This pizza gives you all the bubbling cheese, chilli heat and tomato depth of a takeaway slice, with a lighter, lower carb base so you can still enjoy pizza night when you want something a bit healthier.
Prep: less than 30 mins
Cook: 10 to 30 mins
Serves: Serves 2
Dietary: Lower carb, nut-based base
By Matt Tebbutt
From Saturday Kitchen Recipes
Equipment
Ingredients
For the base
- 140g/5oz cauliflower florets, blitzed
- 1 tsp dried oregano
- 50g/1¾oz ground almonds
- 50g/1¾oz buckwheat flour
- 1 free-range egg white, beaten
For the spicy tomato sauce
- Oil, for frying
- ½ onion, chopped
- 1 bay leaf
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 red chilli, chopped
- 75g/2½oz red wine
- 400g tin cherry tomatoes
- ½ tbsp tomato purée
- 1 tsp sugar
- Salt and freshly ground black pepper
For the toppings
- ½ ball mozzarella, sliced
- ½ ball smoked mozzarella, sliced
- 50g/1¾oz gorgonzola
- 50g/1¾oz Parmesan, grated
- 1 tbsp sweet drop peppers
- Bunch fresh basil, leaves picked
Customise
- Swap gorgonzola for goat’s cheese if you prefer a milder blue-style tang.
- Use extra smoked mozzarella instead of plain mozzarella for a smokier finish.
- Replace sweet drop peppers with roasted red peppers for a softer sweetness.
- Add a pinch more chilli to the tomato sauce if you like extra heat on your pizza.
Method
Make and bake the cauliflower base (about 25 minutes, do this first)
- Heat the oven to 200C/180C Fan/Gas 6 so it is ready for the cauliflower pizza base.
- Blitz the cauliflower florets in a food processor until they look like fine crumbs, which helps the base cook evenly.
- Combine the blitzed cauliflower, oregano and ground almonds in a mixing bowl, breaking up any clumps as you go so everything mixes evenly.
- Stir in the buckwheat flour and beaten egg white until you have a soft dough that holds together when pressed; it will feel a bit sticky but that is fine.
- Shape the dough into a pizza base on a baking tray or pizza tray, pressing it out with your hands to an even thickness so it bakes at the same rate all over.
- Bake for about 20 minutes until the cauliflower base is lightly golden and feels set around the edges. Leave the oven on for finishing the pizza later.
Cook the spicy tomato sauce (15–20 minutes, while the base bakes)
- Warm a little oil in a saucepan over medium heat and gently fry the onion, bay leaf, garlic and chopped chilli until the onion softens and smells sweet.
- Pour in the red wine and let it bubble until reduced by about three quarters, which concentrates the flavour.
- Add the cherry tomatoes and tomato purée, then simmer until the sauce has reduced by about half and thickened enough to spread on the base without running.
- Remove the bay leaf, season the sauce with salt and pepper, then stir in the sugar to balance the acidity of the tomatoes and wine.
Assemble and bake the four cheese pizza (10 minutes)
- Spread a generous layer of spicy tomato sauce over the cooked cauliflower base, going almost to the edges so every bite has flavour.
- Arrange the mozzarella and smoked mozzarella slices evenly over the sauce, then dot over pieces of gorgonzola and scatter on the sweet drop peppers.
- Return the pizza to the oven for about 5 minutes, or until the cheeses melt and just start to bubble.
- Finish with fresh basil and Parmesan by scattering the basil leaves over the hot pizza and sprinkling with grated Parmesan before serving.