Easy cauliflower pizza

Katerina written by

I thought cauliflower pizza was too complicated for my taste. I was wrong.

I have always been intrigued by the concept of cauliflower pizza - but I only actually tried it quite recently. It seemed to be a hit idea during my recent workshop so I thought I'd share it here.

It does sound like a great way to hide some extra veggies and avoid the processed grain flours and all that comes with that (including gluten). And then pizza is always such fun (especially if you have kids!). And the leftovers taste almost better cold for lunch the next day! What more could you want?

Yet I thought this kind of thing would be far too much 'faff' for my taste. (By now you probably know: I don't like faff in the kitchen, I like it simple.) Until I gave Anna Jones' recipe a try. She actually calls it 'any day of the week' pizza, and I have to say, she is right. You can see a video of her making it here, and a written recipe here.

This is my version:

Start with the base: 

• Break up a small/medium cauliflower and put it through a food processor or grinder. You want a grain like consistency.
• Add 100g oats, 100g almond flour, 3 eggs, 2 heaped tbsp of ground linseed, salt, plenty of oregano (not just a pinch), and some olive oil too. (Note this is all approximate!)
• Mix it all up, then tip on a baking tray lined with oiled baking paper.
• Flatten the 'dough' with your hands to make a thin layer in the tray with a small lip along the edge (I don't think rolling it would work). You want it about 0.5cm thick, more than that and it won't crisp up properly.
• Put in a hot oven until lightly browned and crisping up (about 20 min)

While the base is in the oven, assemble the toppings:

• Start with a 'sticky' base layer (e.g. tomato sauce or creamy cheese) to give you some juiciness and help your other toppings stay put.
• I prefer a quick fresh tomato sauce (mix some tinned tomato with herbs, garlic and olive oil); others prefer it cooked and concentrated (in this case make it beforehand). If I'm in a real rush I just use tomato paste.
• Now the toppings: the choice is entirely up to you!
• Think contrast and variety (creamy vs crunchy, fresh vs cooked, bright vs salty).
• Try something new! (I really liked Anna's suggestion of using shavings of fennel.)
• Once assembled, return to the oven and cook until cheese starts melting and/or other ingredients start browning at the edges.
• Add anything fresh (e.g. basil or rocket leaves) right before serving.

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Have fun! (And yes, the leftovers are delicious cold!)

Note 1: The downside: You do need a food processor, or at least some sort of electric chopper/blender type thing to blitz up the cauliflower to the right grain consistency. I don't have a food processor, but I do have a small grinder (of the size to fits a tin of chickpeas for hummus). So it was a bit of faff putting a small head of cauli through this thing in 4 batches. But it was all dead easy after that.

Note 2: For a vegan version you can replace eggs with ground and soaked linseed (it turns into a gel if you a bit of add warm water and let it stand for a while, say 20 min). I add ground linseed to my mix anyway, as it adds some good fibre and soaks up any liquid.

Categories: : COOK