Gluten Free Pizza

With gluten sensitivities appearing so prevalent these days, or at least people being more aware, the scramble to find a delicious gluten free recipe is on! Sarah, our freeloader for the summer {just joshing}, falls into that category. So we are on the hunt for tasty meals that will please the whole gang. First stop - Pizza!

Attempts at gluten free crusts often fall victim to crumbling cardboard-like texture and taste. And who wants to eat that? That certainly won't fulfill my need for a good pizza fix! Thankfully people are getting creative and gluten free pizza crust is taking a turn for the better! Michelle Annett, over at the Lucky Penny, claims to have the BEST cauliflower pizza crust one could ever make. So we put her claim to the test.


Here is what you will need:

• 1 small to medium sized head of cauliflower {2 to 3 cups after food processor}
  
• 1/4 teaspoon kosher salt
  
• 1/2 teaspoon dried basil
  
• 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
  
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder
  
• Dash of crushed red pepper {Optional. But we would highly recommend it!}
  
• 1/4 cup shredded parmesan cheese
  
• 1/4 cup mozzarella cheese
  
• 1 egg
  
• Toppings of your choice {We opted for a delicious veggie option.}
  
• Cheese
  
• Pizza Sauce {Or Olive Oil instead. My fav.}
  

Now for the work:

Preheat your oven to 450º F and place your pizza stone/baking sheet in the oven.

Wash and dry your cauliflower - cut off the florets, not much stem is needed. Throw the florets in your food processor and pulse until the cauliflower is powdery and snow like. 
*This step was a bit different for us for we have no food processor to call our own. So we used the Vita-mix instead. This ultimately worked for us, however, it required the cauliflower be pulsed in small chunks at a time and the “snow” had to be removed before adding more florets for pulsing. This added a bit more time to the process and may not have been quite as finely minced as it should have been. We will know for next time.

Now go ahead and place cauliflower “snow” in a microwave safe bowl and cook in microwave for 4 minutes. Place the cauliflower in a clean tea towel and once it is cool enough you can ring out all the excess water. Add the cauliflower and ingredients (except toppings/sauce and cheese for the top) to a bowl to mix.


Grease parchment paper with oil or non-stick cooking spray and form your pizza crust on your parchment paper. Then slide your parchment paper with the crust onto your pizza stone/baking sheet (we used a baking sheet and it turned out great). Place in the oven for 8-11 minutes. My oven isn't hot hot so it took ten.


Now remove your crust. Go ahead and add your sauce. I highly recommend just a splash of olive oil instead because it will let you enjoy the flavours in the crust. Add your toppings, cover with cheese and place back in the oven for 5 to 7 minutes. *Ours ended up going back in for closer ten again.

Voila! You have a praise-worthy, gluten-free masterpiece on your hands.


I must give full credit to Michelle for this delicious recipe {her original write up can be found here}. You really cannot muck it up and the flavor is incredible. Everyone at our house was 110% satisfied with this option - even Moe was hunting down every last crumb!

*And just a quick side note: If you are looking for 100% gluten free, be sure to check your cheese because some do contain gluten. A guaranteed option here in the Maritimes is Barbour’s Sussex Cheese.

Enjoy! And we will chat real soon.