Cauliflower Pizza Base - Gluten Free

The Cauliflower craze seems to be everywhere I look so I decide to give it a go. We have a family member who has been diagnosed as Celiac so when she was coming for a pre rugby game meal where we were cooking pizzas this seemed like a great chance to give it a try.

It was a lot of preparation! Removing the liquid took ages!
The recipe cooked the cauliflower by baking in the oven - I used the microwave.
The pizza crust was really nice but you have to change your expectations from a bread based crust to something totally different.
It seemed really strange cooking the base then adding toppings and cooking again but it worked.

I can imagine doing these again as a snack or nibbles dish.

Cauliflower Pizza Base - Gluten Free

Ingredients

• 1 head cauliflower 
• 1 egg, large
• 1/2 cup Parmesan or Mozzarella cheese, grated/shredded & not packed
• 1 tsp Italian (or rosemary, basil, parsley) herb seasoning
• 1/8 tsp salt
• 1/4 tsp freshly ground black pepper

Directions

1. Preheat oven to 180 degrees C and line round pizza baking sheet with parchment paper.
2. Rinse cauliflower, remove the outer leaves and separate into florets with a paring knife. Place cauliflower florets in a food processor and process until "rice" texture. Some coarse chunks are fine.

3. Place on a prepared baking sheet and bake for 15 mins. Or steam in the microwave until cooked


4. Remove cooked cauliflower from the oven and transfer to a bowl lined with a double/triple layered cheesecloth.

5. Then squeeze the liquid out of the ball, cauliflower inside the cheesecloth, as hard as you can. Be patient and do this a few times until barely any liquid comes out. Muscle work.:)

6. Increase oven T to 200 degrees C. Transfer cauliflower to a mixing bowl along with egg, cheese, herb seasoning, salt, black pepper and mix to combine. Transfer cauliflower mixture onto the same baking sheet you used to roast the florets (I used the same parchment paper but you can swap it for a new one if it gets too soggy), and flatten with your hands until thin pizza crust forms.
7. Bake for 15 - 20 minutes and remove from the oven.

8. Top with your favourite toppings and bake again until cheese on top turns golden brown. Slice and enjoy.
Storage Instructions: Refrigerate covered for up to 2 days. You can also freeze the crust tightly wrapped in plastic, for 1 month.

Easter Egg Slice

Our Easer plans changed a bit when one of our cats got first disappeared and then returned out of sorts. We took her to the vets and discovered she needed to have most of her teeth out under general anaesthetic. Due to the operation and recovery our plans to go away changed. I decided to embrace the Easter spirit and have a family and friends dinner.
I've added our place settings made by Isabella (6 years) and the easter themed table centre piece in an egg carton with egg shells to hold the flowers and mini easter eggs too at the end of the post.

Our dinner provided a great chance to bring out some old favourites and try something new - Avocado, Bean, Corn and Tomato Salad.

Watching Australian Better Homes and Gardens one night over the weekend, there was an Easter theme and a ridiculously decadent easter egg slice. I had to give it a go. I made a gluten free version to cater for a family member by replacing the shortbread with a pre made gluten free chic chip cookie.

The finished product is very very sweet and very very rich. Small slices are called for, even for someone like me who can usually manage a lot of chocolate.

I used Whittakers 72% ghana dark chocolate (there is always a supply in our house), which I think probably made it a little more manageable to eat.

Easter Egg Slice

Ingredients

200g shortbread biscuits


120g unsalted butter, melted
400g dark chocolate, chopped
300ml cream
2 Tbsp golden syrup
80g pistachios, roughly chopped
250g caramel-filled Easter eggs

Method

1. Line an 18 x 26cm slice tin with baking paper. Put biscuits in a food processor and pulse until coarse. Add 90g of the butter and combine. Using your hands, press mixture into base of prepared tin. Freeze for 5 minutes to firm.

2. Combine chocolate, cream, golden syrup and remaining butter in a small saucepan over a low heat and cook, whisking often, until melted. Reserve 1 Tbsp of the pistachios, then stir remainder into chocolate mixture. Set aside to cool for 10 minutes.

3. Pour chocolate mixture over biscuit mixture. Top with Easter eggs and reserved pistachios. Refrigerate overnight. Cut into pieces to serve.