Healthy and Delicious Vegan and Gluten Free Cauliflower Pizza Crust

I love pizza and it's one of those dishes that I enjoy with all its carbs and cheese. So when I heard about cauliflower pizza and read about how delicious it tastes, I was not convinced enough to try something that sounds as disparate as this.

I love cauliflower as well and it happens to be one of my most favourite vegetables. It also happens to be an excellent source of vitamins and minerals, has a good amount of fiber, antioxidants and other nutrients and many tasty recipes are prepared around the world using this cruciferous vegetable.

One beautiful April morning came my grain free day (ekadasi is the day I fast from grains and beans) and with it the urge to feed something different to my family and I thought why not give cauliflower crust pizza a try!

I still remember it was the first lockdown during the ongoing pandemic and many ingredients were hard to come by, so I counted my blessings to have some cheese in my refrigerator and when I saw that I had other ingredients too, there was no stopping me!

I'm so glad I made this dish on that day as I still remember the taste of this pizza and it is easily one of the most exquisite dishes to emerge from my kitchen.

This is one of those recipes that requires a little extra time on hand, but I assure you that it is going to be well worth your effort and the time you spend making this dish.

Although this does not taste like a regular pizza, If you are on a gluten free diet or want a low carbohydrate pizza, this will surely satisfy all those pizza cravings. We all relished this pizza and it was a welcome change from our regular food on that day! If you try it, I'm sure you are going to love this "different pizza" that also happens to be delicious and healthy!

If you try this recipe or any other recipe from my site, do let me know in the comment section below or on Facebook, Instagram and Twitter. And don't forget to subscribe below for regular updates from Divine Taste with Anushruti.

Healthy and Delicious Vegan Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Ingredients:

1 medium cauliflower head (4 to 5 cups of cauliflower rice*)

2 tbsp ground flax seeds + 6 tbsp water (2 flax eggs)

½ tsp salt

1 tsp dried oregano

1 tsp dried basil

1/3 cup arrowroot powder (or use cornstarch)

Toppings:

Pizza sauce

Bell pepper or fresh vegetables of your choice sliced thinly

Paprika flakes

Pizza cheese

Method:

Preheat the oven to 200C.

Wash and rinse the cauliflower and cut it into florets. Steam the cauliflower until fork tender. Allow the cauliflower to cool. 

Prepare the flax eggs by mixing the ground flax seeds with the water and refrigerating it for at least 15 minutes. This thickens the mixture.

Drain the water from the cauliflower and place it in a blender or a food processor and process until the cauliflower is nicely minced. Transfer the minced cauliflower to a muslin cloth and drain the excess water. This is a very important step.

Place the drained cauliflower mixture in a large bowl and add in the flax eggs, salt, oregano, basil and arrowroot powder and combine all the ingredients together to form a dough.

Line a tray with baking parchment, sprinkle a little gluten free flour all over to prevent the dough from sticking to the pan and pat the dough into a circle or a rectangle, keeping the crust about ½" thick.

Bake the crust for about 30 minutes and then bring the tray out and carefully loosen the crust using a spatula. Place another parchment paper over the crust and flip it over by holding both the ends of the paper together. Put the tray back into the oven and bake for 10 to 15 minutes or until the edges are golden brown.

While the crust is baking, prepare the sauce, slice the veggies and grate the cheese.

After the crust is baked, spread the sauce over the crust leaving space at the edges. Go easy on the sauce as too much sauce can make the crust soggy. Place the thinly sliced veggies over the pizza crust and top with the cheese all over it. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes more until the cheese melts. Keep an eye on the edges and make sure it does not burn.

This pizza is best eaten with a fork as the structure does not yield itself to handholding the pizza.

Makes one 9" round pizza.

Notes:

• If you find that the dough is very soft you can add a few spoons of flour or gluten free flour to bind the dough.

• You can make mini pizzas which can also be served as a starter for a party or a gathering.

• You can also shape the pizza into square and rectangular shapes with this dough.

• Try using basil pesto as a variation to the tomato sauce given above.