For National Deep Dish Pizza day, I created a Mini Cauliflower Deep Dish Pesto and Mushroom Pizza that you won’t feel guilty indulging in. Tiny bites bursting with flavors of fresh basil and mushrooms are topped inside a thin cauliflower crust. In addition, not only delicious and perfect in a pizza, pesto has wonderful health benefits and has been used medicinally and therapeutically. One benefit of pesto is that it may help reduce stress and anxiety. Combined with cauliflower, which is packed with nine different vitamins and minerals, there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t dive in to these deep mini pies.

Mini Cauliflower Deep Dish Pesto and Mushroom Pizza
 
Prep time
Cook time
Total time
 
For National Deep Dish Pizza day, I created a Mini Cauliflower Deep Dish Pesto and Mushroom Pizza that you won’t feel guilty indulging in. Tiny bites bursting with flavors of fresh basil and mushrooms are topped inside a thin cauliflower crust. In addition, not only delicious and perfect in a pizza, pesto has wonderful health benefits and has been used medicinally and therapeutically. One benefit of pesto is that it may help reduce stress and anxiety. Combined with cauliflower, which is packed with nine different vitamins and minerals, there’s really no reason why you shouldn’t dive in to these deep mini pies.
Author:
Recipe type: Pizza
Cuisine: Italian
Serves: 3
Ingredients
  • Non-stick cooking spray
  • Large head of cauliflower; (4 cups finely chopped cauliflower)
  • 1 large egg
  • ¼ tsp oregano
  • ¼ cup shredded Parmesan cheese
  • ½ cup + 2 Tbsp shredded mozzarella cheese
  • ¼ cup + 2 Tbsp pesto sauce (pesto recipe below)
  • ½ cup finely chopped mushrooms
  • Pesto Ingredients:
  • 1½ cups basil leaves (lightly packed)
  • 2 Tbsp olive oil
  • 3 Tbsp water
  • 3 cloves garlic, chopped
  • ¼ cup pine nuts or walnuts
  • 1 Tbsp lemon juice
  • Salt & pepper to taste
  • Equipment Needed:
  • Food processor
  • Cheesecloth
Instructions
  1. Set your oven to 400 degrees Fahrenheit. Lightly spray a 12 mini muffin tin with cooking spray.
  2. In a food processor, blend the cauliflower until it is finely chopped and uniform. Ensure that you have approximately 4 cups of chopped cauliflower.
  3. Transfer the cauliflower into a large bowl and place in the microwave for 4 minutes.
  4. Remove the cauliflower from the microwave and mix the cauliflower so that the cauliflower at the bottom of the bowl is now at the top.
  5. Place the cauliflower back in the microwave for another 4 minutes.
  6. Remove and turn again and place in the microwave for 5 more minutes. This will evenly cook it. The goal is to have the cauliflower slightly cooked, browned, and less moist. This is important for ensuring a nice textured crust.
  7. Remove the cauliflower from the microwave and using a cheesecloth, strain out the rest of the moisture from your cauliflower.
  8. In a medium sized bowl combine the cauliflower pulp, the egg, oregano, and Parmesan cheese. Mix until uniform.
  9. Evenly spread the cauliflower dough into 9 muffin tins. Make sure the dough is not too thin on the sides so that it does not burn.
  10. Place the muffin tin in the oven for approximately 15 minutes until the cauliflower dough is lightly browned.
  11. While the dough is cooking, prepare the pesto. Place all the ingredients for the pesto in a food processor and blend until uniform.
  12. Remove the pesto from the processor and set aside.
  13. Once the cauliflower crusts are done cooking, remove from the oven and let them cool down for about 3 minutes.
  14. Once the cauliflower crust has cooled down, place ½ Tbsp of mozzarella cheese in each cauliflower crust, followed by ½ Tbsp of pesto, and then again with ½ Tbsp of mozzarella cheese.
  15. Finally, top with ½ Tbsp of chopped mushrooms.
  16. Place back in the oven for approximately 10 minutes.
  17. Once done baking, remove the cauliflower pizzas from the oven and let cool for 5 minutes.
  18. Carefully remove mini deep dish pizzas from the tin pan with a spoon. Serve and enjoy.
Nutrition Information
Serving size: 3 mini deep dish pizzas Calories: 266 Fat: 18.9 Saturated fat: 5.9 Carbohydrates: 10.9 Sugar: 3.8 Sodium: 374.3 Fiber: 3.0 Protein: 16.4 Cholesterol: 84.6

For more Pizza Recipes, check out:

Mozzarella, Parmesan, Arugula, and Egg Flatout Flatbread Pizza Recipe

Bell Pepper and Cheese Pizza Recipe

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