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.
jay dee wrote on June 3, 2015
I don’t have the patience to wait for the dehydrator…when I’m hungry, I gotta eat!! So, I have tried baking this crust a number of ways and found out the best is to use parchment paper. A pizza stone, no go. a cookie sheet, no go. Silicon sheet, no go. But, the parchment makes it crispy and I did flip it once which the paper makes easy to do.
Sue wrote on May 31, 2015
I don’t have any hemp seeds on hand. Do you think sesame seeds would be a fair replacement?
Christine wrote on May 6, 2015
I just finished eating this. It was very good. The fresh tomatoes sauce, makes it. Thanks for sharing your recipe.
Susan wrote on May 7, 2015
So glad you liked it, Christine! 🙂
Joey wrote on April 23, 2015
Just checked on the pizza crusts (which are in a dehydrator, still on the non-stick sheets). The underside was still very moist (after 4 hours). So, I carefully removed them from the non-stick sheet and flipped them onto the screen shelf. I’ve never “cooked” in my dehydrator (using it for drying nuts, fruits and vegetables mainly) and so this is all new to me.
Joey wrote on April 23, 2015
I’m making these right now! It smells so yummy in my kitchen. Here are some observations and a question.
My cauliflower (washed and trimmed) weighed 1 pound, 2.8 oz. I think I used too many sun-dried tomatoes because my dough is pretty red. I measured the sun-dried tomatoes after hydrating and was generous. I think I’ll cut back on the amounts (both cauliflower and sun-dried tomatoes) next time, since I was able to get 6 rounds measuring between 5-6″.
I kind of fudged a bit on the sauce since I didn’t want to buy any of the tomatoes in stores right now. I used canned tomatoes drained and more sun-dried tomatoes. It tastes rich and good.
The pine nut cheese didn’t have any directions, so I just tossed all ingredients into the food processor. I have a pretty oily, thick concoction albeit a very tasty and nutritious one. Did I do something wrong?
Thanks for the recipe!
Brenda wrote on April 21, 2015
Woo hoo. Just found my new go to lunch and maybe breakfast. Though I love pizza with some lightly sauteed spinach and onions, I have never been estatic about sprouted corn toryillas for the crust. It tastes fine is too high in carbs and low in nutrition to eat as often as I want pizza. You might have just made my day, year? 🙂
Kristen wrote on April 13, 2015
This looks amazing! My husband is allergic to tree nuts, do you think cashews mights work to replace the pine nuts? I know the taste would be a bit different but it seems like they would have about the same consistency.
Susan wrote on April 19, 2015
Hi, Kristen, Can you use macadamia nuts? They will be a closer fit. But cashews could work, too. They are just a little sweeter. Cheers!
Anca @ Lovely Muse wrote on April 13, 2015
I have never thought about this combination but it sure looks delicious. I will definitely try it 🙂
Susan wrote on April 13, 2015
Thank you, Anca! I hope you enjoy it. We can’t stop eating them. Second batch is in the dehydrator right now. Cheers!