Pizza w/ a Cauliflower Crust

So here I am. Sitting in the training room typing up a blog post on my phone. Why am I in the training room on the stationary bike and not running with my team you may ask? Well you see, I am a cripple. No, no. I am not really a cripple. But my ankle just wants to pretend for a few days. I am not injured.  Let me repeat. I AM NOT INJURED. Nope, no way. I was injured last year during the track season. Nope. That means I am exempt from injury this year. Right? Well either way, it's just a slight sprain. Nothing big. Like I said, my ankle is just pretending for a while. Well, life is still good and despite that there is a track meet Thursday and Saturday, I have no reason to worry about my ankle. People have far larger problems than a minor ankle sprain. But I am happy when you're  happy so to make you happy today, I wanted to post my delicious pizza recipe. I made it a week ago and it is so good! It's gluten free and yeast free.  That's right. No flour. Just cauliflower. I'm sure many of you have heard of this and let me just say, it's not half bad. In fact it's not bad at all. It's prime! So here you go. Your happy? Oh good. Now I am too. 

(Just to clarify. Flour is healthy. Flour is great. Flour is grand. Don't get confused. This is just something different to try and something good for those who have celiac disease or who can't have yeast). 

 

 

 

 

Ingredients

 

 

For Cauliflower Crust:

• 1 head of cauliflower
• 1 Tablespoon of olive oil
• 1 egg
• 2 egg whites
• 1 tsp. basil
• 1 tsp. parsley
• dash of oregano
• 2 small cloves of garlic, minced

For Homemade Pizza Sauce:

• 5 med./large tomatoes
•  5 tablespoons of chopped yellow onion
• 3-4 cloves of garlic, minced
• 1/2 Tb. "Mrs. Dash" Tomato Basil Garlic seasoning blend (or just to taste)
• sea salt to taste
• possibly: 1 tsp. natural corn starch & 2 tablespoon cold water

 

Toppings:

• about 1 Cup of shredded fresh mozzarella
• sliced zucchini
• sliced yellow squash
• 1/2 cup chopped spinach
• chopped tomato
• handful of parmesan

 

Instructions

 

1. Preheat the oven to 325 degrees
2. Mix the ingredients for the cauliflower crust in a large mixing bowl
3. Be careful not to get too crazy with the whisking. If you do, the egg whites will start to foam which could make the baking process a little difficult.
4. Pour the cauliflower into a greased 8" round pan
5. While the crust is baking, throw your ingredients for the sauce into a large sauce pan
6. Bring to a heavy simmer and let the liquid evaporate for approximately 20 minutes
7. IF the sauce is still pretty liquidy after 20 minutes of cooking, mix and dissolve 1 tsp. of natural corn starch with 2 tablespoons of cold water and then pour it into the sauce
8. Mix frequently until is had thickened.
9. Pull out the crust after approximately 20 minutes. (Check to see if the crust is well set. If you shake the pan and the crust is visibly uncooked, let bake for approximately another 5-8 minutes. Each oven cooks differently so I'm afraid to say that this recipe may take a lot of watching and attention to avoid burning)
10. Once your crust is pretty set, top with sauce and desired toppings.
11. Bake until the cheese is thoroughly melted.
12. Top with fresh chopped basil if you want a delightful kick. :)
13. Enjoy and don't get injured k? Watch your step. . . . .