Gluten Free Cauliflower Pizza

Once again the wonderful world of the internet has opened up my eyes to the endless flour substitutes that can be used to make normally gluten packed foods gluten free. A great source of gluten free (as well as dairy free and vegan recipes) is the wonderful website Deliciously Ella. I stumbled across this website after it was nominated for a Cosmo Blog Award, and it is easy to see why it was up for the prize as it is packed full of healthily mouth-watering recipes with a website bursting with beautifully bright and colourful photographs (so if you get a chance go and check it out). It was on Deliciously Ella that I first stumbled across a gluten free pizza base made with cauliflower as a flour substitute. This led me on a further trawl of the internet where I discovered that the cauliflower pizza base is a pretty popular recipe. And with a cauliflower in the cupboard waiting to be used up I developed my own version of this unlikely use of the cauliflower, although I must admit I deviated from the original recipe I found on Ella’s website and added an extra dairy kick by using cheese in this cauliflower base (as well as using cheese in its more traditional form on top of the pizza).

INGREDIENTS

350g cauliflower (approximately ½ a large cauliflower head)

50g tapioca flour

60g hard cheese (I used 30g parmesan and 30g of mature cheddar)

1 egg

1 tspn fresh oregano

Makes 1 large pizza

Pre-heat the oven to 220 deg C / 425 deg F

Chop the cauliflower into small florets and then place into a food processor and blitz until the cauliflower resembles fine bread crumbs.

Place the cauliflower crumbs into a colander and place over a pan of boiling water and steam for 10 minutes. Then remove the colander from the pan of boiling water and leave to cool, allowing excess steam (and moisture) to escape from the cauliflower.

Place the cauliflower crumbs into a large mixing bowl and add the tapioca flour, grated cheese, beaten egg and oregano. Mix until well combined, the mixture will probably appear a bit wet and sticky rather than appearing like traditional dough but this is fine.

Line a large baking tray with non-stick baking parchment and spread the cauliflower mixture onto the baking tray until an even thickness is achieved. Then bake in the oven for 20 minutes until the mixture is crisp around the edges and firm in the middle.

Remove from the oven and top with any pizza toppings as desires. I covered mine with olives, peppers, mushroom and brie. Do be aware that if using a tomato sauce on top ensure it is well reduced, thick and relatively dry otherwise the sauce can cause the base to go a bit soggy.

Then place the pizza back in the oven for another 10-15 minutes until the topping is hot and cheese is melted and bubbling (but do keep an eye on the pizza to prevent the exposed edges of the cauliflower base from overcooking).