Raw Cauliflower Crust Pizza
Cauliflower is an interesting vegetable. It certainly isn’t a glamour girl and often, I forget it even exists. But I shouldn’t. And it really is a star. Just a quiet one.
As a cruciferous vegetable, cauliflower is positively associated with cancer prevention. It is an excellent source of vitamin C and magnesium and is full of antioxidants and phytonutrients. It is anti-inflammatory, and also provides cardiovascular and digestive support!
Cauliflower also has a mild taste and adapts to many different uses. Mashed cauliflower (cooked) can easily replace mashed potatoes. It is delicious raw, and we have made it into “rice“, soup and a wonderful cauliflower mash that replaces mashed potatoes. We have even made cauliflower steaks! Cauliflower loves all kinds of different flavors and is extremely versatile.
Today, I am bringing you a raw cauliflower pizza! I am sure you have seen all of the cauliflower pizza crust recipes out there…but they are traditionally filled with cheese and eggs. This one is raw, vegan and delicious. We have even included baking instructions for the crust if you don’t have a dehydrator.
The ingredients are pretty simple. Cauliflower, pine nuts, ground golden flax, hemp seeds, garlic, basil, oregano and sun-dried tomatoes all come together to make a delicious, healthy, nutritionally packed crust. A little bit of lemon juice and optional nutritional yeast round out the flavor. You could eat this without any topping!
The cauliflower waiting for the rest of the ingredients.
The “dough” ready to be shaped.
Ready to go into the dehydrator.
The crust ready for toppings.
I have to say, I am thrilled with how this turned out. The taste is lovely and the toppings, tomato sauce and pine nut “cheese” spread go well with the basil, tomatoes and onions. The recipe for all, follows. Don’t be intimidated by this one. It comes together quickly with a food processor and blender.
Sources: WHFoods.org
Cauliflower Crust Pizza with Basil Tomato Sauce and Pine Nut "Cheese" Sauce
serves 4
Crust:
- 1 medium head cauliflower, broken into florets
- 1/2 cup pine nuts
- 2 cloves garlic, roughly chopped
- 4 fresh basil leaves, roughly chopped or 1 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
- 1/4 cup ground golden flax
- 1/3 cup hemp seeds
- 1 tablespoon lemon juice
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, softened
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1/2 teaspoon Himalayan salt
- 1/2 teaspoon fresh ground pepper
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (optional)
- Place half the cauliflower in the food processor. Pulse until finely chopped. Remove to bowl and set aside.
- Process the remaining cauliflower in the food processor. Add the previously chopped cauliflower to the chopped cauliflower in the food processor.
- Add pine nuts, garlic and basil. Pulse to combine.
- Add flax and hemp seeds. Pulse to combine.
- Add remaining ingredients, pulse to combine. You may have to stop and scrape down the sides.
- On a non-stick dehydrator sheet, shape 1/2 cup mixture into 5 to 6-inch circles that are 1/4-inch thick.
- Dehydrate at 145 for 30 minutes, then at 115 for 5 hours.
Tomato Sauce
- 2 medium tomatoes, chopped
- 1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, softened
- 1 teaspoon oregano
- 1 teaspoon maple syrup
- pinch Himalayan salt
- pinch fresh ground pepper
- Place all ingredients in a high-speed blender and blend until smooth.
Pine Nut “Cheese” Spread
- 1 cup pine nuts
- 1/4 cup nutritional yeast
- 1 clove garlic
- 1 tablespoon light miso
- 1/2 lemon, juice from
- pinch himalayan salt and pepper
- Place all ingredients in food processor and blend. Be careful not to over blend or you will get a nut-butter consistency.
Assembly
- 1 sweet onion, thinly sliced
- nama shoyu or braggs liquid aminos
- 2 tomatoes, sliced
- fresh basil leaves
- Toss sliced onions with nama shoyu, braggs aminos or soy sauce alternative of choice.
- Place onions on dehydrator screen with tomato slices. Dehydrate for 2 hours. I do this while the crust is dehydrating. You want these wilted but not super dry.
- Spread a layer of pine nut “cheese” spread, then a layer of tomato sauce onto the crusts. Top with basil leaves, tomatoes and onions.
Claudia ~ Food with a View wrote on April 12, 2015
I love cauliflower as well, and this raw cauli dough sounds fantastic. Since I don’t own a dehydrator, I will have to try the oven-baked version which will be surely very nice as well. Thanks for the inspiration!
Susan wrote on April 12, 2015
Thank you, Claudia! The oven-baked version works well, too! Enjoy! 🙂
Maureen wrote on April 12, 2015
This was really good! I tried the crust both ways and you’re right about the crust getting crispier in the dehydrator. After baking two of them, I ended up drying them in the dehydrator for an hour or two. My husband doesn’t care for cauliflower but he really loved this pizza. Thanks for the great recipe!
Susan wrote on April 12, 2015
So glad you liked it, Maureen! I like the dehydrator version, too. I think it actually has more flavor. 🙂
Anna wrote on April 12, 2015
this looks super scrumptious!! I’m not a huge fan of cawliflower but I really want to try this 🙂
https://aspoonfulofnature.wordpress.com/
Claudia wrote on April 12, 2015
hi! This looks great, will definitely try it out. Do you have any recommendation to replace the sun dried tomatoes? I can’t eat those, I get stomach cramps, as much as I like the taste. Thanks so much!
Susan wrote on April 12, 2015
Hi, Claudia, It’s really tricky to try to replace the sun-dried tomatoes in the sauce. They cut the acidity of raw tomatoes and add a beautiful depth. You could try raisins but add to taste. Cheers!
Nicole wrote on April 11, 2015
Do you have any idea of what approximate weight the cauliflower would be?
Susan wrote on April 12, 2015
Hi, Nicole, I honestly didn’t weigh it. I used a medium sized head. You can get an idea of how much from the photo of the ingredients. Cheers!
Susan wrote on April 10, 2015
Pine nuts are very expensive. Would mac nuts or cashews work instead?
Judith wrote on September 6, 2015
Hi, from another reply it looks like macadamia nuts work well. I agree, pine nuts are outrageously expensive, so it’s nice to see that there’s a less costly alternative.
Barbara wrote on April 10, 2015
we love cauliflower pizza crust. Yummmers!!!
Susan wrote on April 10, 2015
Yay! Us too, Barbara!
Lou Whitcomb wrote on April 10, 2015
Wow, this sounds so good and will be making very soon. Thank you.
Susan wrote on April 10, 2015
Thanks, Lou! 🙂
Lisa @Domestic-eng wrote on April 10, 2015
I’ve been trying to get a vegan, gluten-free cauliflower crust recipe “just right” and finally gave up and laid it aside. THIS recipe looks great: lots of flavor, NO cheese or eggs (Really, how does anyone truly believe that’s healthier than the traditional version, anyway?), crisp, not soggy, exactly what I’ve been aiming for. Thanks, Susan – I have a cauliflower in the fridge that’s begging to be used for this!
Susan wrote on April 10, 2015
Thanks, Lisa…You will enjoy this one. It gets the crispiest in the dehydrator…not the oven. Cheers!