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Cauliflower alternatives are becoming increasingly popular amongst people trying to substitute carbs and calories with something a bit healthier.
They’re also a great alternative for those who are intolerant to gluten or just want to attempt to make their favourite dinner a bit less heavy.
1. Rinse florets under cold water, but don’t dry. Remove the leaves and chop into smaller pieces
2. Place florets in a food processor and process until fine and ‘rice-like’ in texture
3. Bake in the oven for 15 minutes or microwave for 8 minutes to dry out and cook
3. Transfer to a cheesecloth or linen tea towel to wring out the excess moisture – allow to cool first
4. Squeeze as much water out of the cauliflower as possible. You may have to rotate and move the cauliflower round quite a bit to ensure its fully dry
5. Transfer this mixture to a bowl and fully combine with other ingredients
6. Shape into a large ball and gently flatten until it is thin and round. You may want to keep the edges thicker to get the ‘authentic’ risen dough look
7. Bake in the pizza oven for about 2 minutes, until it is set
8. Top with sauce and all of your favourite ingredients and bake for a further 10 minutes, until all of the ingredients are cooked/cheese is melted
To make life easier, you can now buy ready-made cauliflower ‘rice’, which is especially handy if you don’t have a processor. This will just need cooking as per the directions (often simply in the microwave for a few minutes) and then follow the instructions onwards from step 4.
It can also be adjusted into a vegan or dairy-free recipe – simply cut out the cheese and eggs and combine 50ml water and 2 tbsp ground chia or flax seeds, to create a thick ‘egg substitute’.
You may have heard of cauliflower rice, but cauliflower pizza bases are made in pretty much the same way and taste just as fabulous as the flour-based alternatives – you probably won’t even notice it isn’t the ‘real thing’ once it is smothered with all your favourite cheese and toppings anyway.
It could be a great way to up your vegetable intake or feed any veg-phobic children without them even realising how crafty you are being.
You may be thinking that, as cauliflower retains a lot of natural water and can go quite mushy, it is the last thing you would make a crispy pizza crust with. This recipe will prove you wrong!
OK, so we might be biased here – but we really think this is the best cauliflower pizza base recipe you’ll find on the internet.
It will make one 10-12” pizza, around 8 slices. Adjust the ingredients accordingly if you’d like to make more and be aware that the amount of cauliflower will reduce down.
While cauliflower on it’s own has a very distinct flavour, once you’ve baked it into a pizza base form it only has a very gentle hint of it’s original flavour. So subtle in fact, it’s almost flavourless to eat – all the more reason to load up on your favourite sauce and toppings!