Cheesy Cauliflower Pizza

Cauliflower pizza has been quite popular in the world of healthy, trendy foods but I have been skeptical to try it- I thought the cauliflower smell or taste would come through too strongly. Happily, it does not at all and the bottom crust pretty much just tastes like cheese, so this kind of reminds me of a cross between lasagne and pizza since there are basically two layers of cheese with some sauce and toppings in the middle. I did find that once the pizza starts to cool down to room temperature it does taste more vegetable-like but as long as it is eaten warm or reheated I bet that not many would be able to tell the main ingredient.There is some prep work that goes into the cauliflower. It has to be “riced” or cut down into very small pieces, around the size of grains of rice. If you have a food processor this will be very easy, otherwise a cheese grater works well. Use the larger of two holes if it has multiple options and grate the top bits of the florets. The stems can be used too but they will need to be chopped a bit afterwards because they will come out in longer strands, thus it is easier to keep the different parts separate. Next the cauliflower gets cooked in a bit of boiling water to soften it up. After that, the most important step for getting a good crust is to get rid of as much of the liquid as possible. Arrange a kitchen towel over a colander, pour the cauliflower in, wrap up the edges of the towel then twist as much as possible, until all the excess liquid has seeped out (the water is very, very hot so use rubber gloves to save your hands).Once cooled slightly and mixed with the other ingredients, the cauliflower can be arranged into a circle or any other shape and pressed down to desired thickness, around 1/3-1/4 of an inch is good. The second most important trick for getting a good crust is to use parchment paper, with it nothing will stick to the pan and no cheese will be left behind.The ratios and types of cheese and herbs are pretty flexible, for this version I used some mozzarella because of its pliable texture and ease of melting along with some parmesan for its sharper flavour and contrasting denser texture. To keep it simple I used a dried Italian herb blend but any fresh or dried combinations of basil and/or oregano are great. An egg helps bind it together and a bit of salt amplifies all the flavours. When it comes to homemade pizza the sauce is always integral, it is worth an extra dollar or two to get a better quality one. Look for not too much added sugar and avoid any weird, unrecognizable ingredients- the higher quality and more whole food based the sauce is, the better the pizza will be.

For toppings I used sliced kalamata olives, sliced red onion, sliced red and yellow bell pepper, grilled bison sausage and more mozzarella with a final sprinkle of fresh basil and thyme but as with regular pizza, anything goes.