An English Rosie: Guilt Free Pizza

Tuesday 19 November 2013

Guilt Free Pizza

Sometimes you just fancy eating something which is very naughty for you. We have all been there, a tub of Ben and Jerrys with a spoon as our weapon of choice.

But what if I told you, you can have something which looks and tastes naughty but in fact is unbelievably healthy, and therefore, not naughty but nice.

Introducing the low carb, or 'guilt free' pizza. How is this possible you may ask? Well thanks to the wonderful internet, I have been searching for healthy recipes to make which fit in with my meat free monday habit.

This week I decided on making guilt free pizza having had a go last week and enjoying it immensely. The recipe I used is based on the one by my favourite blogger, The Londoner.

To make one medium sized pizza you will need:

For the 'flower base:

1 medium cauliflower

1/2 cup grated mozzarella

1 tsp dried oregano

1 clove garlic

1 egg

1 tsp chilli powder (optional, but a brilliant addition for spice lovers!)

To pop on top:

Tomato Puree/Tomato Sauce

1/4 cup mozzarella (add more if you fancy it!)

& the rest is up to you, as it was MFM I opted for broccoli, sweetcorn and onion.

Now lets begin your conversion to guilt free 'flower pizza!

First, pre-heat the oven to 220C (fan) and place a baking tray inside to heat it up. Heating the tray up like this allows the crust to become crispy.

Grab your cauliflower and grate it.

You should end up with about 2/3 cups of 'flower 'rice'. Cover it and pop the cauliflower into the microwave for 4 minutes. Allow it to cool, then place it on a clean tea towel and ring out the excess water.

Grate your mozzarella till you have 1/2 cup. I used ASDA's lighter mozzarella which has less fat than the original ASDA mozzarella.

Crush your garlic clove, then combine the cauliflower, mozzarella, garlic, oregano and chilli powder.

Mix it all together, then grab a strip of baking parchment.

Shape your mixture on to the paper using your hands to make a nice pizza shape, making sure you round off the edges. Now pop it (carefully) on to your pre-heated oven tray and let it cook for 10-15 minutes, basically until the crust has started to brown.

While this is cooking, prep your toppings.

Take out your crust, admire it's likeness to a real life naughty pizza base, then smother on some tomato puree/pizza sauce, and pile on your toppings. I'm going to be honest, I was a bit sparing on the cheese on top and when I make it again will definitely be adding a bit more mozzarella.

Place your pizza back in the oven for 5 minutes or so, basically once the cheese is melted it will be done.

And voila! Basically a guilt free pizza made almost wholly from vegetables, how can you not be impressed by that?!

Time for some close ups.

Take as many slices as you like, top with some spinach and munch away, minus the guilt! You can even eat it like a proper Italian, just using your hands!