Cauliflower Pizza

Ok, so I know what you might be thinking... Cauliflower? On a Pizza? Eurgh....

But no. Pizza base made of cauliflower. I can still hear you...

As revolting as it sounds (I'm not a fan of cauliflower at all) and I was with you on this before I tried it, its actually a darn sight better tasting than it sounds.

What you'll need:

• A large cauliflower head (or a packet of cauliflower rice / cauliflower couscous)
• 2 eggs
• pinch of salt and pepper
• a little dried oregano
• a little cooking oil (spray oil works well, as do low-cal versions)
• tomato purée
• pizza toppings to suit (some sliced ham, peppers, mushrooms, etc.)

First, preheat your oven to Gas mark 5 / 180°C (160°C fan oven). Depending on the age of your oven this may or may not take a while.

Take a cauliflower and blend it into couscous sized pieces. Or if you're lazy like me, buy some cauliflower rice / cauliflower couscous, all of the hard work has already been done for you. Bang the blended cauliflower into a bowl and cover it over. Pop it into the microwave and cook for 5 minutes.

Beat two eggs with a pinch of salt, pepper and some oregano. Add this to the cauliflower and mix well. The mixture may well be quite wet.

Line a baking tray with non-stick baking paper and spray with a little oil. Put the mixture into the tray and smooth it with a spoon (or your fingers, but a spoon might be cleaner..). Slam that in the oven on the middle shelf for 15 minutes, then move it to the top shelf for 10 minutes (although, if you've got a fan oven then I wouldn't say it would make a difference). After that, the base should have turn a nice golden colour.

Using a palette knife, fish slice, spatula (whatever you want to call it) and release it from the grease-proof paper, flip it over and cook it again for another 10 minutes. When both sides are golden, remove it from the oven et voila; you have your pizza base.

Pic from 12tomatoes.com

Take your new pizza base and smear it with tomato purée (or any other specialist tomato based sauce you have) and top it to your heart's content. I find ham, peppers and mushrooms are always good for beginners.

Return it to the oven and bake it for another 10-15 minutes. Once it's done, slice and serve.

I hope you enjoy this as much as I enjoyed eating it.