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Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe with Cheese and Vegetables Offers Healthy Pizza Crust Alternative

I love pizza.  The kids love pizza.  It's a convenient, easy dinner that's almost too easy since it's just a phone call away!  As we make efforts toward healthy eating and move away from high fat, carbohydrate loaded meals--we have developed a love/hate relationship with pizza.  While I can certainly choose vegetables and lower fat cheese for our toppings--and bake our own thin crust pizzas at home from fresh ingredients; I still struggle with the crust.  When I first heard about using cauliflower as the "dough" for a pizza crust, I was more than a little skeptical.  Cauliflower?  Over time, I have developed a well seasoned cauliflower crust that even the kids will eat!  They generally prefer the cauliflower crust over store crusts or refrigerated dough!  This Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe with cheese and vegetables offers a healthy pizza crust alternative

Ingredients for my Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe with Cheese and Vegetables
2 1/2 C. Grated Cauliflower
1 Beaten Egg or 2 Egg Whites or an equivalent amount of egg substitute
2 Tbsp. Grated, Reduced Fat, Parmesan Cheese
1 c. Reduced Fat or Part Skim Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 tsp. Garlic Powder
2 tsp. Italian Seasoning
Toppings
1/4 c. Marinara or Pizza Sauce
1/4 c. Shredded Reduced Fat or Part Skim Shredded Mozzarella Cheese
1 1/2 c. Assorted Vegetables, chopped into bite sized pieces.  We love slivered red onion, tomato, peppers, black olives, mushrooms, broccoli, and spinach.
Red Pepper Flakes and Parmesan Cheese (Optional)

Instructions for my Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe with Cheese and Vegetables
Preheat the Oven and Prepare the Baking Sheet.  Preheat the oven to 350F.  Line a baking sheet or a round pizza pan with parchment paper.  Spray the parchment paper lightly with olive oil cooking spray.

Prepare the cauliflower.  I use a food processor to grate the cauliflower--but, a box grater works well also.  (I just find that I tend to grate my fingers with a box grater!)  Pulse or grate the cauliflower until it has the texture of rice.  Place about 2 1/2 c. of the grated cauliflower into a glass bowl.  Cover with a paper towel and microwave on high for about 8 minutes.  Allow the cauliflower to cool slightly. 


If you prefer to steam the cauliflower on the stove instead, just be sure to squeeze out any excess cooking liquid or moisture from the cauliflower before mixing it into the other crust ingredients.

Create the cauliflower pizza crust.  Add the garlic, Parmesan cheese, Italian seasoning, egg and 1 c. of the mozzarella cheese to the slightly cooled cauliflower.  Mix with a fork until combined.  Turn out onto the prepared baking sheet and press the cauliflower mixture into either a rectangle or round.  I create (approximately) an 8x10 inch rectangle--trying to keep the sides fairly even.  My rectangle was a little less than perfect--as you can see!



Bake the cauliflower pizza crust.  Spray the crust lightly with olive oil cooking spray, if desired.  Bake the cauliflower pizza crust at 350F for about 15-18 minutes or until the crust begins to brown.



Top the crust with toppings.  Spread the pizza or marinara sauce evenly to the crust's edges.  Top with desired toppings and 1/4 c. shredded mozzarella cheese.  The pizza shown here was just a cheese and tomato one--but, you can certainly add  up to about a cup and a half of toppings of your choice.

Bake the Cauliflower Pizza Crust Recipe with Cheese and Vegetables.  Bake for an additional 8-10 minutes or until toppings are cooked and cheese is bubbly.

Cool slightly, slice and serve.  My family prefers pizza square to slices--but, the crust holds up to either cutting method.  Shake on a little extra Parmesan cheese or red pepper flakes and enjoy!

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