Call Me Crazy



Primal Pizza

Well you can count me among the truly crazy ones now.  I made a pizza with a cauliflower crust!  Yep, that's right.  Pizza with cauliflower crust. But guess what?  It's good!  And the crust even holds up reasonably well so you can eat it with your fingers like regular pizza.  Now before I share the recipe, I should point out that this is not a low-calorie recipe.  The primal/paleo label is not a license to stuff yourself on pizza (I'm talking to myself here).  So if weight loss is a goal, be cognizant of the calories consumed.  While not low-calorie, this recipe is a tasty, low-carb alternative to the real thing.  And it's easy to make.

Note:  there are lots of variations on cauliflower pizza crust.  I relied mostly on a recipe from Primal Girl's blog.

Primal Pizza

Ingredients for the Crust:
coconut oil or other fat to grease the pan**
1 head of cauliflower, approx. 2 cups when steamed and mashed.
2 cups shredded part-skim mozzarella cheese
2 eggs, slightly beaten
1/4 cup almond flour
Seasonings to taste

**I read online that you can use parchment paper instead, and that would save about 200 calories.  The crust will stick if you don't grease the pan or use parchment.  Note that I haven't tried using parchment, but I read that it works.

Directions:

1. Preheat the oven to 425.
2. Grease a large baking pan.  I used a 19x12" jelly roll pan as pictured above.  (I haven't made cookies or a jelly roll in ages, so this pan was happy to get out of the cupboard.)
3. Clean and rough chop the head of cauliflower. Steam it until tender - about 10-11 minutes once the water comes to a boil.
4. Process steamed cauliflower in food processor to create a mash.  I suggest leaving it with a little texture to it - about the consistency of rice.  You should have about 2 cups of cauliflower once processed.
5. Transfer 2 cups of cauliflower to a mixing bowl.  Mix in the 2 cups of shredded mozzarella, the almond flour, eggs, and any seasonings you want to add to the crust.  I added cracked black pepper and garlic salt to mine. 
6. Spread it out on the baking pan.  I used my hands to spread it to cover the entire pan.  It will be thin, but it will cover the pan.
7. Bake at 425 for 17 minutes or so. 
8. While the crust is in the oven, you can prepare the toppings for your pizza.  I used 6 oz tomato paste mixed with Italian seasoning, 6 oz ground pork that was leftover from the stuffed acorn squash I made last night, onions, peppers, mushrooms, and 2 oz more of shredded part-skim mozzarella.
9. Remove the crust from the oven when done. Reduce oven temperature to 350.  Top the crust with toppings of your choice and return to the oven. I cooked mine for about 10-15 minutes more. 
10. Let it set for a few minutes before serving.  The crust will hold up better once it has cooled a bit.

For the calorie conscious:  I calculated the calories in my pizza using Fit-Day.  For the full pizza, I calculated 1946 calories.  I sliced it into 16 small pieces, and I ate 4 of them (486 calories) for dinner (about the equivalent of 2 regular slices of traditional pizza).  So like I said, it's not low-calorie, but it is low-carb, and it is good.    You can shave a few calories by using parchment instead of oil to grease the pan.  Also, you could save calories by making it vegetarian and/or omitting the cheese on top.  I used 2 oz cheese on top, and I will omit that next time; I think it will still be very good without the added cheese.  But you can't omit the cheese in the crust.  That's what holds it together.

How is it leftover? I had two leftover slices the next morning for breakfast.  I can't remember the last time I had cold pizza for breakfast so this was a treat!  It was very good eaten this way as well; it felt like I was cheating, but I wasn't.  This recipe is a wonderful addition to my collection of primal/paleo recipes.  You might want to give it a try.

This is what the crust looks like once baked.