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Cauliflower and flour pizza crust

Many cauliflower pizza crust recipes are geared for a keto/low-carb diet. This one is for people who like regular pizza but want to reduce the amount of flour in favour of vegetable.
Prep Time30 minutes
Cook Time15 minutes
Course: Entrée, Main
Cuisine: Custom
Keyword: cauliflower, pizza, vegetarian
Servings: 4 slices
Calories: 40kcal

Equipment

  • Steamer
  • Breadboards or cheesecloth (optional)
  • Food processor
  • Mixing bowl
  • Spice grinder (a regular coffee grinder works just fine)
  • Parchment paper
  • Baking tray or pizza pan

Ingredients

  • 250 g cauliflower
  • 20 g flax or chia seeds ca. 7.5 tsp; alternatively, 1.5 tsp baking powder
  • 25 g flour ca. 1/6 cup
  • 1/2 tsp dried oregano
  • 1/2 tsp garlic, minced
  • 1/4 tsp salt

Instructions

Preparing the dough

  • Chop the cauliflower into florets and steam.
  • Once it has cooled sufficiently, chop in the food processor to rice-sized consistency.
  • Squeeze out as much water as possible; this can be done by wringing in a cheesecloth or using one's fists; saving the liquid where possible can be helpful should some be required later. Place the cauliflower into the mixing bowl.
    Riced cauliflower in a glass bowl
  • Grind the flax in a spice grinder to a near-flour consistency and add to the mixing bowl.
    Riced cauliflower with ground flax in a glass bowl
  • Add the flour and mix well; add cauliflower liquid or water as required to make a reasonable dough. Form into a ball.
    Cauliflower dough in a glass bowl

Preparing the crust

  • Place a sheet of parchment paper on the counter and place the dough ball in the centre.
    Cauliflower dough on parchment paper
  • Place another sheet on top, and, using a breadboard, carefully flatten the dough out to form a disc of the desired thickness; but do not exceed 25cm/10", else it will be too thin. It can be helpful to massage it in a circular motion with the fingers towards the end.
    The dough being massaged with the fingers
  • Peel off the top sheet of paper. Scrape it with the back of a knife or the like to avoid wasting the dough which has remained stuck to it. Using the fingers or a spatula, add it back to the disc in a suitable place.
    Scraping dough which is stuck to the parchment paper with the back of a knife
  • Make adjustments as necessary; cut-and-paste works well enough with this dough.
    Rolled out cauliflower dough on parchment paper on a pizza tray

Baking the crust

  • Place into the oven from cold (to save energy) or once preheated, as preferred, and bake at 190℃/375℉ for ca. 25 mins or until it begins to brown.
  • Remove from oven and place on a suitable heat-proof surface.

Finishing off the pizza

  • Add sauce and/or toppings and cook in the usual way.

Notes

  1. It is not too clear how baking powder and flax or chia seeds are alternatives to one another. That said, the original recipe calls for soaking the seeds in the refrigerator for a half-hour or so; perhaps this activates some process or other?
  2. I cook the cauliflower and freeze it in advance; then I thaw and process it as needed. This is convenient and allows for greater precision in measuring the quantity of cauliflower for more consistent results.
  3. Although the original recipe and many others call for water to be added when the flour is used, I've found that to be completely unnecessary, and in fact seems to me to defeat the purpose of squeezing liquid out of the cauliflower in the first place.
  4. The original recipe calls for the use of a rolling pin to flatten the dough. While this can be simpler for getting to a thin crust, I find that it is very difficult to keep the thickness even; using a breadboard which I rotate as needed and finishing off with my fingers if required works very well for me.
  5. Other vegetables can be used as well, e.g., broccoli.