artisan' pizzas.

Susan said...

Brilliant, Neva. I'm so doing that. I have a tortilla press.

Susan said...

You can buy a bag of frozen, riced, cauliflower at many grocery stores now. I think Bird's Eye makes it. Let it sit and thaw in the fridge overnight and then proceed to the squeezing of liquid step. Another recipe I have tried did this and it really was a time saver. I mean, yes, you have to plan to have pizza so you can thaw the cauliflower but when it comes to making the crust it was simpler. And since the cauliflower is already 'riced' no need for a food processor.

Unknown said...

Can you change cauliflower with brocolli?