This is my current favourite meal! It's a great way to enjoy your favourite pizza toppings without the bready base.
So if you are cutting out wheat, gluten, yeast and sugar from your diet for whatever reason but are missing pizza, give it a go.
It's also a sneaky way to up your vegetable intake.
I followed the recipe from Sarah Wilson's “I Quit Sugar For Life” book and then made my own tweaks.
My second attempt was way better than my first so here's what I did:
Ingredients
For 3 hungry people (4 not-so-hungry)
Pizza Base
1 medium cauliflower
2 eggs
100g Parmesan
salt (pink himalayan salt is awesome if you can get it) and black pepper
Pesto topping
handful pine nuts
1 clove garlic
generous bunch fresh basil (I used a whole pack of cut basil from the supermarket)
large handful fresh spinach
Juice of ½ lemon
50g parmesan (optional)
2 tbsp Olive oil
Toppings
mixed vegetables for roasting
5/6 cloves of garlic
black olives
capers
1 ball mozzarella
Method
Preheat oven to 180°C. Grease 2 baking trays ready for the pizza bases. Loose bottomed flan tins work well or a shallow sided rectangular tray.
Roughly chop the mixed vegetables so that the chunks are about the same size.
Toss the veggies and whole, unpeeled garlic in olive oil and season with salt and pepper.
Spread out in a roasting tray.
Grate the cauliflower either by hand or in a food processor if you have one (way easier!).
Lightly beat the eggs. Grate the parmesan.
In a large mixing bowl, combine the cauliflower, eggs and parmesan and season to taste. Go easy on the salt as parmesan is pretty salty.
Press the cauliflower mix into the prepared trays, making sure there are no gaps. The base should be roughly 5mm deep.
Place the pizza bases and mixed veg into the oven for 30-35 minutes or until the veg is roasted and the bases have turned golden-yellow.
Meanwhile, prepare the pesto:
Place the pine nuts in a dry pan over a medium high heat until they lightly brown. Keep the pine nuts moving so that they don't catch and burn.
Place the basil leaves, spinach, peeled garlic, pine nuts and parmesan into a blender, bullet blender or food processor. Add about half of the olive oil and lemon juice. Blend until a paste is formed. Add the remainder of the oil and lemon juice to loosen it up if needed. You're looking for a spreadable consistency.
When the pizza base and vegetables are cooked, spread the pesto onto the base and top with the roast veg, olives and a handful of capers. Tear the mozzarella into chunks and dot it around on top.
Pop the pizzas back in the oven for a further 10-15 minutes until the mozzarella has melted.
And BOOM... there you have it!
Have a go at using any of your favourite pizza toppings.
Some of my favourites include parma ham, steamed tender stem broccoli and asparagus, grilled tuna and the best finishing touch.... an egg cracked into the centre of the pizza. If you break up the egg white and spread it around a little, it will cook fully while the yolk stays runny.... delicious!
You can also try using feta or cheddar in the pizza base.
Post photos of your creations on instagram and use the hashtag #movewelllivewell