Cauliflower Crust Pizza (adapted from Green Kitchen Stories)
Serves 4
Ingredients:
Pizza base
florets from 1 organic cauliflower
80 g / 3/4 cup ground almonds
1 tb dried oregano
pinch of sea salt and crack of freshly ground black pepper
3 organic eggs, beaten (or for vegans measure 1/4 cup of chia seeds into a bowl and add 3/4 cup of fresh filtered water. Stir well and allow chia seeds to expand forming a gel-like texture)
Tomato sauce
makes around 1 litre / 4 cups
2 tbsp cold-pressed olive oil, raw butter, coconut oil or ghee
1 white onion, finely chopped
3 garlic cloves, finely chopped
1/2 tsp chili flakes
1 x 400 g (14 oz) can whole plum tomatoes
handful of basil leaves (or 3 tb of frozen basil)
sea salt and freshly ground pepper
1 tsp dried oregano
Topping
1 courgette, sliced into discs and roasted
1/2 aubergine, sliced into discs and roasted
1 pepper, sliced into strips and roasted
handful of fresh mushrooms, sliced
2 handfuls of fresh spinach, roughly chopped
few sun dried tomatoes
unpasteurised buffalo mozzarella, sliced (optional)
Instructions:
1. Preheat oven to 200C/400F. Place the sliced aubergine, courgette, peppers and tenderstem broccoli in a baking tray drizzled in olive oil, salt and pepper and grill for 15-20 minutes (this removes excess moisture to avoid a watery pizza).
2. Place cauliflower florets in a food processor and pulse into a rice-like consistency. Mix with almond flour, sea salt, pepper and oregano.
3. Crack the eggs (or flax egg for vegans) into the cauliflower/ground almond mixture and mix together with your hands until it forms a ball. It will be more loose and sticky than regular pizza dough.
4. Place baking paper in a baking tray (or use a pizza dish if you have one). Transfer dough onto the baking paper and form into a pizza base by flattening it with your hands.
5. Remove vegetables from the oven and place dough in the oven. Pre-bake for 25 minutes until the crust is golden.
6. Meanwhile, prepare the tomato sauce. Heat oil, butter or ghee in a saucepan, add onion, garlic and chilli for a couple of minutes. Stir in the tomatoes, basil, salt, pepper and more oregano. Lower the heat, cover and gently allow to simmer for about 20 minutes. You can choose to leave it chunky or put in a food processor and blend until smooth.
7. Once your crust is golden, remove from the oven, smother it in tomato sauce and go wild with your toppings, leaving the spinach and mozzarella out. Place in the oven for 5-10 minutes. Remove from oven, and finally put spinach and mozzarella and grill until it is melted.
8. Enjoy!