Pizza Night – Vegetable Crust

A gluten-free, vegetable-packed crust topped with your favorite pizza toppings.

OVERVIEW

I know I sounds like so many other people, but pizza is easily one of my favorite foods. How can you blame me!? It’s the ultimate comfort food, it’s what I crave, what I taste in my dreams…

The amazing part about pizza is that it doesn’t matter what kind of toppings or sauces you use, it’s still pizza if there is a crust and cut into pieces. So many different cultures claim their own kind of pizza. I’m all for that! These days, the ideas are seemingly endless, people put whole meals on a crust and it’s a pizza!

I’m a simple pizza fan though. I love a good Margherita or even just plain ol’ cheese. But what does matter is the quality of ingredients. This one here is a broccoli crust with olive oil, thinly sliced tomatoes, feta cheese, parmesan, fresh basil, and a balsamic glaze. Might not look gorgeous, but it’s probably my favorite of the homemade pizza’s that I’ve made.

LOADED PIZZA

This one is a loaded pizza with red sauce topped with mozzarella cheese, fresh spinach jalapenos, green olives, and mushrooms.

I love….LOVE a good spicy pizza. Even with just the jalapenos alone. But I almost always choose to sprinkle red pepper flakes on my pizza.

The recipe for this post is focused on the crust. I want to prove that pizza can still taste good without the gluten.

I know that some would argue it wouldn’t count or that the most important part is the crust. Though I may have to agree, it doesn’t mean we can’t find other, healthy, ways to enjoy our beloved pizza.

Oh, and yes, we ate the whole thing.

Vegetable Pizza Crust

Full Recipe

MAKES: 2 THIN CRUST PIZZAS
TOTAL TIME: 25 + PIZZA COOK TIME

INGREDIENTS

2 cups broccoli or cauliflower florets, including stems*
1 cup chopped kale, firmly packed
1 egg, or flax egg
1/4 cup flax seed meal or sub arrowroot starch
1/4 cup gluten-free flour, I used chickpea flour
1 tsp dried oregano
1/2 sp dried basil
few pinches salt & pepper
olive oil for baking

INSTRUCTIONS

Preheat the oven to 425. Line two baking sheets with parchment paper and grease with a little olive oil.
Prepare your vegetables and add to a food processor to chop into crumbles. Alternatively, chop vegetables yourself and mix in a large bowl. Bigger chunks of vegetables are okay – it’s totally up to you what kind of texture you prefer, I prefer the veggies to be “riced”.
Bring a large pot of water to a boil then add in broccoli or cauliflower (or both) and boil until soft – about 5 minutes.
Drain the cooked vegetables in a fine mesh sleeve or over cheese cloth that is draped over a bowl. Squeeze down onto the veggies using your hands to drain out as much liquid as you can. Cheese cloth works really well for this, you can wrap it up and squeeze out almost all the liquid through the cloth.
Transfer drained veggies to a large bowl. Crack in the egg and combine, then gradually add in the remaining dry ingredients and mix until combined evenly. Add more flour if necessary, until you get a consistency that is loose but easy to manage with you hands, it won’t resemble a regular flour dough but will spread and stick together nicely.
Divide mixture in half then spread each half on one baking sheet. Place another sheet of parchment paper over the crust and use either a rolling pin or with a flat surface, like a pastry scraper. Thin out as much as possible, until it’s about 1/4 of an inch thick.
Shape either into a pizza circle or into a rectangle, like a flat bread. I usually shape the crust based on how my mixture is acting.
Bake crust for 15 minutes or until the outside starts to slightly brown. I like mine a little crispy so I usually leave it in until it looks completely cooked. Up to you!
Remove from oven and begin to add your choice of sauce and toppings, careful not to overpile, then bake for an additional 10 minutes or so. Enjoy your delicious pizza!