Pizza has always been our go-to take-away…. (The fact that we got an email from Domino’s with a voucher and a “Hey We Miss You” message says A LOT!)
Since embarking – or trying to – on a healthy lifestyle, the pizza has obviously been cut right back…but it’s still the one thing that when we break out we end up getting.
Problem is not just the pizza… there’s the garlic bread, there’s the “it’s cheaper to buy three” deal, there’s the salted caramel mousse dessert…
Can’t you just hear those calories clocking up!
Now, to the vocal protests of dearest husband, I’ve pretty much replaced everything he loves with alternatives – spaghetti is now zoodles; rice is now cauliflower; milk is now almond; yogurt is now coconut.. and the worst…. bread is now made from all sorts of weird and (in his opinion) not so wonderful, non-grain flour!
The idea of substituting the beloved pizza with some exotic vegetable-tasting base was not going down well in our house.
Apparently (pointed out emphatically) I DO NOT understand the sacred relationship between man, his taste buds and his stomach (wait til I start on the beer fridge!)
However, in a moment of weakness he agreed to let me experiment with a cauliflower pizza base. Persistence is one of my feminine skills!
This recipe is so simple and while I have our favourite topping in this recipe you can let your imagination run riot and top the pizza base with anything you want.
Yes you heard right…I said OUR favourite, implying husband dearest did in fact like it… Am I surprised?
Of course not… Being right is another of my feminine skills!
Let’s just say this recipe makes a regular appearance at dinner!
Enjoy!
Ingredients
BASE
600g cauliflower florets (about ¾ of a cauliflower)
¾ cup almond meal
½ cup Parmesan, finely grated
3 eggs, beaten
salt and pepper to taste
TOPPING
2 large onions, thinly sliced
¼ cup balsamic vinegar
2 tbs olive oil
2 tbs rapadura or coconut sugar (or other unrefined sugar)
salt
100g goats cheese
1 punnet cherry tomatoes, halved
250g pulled beef or lamb
handful of basil, roughly chopped
Instructions
CARAMELISED ONION
Preheat oven to 200 C (400 F)
Place onions, vinegar, oil sugar and a pinch of salt in a large baking tray lined with baking paper.
Combine well.
Cook for around 20 min, stiring halfway through.
Onions should be soft and golden brown when caramalised
BASE
Place cauliflower in food processor and pulse until crumb-like.
Transfer to a large bowl
Add almond meal, Parmesan, eggs, salt and pepper
Mix well
Divide in mixture in half, between two 30cm greased pizza trays and press into a thin even circle
Cook for 20 minutes or until golden brown.
Remove from oven to top.
TOPPING
Divide the topping ingredients between the two bases.
Build the base with onion first, add the pulled beef or lamb, cherry tomato halves, goats cheese.
Cook in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the base is cooked right through.
In the last couple of minutes of cooking sprinkle on chopped basil