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Cauliflower Crust Paleo Pizza with Dandelion Pesto

By using cauliflower to make your crust, you can turn your paleo pizza into a nutrient-dense meal that is vegetarian & easily nut- and nightshade free. by , updated Posted on

Paleo Recipe Paleo Cauliflower Pizza Crust with Pesto
Marla Sarris
Marla Sarris is the founder of Paleo Porn, co-author of Pigskin Paleo (along with her husband Jeff), and project manager at SPYR. After tirelessly dedicating six years to teaching Mathematics at one of the top High Schools in the nation, she left her all-consuming career in pursuit of a healthy, sustainable lifestyle. She continues to indulge her passion for teaching through Paleo Porn.

Pizza can be one of the hardest things to give up when switching to a Paleo lifestyle. Turns out you don’t have to give it up after all! ;)

The trick to making healthy pizza is all in the crust. Of course you can’t perfectly replicate a traditional pizza crust, but you can get pretty close.

I’ve experimented with many different Paleo pizza recipes however I think you may be as surprised as I was when you give cauliflower a chance.

Cauliflower doesn’t taste like much of anything by itself, which makes it the perfect base for pizza crust, among other things.

Despite being bland, cauliflower is super nutritious. It’s a sulfur-rich vegetable and getting plenty of sulfur has been shown to have anti-cancer properties.

Paleo Cauliflower Pizza Crust with PestoPaleo Cauliflower Pizza Crust with Pesto

A Nut-Free Pizza Flour

Tapioca flour helps make the crust fluffy and pliable, like traditional crust.

Eggs and cheese help hold everything together. Not to mention make it delicious!

If you’re no good with cheese, I completely understand. Both Jeff & I both broke out from all the cheese on this pizza. I guess I got carried away a bit, but it was so good and worth it for a few days (luckily we didn’t have to leave the house for a few days afterward). ;)

A Nightshade Free Alternative

I initially set out to make this nut- and nightshade-free. I used pesto in place of tomato-sauce but was lacking on the toppings when I turned to use the half bell pepper that was staring me in the face in the fridge. But when it comes to toppings you can easily leave that pepper off and choose your favorite veg in its place.

I was planning on making the pesto nut-free by using avocado oil and pepitas, but when I ran to the pantry to get both of those things, I had ran out of both! So I wound up having to use walnut oil and cashews because I was also out of olive oil!

If you don’t have a problem with nuts, you can make it the way I explain below with no issues. If you want a truly nut-free and nightshade-free Paleo pizza, you can use avocado oil or olive oil and pepitas or your favorite seed.

Paleo Cauliflower Pizza Crust with Pesto

Cauliflower Crust Paleo Pizza with Dandelion Pesto

Yield: 8 Servings

Ingredients

  • 1 head cauliflower, shredded
  • 1 large organic egg, beaten
  • 5 cloves garlic, minced
  • 1 cup Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, shredded
  • 1 1/2 teaspoons Herbes de Provence
  • 1/2 teaspoon coarse ground sea salt, plus more for pesto
  • 1 teaspoon garlic powder
  • 1 teaspoon onion powder
  • 1 cup tapioca flour
  • 1 cup raw cashews
  • 1 bunch organic dandelion greens
  • walnut oil, to taste
  • 1 shallot, sliced
  • 1/2 green bell pepper, sliced
  • fresh Provolone cheese, sliced

Directions

  1. Preheat the oven to 400°F.
  2. In a large mixing bowl combine shredded cauliflower, beaten egg, 3 cloves of minced garlic, Parmigiano-Reggiano cheese, Herbes de Provence, 1/2 teaspoon of sea salt, garlic powder, onion powder and tapioca flour until combined well.
  3. Lay a piece of parchment paper over a pizza stone. Pour cauliflower mixture on top. Using a parchment paper wrapped rolling pin roll out dough so it's level and circular. (If you don't have a pizza stone you can also use a rimmed baking sheet or glass baking dish.)
  4. Transfer crust to the oven and bake for 15 minutes.
  5. Add raw cashews and 2 cloves of garlic to a food processor and pulse until finely chopped.
  6. Add dandelion greens and blitz to chop and combine with nut mixture.
  7. With the blade still running, drizzle in walnut oil until pesto turns your desired consistency.
  8. Add sea salt to taste and blitz to combine. Try a spoonful to see if more sea salt is necessary.
  9. Remove the cauliflower crust from the oven. Spread pesto across the top. Add your desired toppings, we used a sliced shallot, sliced green bell pepper and slices of fresh Provolone cheese. Return pizza stone to the oven and bake for another 10 minutes, or until outer edge of crust is browned.
  10. Remove pizza from the oven. Slice into 8 equal pieces and serve.
  11. Enjoy! :)

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