cauliflower crust pizza

I read about this recipe for cauliflower crust pizza and was instantly intrigued. how could mashed up cauliflower ever compare to my beloved pizza crust? i seriously let that thought marinate for almost a full week before pulling the plug on this recipe. i told nelson way ahead of time so he could have some alternates around. and atticus, well he chose the cauliflower pizza crust night to throw his biggest meltdown of all time (more about that in a later post).

back to the pizza. so the crust is surprisingly very non-cauliflowery in taste or appearance. if i hadn't told nelson or myself, i'm not sure we would have known it was even made from cauliflower. the towel, however, that i used to squeeze out the excess water from the cooked cauliflower? yeah, that smells like cauliflower. it was one of those "hot pocket? take out of box and place directly in the toilet" moments turned "cauliflower towel? throw directly into hot soapy water" moments. but back to the pizza, we actually liked it! it had a very subtle cauliflower taste and showcases the herbs and cheese nicely. nelson described as having a torte like crust. i get that. and even though atticus had a massive fit, he happily ate an entire piece while watching fortune. now, it doesn't have the chew of the beloved crust, but it does get crispy on the edges and has a nice bite to it. and like any pizza, the best thing about it is personalizing it to your taste. i added some crushed red pepper flake, basil, wild porcini sea salt and oregano to mountains of parmesan and mozerella cheese when making this dough. but i would think some gruyere and dijon mustard would be quite nice? maybe even sauceless or wait, bechemel (always more cheese!) with chopped bits of prosciutto and red onion? or what about feta and spinach in the crust and topped with more feta, spinach and olives for greek cauliflower pizza? okay this is getting out of hand.

cauliflower crust pizza (only slightly adapted from tasty kitchen)

ingredients: 
1 head (Small Head) Cauliflower 
¼ cups Parmesan Cheese 
¼ cups Mozzarella Cheese 
¼ teaspoons wild porcini sea salt 
½ teaspoons Dried Basil 
½ teaspoons Dried Oregano
sprinkle Red Pepper Flakes 
1.5  Tablespoon flour 
1 whole Egg

method:
preheat oven to 450
preheat pan with oiled parchment/pizza stone
chop cauliflower in blender till very fine (i had to do this in several batches)
microwave cauliflower about four minutes, covered, let cool
add chopped and cooled cauliflower to a clean kitchen towel and wring out excess water
add cauliflower to bowl and add remaining ingredients, really best to use your hands here
roll out and transfer to preheated parchment oiled pan
bake crust for 8-11 minutes, till golden, pull out of oven
add your favorite ingredients, see above for inspiration
this time i went traditional with red sauce, mozerella, parmesan and chopped mushrooms
cook an additional 5-7 minutes
let pizza cool for at least 5 minutes before slicing, closer to 10 if you have a toddler meltdown already in progress.