The other night I ate the best gluten free pizza I’ve ever had — and this includes the delectable ones I stuffed my face with in Rome. The best part of this pizza? I made it myself and it was easy. Ridiculously easy.
I saw this recipe posted on this blog and it caught my eye because no flour whatsoever is required to make the crust. ‘How is this even possible?’ I wondered. I actually scanned the list of ingredients repeatedly to see if I was missing something.
Remember, I never really cooked before, let alone a pizza, so if the concept of flourless dough is nothing new, forgive me.
But there it was, a quick, short list of stuff I’d need to make a pizza crust and there was no flour in sight. This intrigued me. I had been avoiding making my own gluten free bread and pizza for about a year — I’ve seen my mom fight with dough countless times before and it just didn’t look fun.
What’s also intriguing about this pizza crust is that the main ingredient is cauliflower — and I don’t even like this vegetable. I never have. In fact, when my brother and I were younger, he nagged my mom to make cauliflower as part of his special birthday dinner, and I teased him about this for years. What normal 8-year-old likes cauliflower? For his birthday, no less. Really now.
Wondering why I even wanted to make this recipe? The second main ingredient is cheese, and that I can get on board with.
So here it is: this is how I made the crust. I’ve also included my recipe for the pizza sauce if you want a change from the store bought stuff.
The most ingenious gluten free pizza crust recipe — ever.
Gluten-Free Pizza Crust Recipe
The Pizza Sauce
What you need
- ¼ cup finely chopped sweet onion
- 1 (15-ounce) can of crushed tomato
- 1 (6-ounce) can of tomato paste
- 1 tsp crushed garlic in oil
- 1 – 2 tsp of marjoram
- 1 tbsp of basil (or more if you’re like me and love basil)
- Dash of onion powder
- A couple splashes of white wine (I used Pinot grigio)
- Ground black pepper
What you have to do
- Cook onion and garlic in olive oil till onion appears translucent
- Add everything else and let simmer for about 45 minutes or longer. Don’t forget to stir!
The Crust
What you need
- ½ head of grated cauliflower (or 2 – 3 cups)
- 1 egg
- 1 cup of any cheese you like (I put ¾ cup Cheddar and ¼ cup Mozzarella)
- 1 tsp of marjoram
- 1 tsp crushed garlic in oil
- ½ tsp onion salt
What you have to do
- Microwave the grated cauliflower for 8 minutes and let cool
- Mix in the other ingredients
- Shape your crust mixture on the pan.
- Pat down on pan lined with parchment paper (parchment paper is an absolute must)
- Cook in 450 Degree oven for 15 minutes
- Take out of oven, add toppings (my fave combo: pepperoni, mushrooms, and roasted red peppers)
- Put back in oven for about 5 minutes on broil
A few extra helpful notes
- You’ll need a fork and knife for this baby, so you can’t chow down on it as you would a ‘normal’ pizza. But once you taste the crust, you won’t even care.
- I think using cheddar in the crust is what really made it flavourful, too, so I don’t believe I’ll be experimenting with different cheeses.
- This recipe produces 1 small pizza of approximately 9 inches wide. So if you’re feeding a larger crowd, ensure you double the recipe!
This might not be a pizza in the traditional sense, but my husband and I were overwhelmingly surprised by how amazing it was. I have no desire to order any more gluten free pizzas from the usual pizzerias, and really, why would I? This took under 45 minutes to prepare from start to finish, and it’s also super healthy.
Writing this post has practically made me keel over from hunger – thank goodness I have the other half of yesterday’s cauliflower sitting in the fridge. It’s not too soon to make a second one, is it?
