Kati's Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Alright - this is my first blog post. I decided to not overextend myself and blog about a recipe I tried on Friday night. So here goes nothing!

I cannot take credit for this recipe. I found it on fellow Beachbody Coachs' Kati's and Melanie's blogs. But I can tell you just how my version turned out! One pizza serves two people.

Ingredients:

• 1c cooked, riced cauliflower
• 1c low-moisture, part-skim milk mozzarella cheese
• 1 egg, beaten
• 1 teaspoon dried oregano - I didn't measure it out
• 1/2 teaspoon crushed garlic - I didn't use this
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic salt - I didn't measure it out
• olive oil (optional)
• Pizza Toppings - I used no salt added, organic spaghetti sauce, shredded cheese and turkey pepperoni. Veggies are ALWAYS a great idea, I just didn't have any on hand.

Ok - so you are probably thinking - what the heck! - how do you rice cauliflower??? I thought the exact same thing. Thankfully, Kati has wonderful directions on her blog along with pictures. I'm going to do my best do describe how I did it. 

How to rice cauliflower:

1. Take one head of cauliflower. Wash it, remove all the stems, and chopped it into chunks.
2. Add the cauliflower chunks to a food processor (I used my blender because I don't own a food processor) and pulse until it looks like a grain. 
• If you don't have a food processor or blender, you can use a cheese grater to grate up the cauliflower.
• I was VERY careful not to over-process the cauliflower. If you do, it will puree and you will have cauliflower soup!
3. Once the cauliflower has a grainy consistency, place it in a microwave safe bowl and microwave on high for about 8 minutes. This will steam your cauliflower so it's cooked! 
• You don't need to add any water to steam the cauliflower because it already has a lot of natural moisture!
4. Once cooked, let the cauliflower cool and do you best to get every drop of water out of it. 
• I literally used paper towels and pressed the heck out of it!
• Then, when I was ready to measure it out, I formed it into small, hand sized balls, and squeezed even more moisture out! 
• Trust me, you don't want to have too much moisture!

Voila - you have riced cauliflower! Kati's blog said that 1 large head should produce 3 cups of riced cauliflower but I only got 1 cup. Then again, I had to throw some of the cauliflower away because it was starting to brown in the fridge.

Let's make a pizza crust!

1. Preheat oven to 450.
2. Spray a cookie sheet with non-stick cooking spray or use a pizza stone.
• do not make the same mistake I made! I forgot to spray the pan and it was an ever-loving messs!
3. Combine riced cauliflower, cheese, egg (beaten), oregano, garlic and garlic salt in a medium bowl.
4. Mix ingredients until they have a dough consistency.
5. Transfer your pizza dough to your cookie sheet and into a 9" round.
6. Lightly brush/spray the top of the dough with olive oil. This can be omitted if you so wish.
7. Place your dough, on the middle rack, in your oven for 15 minutes.
• The edges will get slightly brown. It's not burning but watch the dough carefully.
8. Remove the crust from the oven and top with your sauce and toppings.
• All of your toppings need to be precooked because you will just be toasting them.
9. Turn your oven to broil and place your pizza under the broiler for a few minutes. 
• Watch your pizza carefully or it will start to smoke!
10. Let cool, cut, and ENJOY!