Story by Sarah Roberts 
Photos by Ben Torres 

Pizza is one thing I could never give up. In fact, no one should give up pizza. Ever. But what if I told you there was a pizza out there with all the benefits of a vegetable, that you could eat any day of the week and not just as a delicious cheat meal? Worry no longer, friends. I’m here to share with you one of my favorite recipes: cauliflower pizza crust.

Like any other homemade pizza, this recipe leaves room for you throw on any toppings. I chose to make the traditional margherita pizza, but some other combinations I like are pesto with caramelized onions or prosciutto with Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese and arugula.

I’ve adapted this recipe from One Little Project.

Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Makes one personal pizza crust

Ingredients

1 head of cauliflower
small bundle of fresh basil
1 Roma tomato (you will only be using half of one)
1/3 cup fresh mozzarella (I purchase mine from Whole Foods)
1 small can of tomato paste
¼ teaspoon sea salt
½ teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon oregano
1 egg
Olive oil

Other materials

Thin dish towel or cheesecloth
Baking sheet
Food processor
Two mixing bowls

Instructions

1.  Start by preheating your oven to 450 degrees and laying down some parchment paper on your baking sheet. Be sure to grease the parchment paper with some olive oil so the crust does not stick.

2.  Chop half of your Roma tomato into diced pieces and set aside.

3.  Chop your mozzarella into diced pieces. Set aside.

4.  Chop your fresh basil. I used about ¼ a cup of basil for both the dough and toppings. Set aside.

5.  Wash and dry the head of cauliflower, then chop off and dispose of the stem.

6.  Chop the cauliflower into florets and place in your food processor.

7.  Pulse the florets until they look like “snow.” This should only take about 10-30 seconds, depending on how large your food processor is.

8.  Place your “snow” into a covered bowl and microwave for about 5 minutes.

9.  Dump the cauliflower onto your thin dish towel and let it cool.

10.  Now comes the fun part. With the “snow” in your dish towel, wrap it up and start wringing out the excess water. It’s amazing how much water the cauliflower produces when microwaved.

11.  Once you have wrung out as much water as possible, transfer cauliflower to a mixing bowl.

12.  Grab some of your fresh basil and measure out the salt, oregano and garlic powder. Combine all of these ingredients in the bowl with the cauliflower.

13.   Add in your egg to this mixture and whisk thoroughly.

14.   Using your hands, form the dough into a ball.

15.   Place the dough onto your oiled parchment paper. Spread it out about ¼ inch thick into a pizza crust.

16.   Pop the crust into your oven. Bake it for about 8-10 minutes just until it starts to turn golden brown, then take it out.

17.   Spread tomato paste onto the crust, followed by the chopped tomatoes, mozzarella and basil.

18.   Place the crust back into the oven and bake for 5-6 minutes.

19.  Finish off your pizza by drizzling some olive oil on the top. Using a spatula, carefully slide the pizza onto a plate. Cut any way you desire.

20.   Now devour that guilt-free masterpiece.

Namaste,
Sarah

Born and raised in Austin, Sarah is a health nut with a passion for nutrition and fitness. In addition to being a communications student at UT, she is the world’s biggest dog lover, an innovative latte-maker and Kill Bill enthusiast. You can catch her at the gym, cuddling her dog Vinny or trying to find ways to healthify her meals in the dining halls. When not doing any of the above, Sarah is sharing her experiences with food and exercise through her health column at ORANGE. Click here to see her other articles.