Battle: Paleo Pizza...volume 1

I should preface this post by stating that this is likely the first installation of many future paleo pizza battles. This was initially inspired by my buddy and fellow fitness/foodie freak, LAQ (http://laqfitness.com) who posted her recipe for Paleo BBQ Chicken Pizza. Mind you, paleo pizza is no new phenomenon. "Meatza" is definitely well-known within the paleo community...and is known to satisfy our primal cravings for a round object we can cut wedges out of and eat with our hands. Her post, however, lit a little inspiration fire within me to have yet another throw-down. I decided that yes, I would not only make (my variation, of course...why can't I just stick with the recipe? I'll never know) her version, but also have a little fun with a cauliflower crust as well. Why not, right? What else would I rather be doing on a rainy Friday evening?

Check out the link for LAQ's recipe. My modification was making it a "personal" pizza...and, because of not wanting to get a whole pound of ground chicken...I got 96/4 ground beef (1/4 lb). Pros: hearty, flavor was good. Cons: maybe I didn't use enough egg (tried to do about 1/2 an egg for the 1/4lb of meat), so it wasn't staying circular as I moved it around.

crust vs crust

cauli crust pre-consumption

open up!

Cauliflower crust:
1 cup raw cauliflower
2 cloves garlic
1 egg
1/4 cup freshly grated parmesan cheese
2 Tbsp tomato sauce (whatever you're going to top your pizza with)
1 tsp almond meal
1 tsp dried oregano
1/4 tsp fresh cracked black pepper
1/4 tsp sea salt
dash of cayenne pepper or red chili flakes

Heat oven to 400 degrees. boil cauliflower and garlic until just tender. drain excess water, place in vitamix. Add egg, cheese, spices, and almond meal and blend until everything is integrated. spread mixture evenly on parchment lined baking sheet. Place on center rack and bake for 40-50 minutes, or until evenly brown and crispy.
Top with your fave toppings. I used mushrooms, roasted peppers, carmelized onion, kalamata olives, bacon, roasted kumato, and goat cheese. Toss back in the oven for about 5 minutes, remove, and enjoy!

As I'm writing this...I'm already looking at other crust ideas. Talk about paleo ADD. Geez. Can't. Get. Enough! :) I don't have an official verdict. Meatza is fabulous and filling...but cauli crust did me right re: feeling like I was eating (very thin crust) pizza. Post-wod....just have both!