Cauliflower Crust Pizza

Using cauliflower in cooking seems to be the latest craze. At first I was apprehensive I must admit, but you don’t know until you try and I was surprisingly impressed. I am a big fan of 'Jamie's Money Saving Meals' - a TV series on Channel 4. A couple of weeks ago, he created a veggie korma using sweet potato and chickpeas. He used cauliflower and cooked it in such a way that it looks, feels and acts like rice.

And this isn’t where the cauliflower craze ends. With many people raving about cauliflower crust pizzas, I thought I'd see what the fuss was about and give it a go.

At the end of last week I went back home as I had a few interviews lined up for my placement year. My parents had jetted off skiing so I was home alone for a couple of days - not quite the home comfort I'd been hoping for. With time to kill and an empty house, it was a perfect opportunity to try out this new recipe.

Most of the recipes I found were similar, but I based mine on one from The Londoner.

All you need for one pizza is:

• 1 small cauliflower
• 1/4 cup grated parmesan
• 1/4 cup grated mozzarella 
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• 1 clove of garlic
• 1 egg
• A pinch of salt and pepper
• Tomato sauce/puree 

And any toppings you fancy...

Start by pre-heating the oven to 180C

Remove the stalks from the cauliflower and cut into small pieces. Put it all in a food processor and whizz until it is finely pulsed

Place in a heatproof bowl, cover and microwave for 4 minutes

Pour the cauliflower onto a clean tea towel and leave to cool slightly

Once cool enough, wrap the cauliflower in the tea towel and ring out all the moisture. Keep squeezing until there is no water left

Add the egg, parmesan, mozzarella, dried oregano and garlic to the cauliflower

Mix until thoroughly combined - use your hands if necessary. 

Use your hands to form the dough on the greaseproof paper. Make sure its tightly packed, not too thin nor too thick. 

Bake in oven for 8-10 minutes until golden. Remove from oven and add the tomato sauce and toppings - I went crazy and added mozzarella, mushrooms, ham, red onion, rocket, tomatoes… but you can literally use whatever you have

Place back in oven for another 5-7 minutes until the cheese is melted and toppings appear ready

Slice, serve and enjoy.