By Jessye Hipp

No carb pizza?  Cauliflower crust pizza satisfies your every craving and daily vegetable quota…  Sign me up!

I have been making pizzas with a cauliflower crust now for years.  It is the perfect indulgence, without the guilt or bloating afterwards.  Dive in!  Have seconds!!  Can you believe it?  Seconds on pizza??!?!

There is a price to pay for this trickery… it takes time.  You can’t whip up a cauliflower crust in the time it takes to order pizza online, but your body with thank you for saving it all the unnecessary sugar and overly processed ingredients.  Plus, you can make extra “dough” and freeze it for your next pizza adventure!

My partnership with Johnson’s Backyard Garden is always pushing me to be more and more creative with my recipes, and I love it!  I find myself packing vegetables into every meal, and as a result loosing some meats, carbs, and fats.  Yet, never loosing flavor; and my body thanks me.

Vegetables are powerful in their unlimited uses… who thought we’d ever be able to have pizza without starches and carbs!  Embrace the power of the cauliflower, and now you can eat pizza until your heart’s content! J  Enjoy!

Roasted Pancetta & Brussel Sprout Pizza

Time: 1hr 15mins  Serves: 4

Cauliflower Crust

-2 medium heads of cauliflower, pulsed in a food processor until a “rice” texture

-1 egg

-1/2 cup of shredded “pizza” cheese (any cheese you prefer here, such as: mozzarella, asiago, smoked provolone, etc.)

-1/4 cup of shredded parmesan

-1/2 tsp dried Italian seasoning

-1/2 tsp dried red pepper flakes

-salt & pepper

Caramelized Onions

-1 medium onion, thinly sliced

-2 tbls unsalted butter

-1 tbls olive oil

-1/2 tsp red pepper flakes

-salt & pepper

Roasted Brussel Sprouts

-1 stalk or bag of brussel sprouts, trimmed & halved

-1 tbls olive oil

-salt & pepper

Roasted Pancetta

-6 thinly sliced pieces of pancetta

Toppings

-1/2 lb fresh mozzarella, thinly sliced

-1/2 cup of “pizza cheese”

-3 tbls pizza sauce

-1/2 tbls olive oil

-1/2 tsp garlic powder

-2 scallions, thinly sliced for garnish (optional)

Begin by putting the riced cauliflower into a microwave safe bowl.  Microwave the cauliflower for 6 minutes, then allow to cool.

Next, melt the 2 tbls of butter and 1 tbls of olive oil together over medium heat.  Add the onions, pepper flakes, and a sprinkle of salt & pepper.  Cook until the onions are softened and beginning to brown.  Lower the heat to medium-low and continue to cook until the onions are caramelized.  About 20 minutes.

Heat the oven to 375 degrees.

Roast the pancetta on a baking sheet lined with parchment paper until slightly crisp.  (they will continue to crisp out of the oven.)  About 10 minutes.

Toss the brussel sprouts with the olive oil, salt & pepper, and roast them on a sheet tray until crisp and browned.  About 20 minutes.

Once the cauliflower rice has cooled, squeeze out as much of the moisture as possible by wringing the cauliflower in a clean kitchen towel.

When all of the moisture is removed, add the egg, cheese, and spices to the “dough”.

Once it is well combined, form the dough into a pizza shape on a foil lined baking sheet.  Make sure the crust is fairly thin to allow it to crisp up in the oven.

Bake the crust at 375 degrees for 30 minutes until the edges are golden brown and the crust has set.

Layer the toppings as follows:

-Spread a thin layer of pizza sauce over the sauce, you really don’t want a lot, it will cause the crust to get soggy.

-Sprinkle the sauce with the garlic powder.

-Spread the caramelized onions over the surface of the pizza.  Feel free to be as generous as you like.

-Layer the thinly sliced mozzarella

-Add the slices of pancetta

- Throw on the roasted brussel sprouts (you should be getting EXTREMELY excited by this point!  YUM!)

-Sprinkle the entire pizza with shredded cheese and Parmesan.

-Lastly, lightly drizzle the pizza with olive oil.

 

Bake the pizza at 375 degrees for 10 minutes so the cheese can melt.

After 10 minutes have passed, raise the oven to a 410-degree broil so the top layer of cheese may become golden.

Allow the pizza to rest for five minutes, garnish with scallions, slice and serve!  Enjoy!