Cauliflower Crust Pizza with Arugula, Goat Cheese, and Fresh Roma Tomatoes

I love pizza. Some of my favorite food memories involve my dad’s homemade pizza on a Friday night, followed by a family movie where my Mom falls asleep ten minutes in, my Dad turns on the subtitles because he can’t hear the words with all the background noise, and my butt goes numb from the hard basement floor, because I’ve inevitably lost the battle for the remaining chair to my sister.

I love it.

But then I went paleo, and I don’t eat pizza all that much anymore. Don’t misunderstand me – if my Dad makes homemade pizza while I’m home, you can bet I’m going to suck it up and risk the wheat belly stomachache that I’ll get later. But gone are the days of lazy nights when instead of cooking dinner, I’d call up my old friend Papa John.

And then I discovered THIS:

Don’t let the blackened edges fool you – this pizza was incredible. You can barely tell it’s a cauliflower crust! I was seriously blown away. Who knew that cauliflower could be so versatile!? I’ve used it to make paella, pilau rice, fried rice, stuffed peppers, and now pizza! Mind. Totally blown.

This was surprisingly easy to make, too. I looked up a bunch of recipes online and just played around until I found something that worked. Unfortunately, there is no way to even pretend this is paleo due to the amount of cheese used as a binder, but I love cheese so that’s not a big deal. I wouldn’t, however, try to use grass fed cheddar as a primal substitute for the mozzarella and parmesan. I’ve found that while the grass fed cheddar is awesome to eat as a snack with veggies or sliced meat, it doesn’t melt very well, and I’m pretty sure it wouldn’t work so well in this crust. Suck it up and use melty mozzarella and sharp and tangy parmesan. Your taste buds will thank you.

I topped my pizza with goat cheese crumbles, fresh roma tomato slices, and arugula. My Dad turns his nose up at anything green on pizza, but I love vegetables, and I began a deep and long lasting relationship with arugula on pizza when I lived in Europe. Love. Plus in addition to being super healthy – it looks pretty, too! Win. I love pretty food.

I can’t wait to experiment with other topping combinations on this. And I was surprised that the crust actually held up! As in, I could pick it up! Granted, it was definitely softer than regular crust, and I wouldn’t wave a slice around while you’re talking with your hands, as we do in my family, but I figured I’d have to eat this with a knife and fork and was pleasantly proven wrong! Double win.

WHAT YOU NEED: (makes one pizza, serves two)

2-3 cups cauliflower rice (use mostly florets, not many stems, and pulse in a food processor until you have “rice”)

1/2 cup parmesan cheese, grated

1/2 cup mozzarella cheese, shredded

oregano/italian seasoning to taste

one egg

one clove crushed garlic

pizza sauce and toppings

WHAT TO DO:

Preheat oven to 450.

Once you have your cauliflower rice, microwave for four minutes. Set aside and let cool. Once cauliflower is cool enough to handle, dump it into a dishrag and wring out as much excess water as you can. You will be left with a ball of something that resembles dough. It will look odd and nothing like cauliflower.

In a bowl, combine cauliflower, cheese, spices, egg, and garlic, and combine together to form a wet dough. Using your hands works best.

Use either a greased pizza pan or a cookie sheet covered in parchment paper and drizzled with oil (you don’t want the dough to stick), spread out your crust in a circle of even thickness. You don’t want it too thick, but you don’t want it paper thin either.

Bake your crust for about 10-12 minutes or until golden brown (see picture above).

Top your pizza with sauce, additional cheese, and your desired toppings. Pop the pizza back under the broiler for  a few minutes until cheese is melted and pizza is bubbly and delicious.

Nom nom.

PS. This tastes even better while sitting in front of the TV, watching Hunger Games on Netflix. Just saying.

Linking up today with Vegetarian Mamma! Hop over to her site for some other fun recipes!