'No Carb' Cauliflower Pizza Base

A no carb pizza??

This is the most exciting discovery I've made in food recently.

What a cool way to get an extra vegetable into your diet and miss out on the wheat. The cauliflower is riced and mixed with an egg, then baked until browned. Then it's a simple as topping with whatever you desire and either grilling or baking again until your cheese melts. It's by no means the healthiest dinner in the world, but certainly it's healthier than the traditional pizza dough. And if you wanted to do an even healthier version, you could always miss out on the cheese... Although that does sort of defeat the point.

Other than the time taken to rotate baking the bases, this is much faster than making your own pizza dough. There's no sticky washing up, either!

I won't give a recipe for topping at the moment, just the base. My pictures show a singletons pizza (used about 1 cup riced cauliflower to each egg). I used the rest of the cauliflower as mash the next day. Such a versatile vegetable!

Makes 5/6 one person pizzas

1 small/medium cauliflower
5 eggs
150g grated cheddar
5 tsps dried oregano
5 cloves garlic, crushed
1-2 tsps sea salt


Preheat your oven to 240C/gas mark 8/450F

1, If you are hand grating the cauliflower then I would suggest that it's easier to keep it whole. So after trimming the leaves and removing the stalk, grate it over a large mixing bowl.
If you own a food processor with a grating attachment, break the cauliflower into florets and process through your machine. Transfer to a large mixing bowl.
2, Break your eggs into the bowl and mix thoroughly.
3, Add the rest of your ingredients to the bowl.
4, Lightly oil some greaseproof paper and place on either a pizza stone or a heavy baking sheet.
5, Use about 2 tablespoons of mixture per pizza. Spread it out evenly to a thin layer and neaten the edges with a spatula. You need to be careful not to leave any gaps in the base or your topping with fall through.
6, Bake for about 15 minutes or until it is evenly browned.
7, Repeat this process until all the bases are cooked and you are ready to top.
8, Top with any manner of wonderful, yummy things and bake again until the cheese has melted and the pizza is warmed through, less that 10 mins.

One you've tried this you would never believe it was cauliflower. I'm not sure I'll ever want to eat a 'normal' pizza again!

Cauliflower, spinach and potato curry

Every Tuesday and Thursday evening I cook and have a meal with my landlord, MM. MM is a vegetarian, and although I'm not, I was until a few years ago. I rarely eat meat as it is, but on these days I try to make something vegetarian that isn't pasta or risotto - which is what all vegetarian guests are served at dinner parties.
MM isn't a fan of chilli, so a curry isn't something I make for him very often. But this one, although it has a slight kick, is offset by the creamy cauliflower and yogurt base.


1 onion, finely diced
3 cloves garlic
1 red chilli, chopped finely, seeds removed
Die sized piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely diced 
1 tsp garam masala
½ tsp brown mustard seeds
½ tsp ground cumin
¼ tsp turmeric
3 cardamom pods, bashed with the seeds removed for use
2 large potatoes, peeled and cubed
1 cauliflower, trimmed and broken into large florets
500ml water
250g whole milk yoghurt
1½ tbsp tomato purée
200g spinach - fresh or frozen
1 small handful fresh coriander leaves, chopped
1 small handful cashews, toasted


1, Fry the onion in sunflower oil until softened. Add the garlic, chilli and ginger and pinch of salt (to stop it burning too quickly) and fry for another few minutes.
2, Add all the spices to the pan, fry for a minute then add a splash of water.
3, Add the potato and cauliflower and stir well - making sure the veg is covered well in the spice mix. 
4, Add the water and cover with a loose lid. Simmer for 10-15 mins until the veg is tender.
5, Meanwhile, mix the tomato purée with the yogurt until smooth.
6, When the veg is tender, add the spinach and remove from the heat when it has wilted.
7, Mix the yogurt into the curry with half the chopped coriander.
8, Serve on a bed of rice or with naan breads, with a sprinkle of cashew nuts and coriander leaves.