This Mini Pizza is an excellent gluten-free recipe with its cauliflower base. Encompassing many options for toppings, the dish is widely eaten, often for dinner, in Italy and around the rest of the world. Pizza dough is traditionally made with wheat flour, making it unsuitable for people following a gluten-free diet. Creating a cauliflower base as a substitute for the traditional dough accommodates more dietary requirements whilst also increasing the vegetable content of the dish.
This dish is fairly quick to prepare, uses low-cost ingredients and can be adapted to suit various dietary and nutritional requirements, making for a practical and convenient dish. To put a fun twist on this dish, make it animal-themed by using different ingredients to make faces.
Serves: 9
Dietary: suitable for vegetarians, coeliac, nut-free
Contains: Milk (Mozzarella), Egg (egg yolk)
Preparation time: 25 minutes
Cooking time: 35 – 45 minutes
INGREDIENTS
1 Small (320 g) Cauliflower
1 Egg yolk
1 ball (125 g) Mozzarella, grated
2 Tbsp (25 g) tomato puree
½ small (60 g) pepper, finely chopped
To make lion heads
¼ cup (30 g) pitted black olives
METHOD
- Wash hands.
- Preheat oven to 200°C/180oC/400oF/Gas Mark 6.
- Break cauliflower into florets and add to a food processor. Pulse until it reaches a breadcrumb consistency.
- Pour the cauliflower into a mixing bowl, cover loosely with cling film and microwave for 2 – 3 minutes until softened.
- Separate the egg yolk and white.
- Add the egg yolk and 65 g of the mozzarella to the cauliflower and season. Mix until a dough is formed. If the dough is too wet, sieve the mixture to remove the excess liquid. You want the dough to be wet enough to stick together but not too wet to keep its shape.
- Form pieces of the dough into equal-sized small circular bases and place them on a lined baking tray. Bake for 5 – 10 mins until lightly browned on one side, then turn over and bake for a further 5 – 10 mins until the other side is browned.
- Remove from the oven, spread tomato puree on each pizza and add toppings.
- To make the lion heads, add the mozzarella and form a large circle around the outside of the pizza base; in the centre, add 2 finely chopped olives as eyes.
- Bake for a further 7 – 10 mins until browned.
- Serve while hot.
This recipe has been donated by Lauren Hughes, a Registered Associate Nutritionist
NUTRITION INFORMATION
Per pizza:
Total calories: 68 kcal
Fat: 4.1 g
Saturated Fat: 2.2 g
Carbohydrate: 3.2 g
Total sugar: 1.8 g
Fibre: 1.1 g
Protein: 4.1 g
Salt: 0.24 g
NUTRITION FACTS
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- These mini pizzas are a good source of protein, potassium, phosphorus, vitamin A, vitamin K, B vitamins (Niacin, Pantothenic acid, folate, vitamin B12) and an excellent source of vitamin C.
- Eggs and mozzarella cheese are excellent sources of protein.
- Protein is made from amino acids and is needed by the body in large amounts. Amino acids are the building blocks within the body and are used for growth, development and repair of the body’s tissues.
- Ensuring your child consumes adequate protein means supplying enough amino acids for healthy physiological development.
- A lack of protein can result in fatigue, limited growth, poor concentration and immunity in children. It is essential that protein consumption meets government guidelines.
VARIATIONS
- These Mini Pizzas can have multiple toppings to suit various dietary and nutritional requirements. More vegetables can be added to increase vegetable consumption, and toppings can be added or removed to suit preference.
- This recipe can be made suitable for lactose intolerant people and vegans by choosing a plant-based cheese and removing the dairy cheese used in the cauliflower base.
- The recipe uses a food processor to blend the cauliflower to create the pizza base. However, a food processor is not essential; this can be completed by hand or using an electric mixer.
- Alternatively, you could bake the cauliflower for 15 minutes until softened and wait until it cold down. Sieve the mixture to remove the excess liquid.
- Frozen cauliflower florets can be purchased instead of a fresh whole cauliflower. However, due to the added water content, the frozen cauliflower would need full defrosting before use. Using frozen produce can make for a cheaper and more practical dish.
- You can also use broccoli to replace some of the cauliflower.
Consumer tested by Aoife Kelly, a student nutritionist from Atlantic Technological University and Monica Zhang a Masters student in nutrition from Leeds Beckett University.
Checked by Kathy Lewis, R.Nutr., Registered Consultant Nutritionist
© 2024 The Caroline Walker Trust