Compared with other brassicas, cauliflower has a mildness that readily supports other flavors – especially cheese. You can rice or mash cauliflower like potatoes, but it doesn’t have enough starchiness to hold together on its own as a patty. Add cheese and egg, though, and the mixture binds into a gluten-free pizza crust.
Many cauliflower-crust pizza recipes thaw frozen riced or blanch fresh cauliflower to release its copious natural moisture and minimize sogginess. If you take either extra step, squeezing the cauliflower does release loads more liquid than from raw, just riced florets and stalks. But you also create a thinner crust, which can crack when removed from the skillet. When I mix raw cauliflower with the cheese and bake it in a preheated pan at high heat, the finished pie’s firm, thick crust slides easily from pan for slicing.
My food processor’s chopping blade creates raw cauliflower grains in seconds. You could achieve a similar effect with a ricer or even a sturdy cheese grater or box grater.
Your finished pizza’s size depends on the slope of your skillet’s sides, because a 10-inch skillet has that diameter across the top rim, not the base. Regardless of the slope, pack the cauliflower mixture tightly against the parchment so that when you fit the crust into the skillet, it holds its shape and bakes solid.
Gluten-Free Cauliflower-Crust Pizza
Serves 2
1/2 small cauliflower, florets and stalks (about 10 ounces)
1/2 cup grated mozzarella cheese
1/4 cup grated Parmesan cheese
1 large egg
1/4 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon onion powder
1/4 teaspoon garlic powder
Olive oil for baking
Sauce, toppings and additional cheese as desired
Cut a piece of parchment slightly larger than a 10-inch cast-iron or other ovenproof skillet. Press the paper into the skillet until its base leaves a circular impression, and then set the parchment aside. Set the oven to 425°F and place the skillet on the center rack to warm as the oven preheats.
Break apart the cauliflower, and then pulse it in a food processor until it forms couscous-like grains. Pile it in a clean tea towel and roll it up, twisting and squeezing over the sink to remove as much moisture as possible. Unroll, loosen the clump and then reroll the towel and squeeze again.
In a medium mixing bowl, stir together the mozzarella, Parmesan and egg. Mix in the cauliflower, salt and onion and garlic powders. Drizzle olive oil in the circle you marked on the parchment, and then evenly press in the cauliflower mixture to the same size as the circle. Carefully remove the hot skillet from oven and lift the cauliflower-lined parchment into the skillet.
Bake the crust for about 20 minutes, until firm with golden bits of cheese. Remove the pan and cover the crust with sauce, toppings and more cheese as desired. Return the pizza to oven and bake for about five minutes, until the toppings are heated through and any additional cheese has melted.
Julie Laing is a Bigfork-based cookbook author and food blogger. Learn more about this month’s cooking workshops at TwiceAsTasty.com.