Few foods conjure such a powerful craving as pizza. The first whiff of the stuff is almost enough to make you double back and grab a whole pie from whatever streetside vendor you just passed.

As with any sinful food, there is usually a cleaner option available. Some genius, at some point, realized that you could make a pretty darn good substitute out of cauliflower and creativity.

We’ve tried two cauliflower crust recipes – which definitely makes us experts on the subject – and this one is our favorite. The crust is perfectly crispy, flaky, and flavorful. A simple selection of toppings is all you need to satisfy the strongest pizza craving. This recipe is courtesy of Beard + Bonnet – check out the rest of her blog, too.

For half of our pizzas, we used pesto and for the other half we used tomato pizza sauce.

Crispy Cauliflower Crust Pizza [Gluten-Free, Vegan, and Dairy-Free] Author: The Fitchen Scale 1x 2x 3x Ingredients CRUST 3 cups ground cauliflower

1 cup and 2 T. almond flour

4.5 flax eggs [or real eggs, if you prefer]

4 T. nutritional yeast [optional, but recommended because it adds a cheesy flavor]

1 t. sea salt

1 t. dried rosemary

1 t. garlic powder

freshly ground pepper to taste TOMATO SAUCE 1 – 6 oz. can of tomato paste

1 medium roma tomato

1 T. oregano

1 t. sea salt

1 t. basil

1 clove of garlic

Add ingredients to food processor or blender and blend until smooth. PESTO SAUCE 2 cups of spinach

1/4 almonds

1 garlic clove

2 T. olive oil

1 T. lemon juice

dash of sea salt

dash of freshly ground black pepper

Add ingredients to food processor or blender and blend until smooth. Instructions Preheat the oven to 450° and line a large baking sheet (or 2 baking sheets) with parchment paper. No parchment paper? Foil will work. Mix the flax eggs and let them set up in the fridge until you need them later. Food process or blend the cauliflower until you have 3 cups. You want the cauliflower to look like rice, not mashed potatoes, so don’t over process! In a large bowl, combine cauliflower and all of the ingredients for the crust. Mix together until a batter forms. It will be sticky and mushy, but should resemble dough. Portion the dough onto the baking sheets, using about 3/4 cup to 1 cup of dough per pizza. Use your hands to shape them into little pies, build up the crusts a bit. Place them in the oven on the bottom rack – without toppings – and bake for 15-20 minutes. When the time is up, remove them and add sauce and toppings. Switch the pizzas onto the top rack when you return the pan to the oven. Bake for 10-15 more minutes. The crusts should be golden brown and irresistible-looking. We kept the toppings simple, but the possibilities are endless. On the pesto pizzas, we used cherry tomatoes garlic cloves, and arugula. On the pizza sauce pizzas, we used red pepper, onion, asparagus, and spinach. Get creative with the toppings because really, why not?

Recipe

Preheat the oven to 450° and line a large baking sheet (or 2 baking sheets) with parchment paper. No parchment paper? Foil will work.

Mix the flax eggs and let them set up in the fridge until you need them later.

Food process or blend the cauliflower until you have 3 cups. You want the cauliflower to look like rice, not mashed potatoes, so don’t over process!

In a large bowl, combine cauliflower and all of the ingredients for the crust. Mix together until a batter forms. It will be sticky and mushy, but should resemble dough.

Portion the dough onto the baking sheets, using about 3/4 cup to 1 cup of dough per pizza. Use your hands to shape them into little pies, build up the crusts a bit.

Place them in the oven on the bottom rack – without toppings – and bake for 15-20 minutes.

When the time is up, remove them and add sauce and toppings.

Switch the pizzas onto the top rack when you return the pan to the oven. Bake for 10-15 more minutes. The crusts should be golden brown and irresistible-looking.

We kept the toppings simple, but the possibilities are endless. On the pesto pizzas, we used cherry tomatoes garlic cloves, and arugula. On the pizza sauce pizzas, we used red pepper, onion, asparagus, and spinach. Get creative with the toppings because really, why not?