The first time I heard “cauliflower” and “crust” in the same sentence I cringed. Cauliflower is a cruciferous vegetable, so it tends to have a pungent aroma and somewhat bitter flavor. However, it’s also rich in nutrients.
After seeing several recipes for cauliflower pizza crusts, I decided to try to make one for quiche. (I just can’t bring myself to bake pizza without the soft, chewy crust I usually make!) Surprisingly, I was pleased with the results.
Ingredients
- Approximately 2/3 of a 16 oz. bag of frozen cauliflower
- 1 egg
- 1/2 cup finely grated parmesan cheese
- 1 teaspoon salt
- 1 teaspoon minced garlic
Instructions
Preheat oven to 350°F. Allow the cauliflower to thaw (you can steam it or microwave it if you need to speed up this process). Once thawed, wrap the cauliflower in a clean dish towel and squeeze gently to remove excess water. Place the cauliflower in a food processor and pulse until coarsely chopped. Add the egg, parmesan cheese, salt, and garlic. Process until finely chopped (the mixture should look somewhat like sand).
Gently press the cauliflower dough into a greased 9-inch pie plate. Cover loosely with foil and bake for 15 minutes. Remove the foil and bake for an additional 15 minutes.
Allow the crust to cool completely before filling (it can be refrigerated overnight and filled the next morning). Fill and bake as you would any other quiche. Yield: 6-8 servings.
Notes
I prepared this crust while my husband was at work so he wouldn’t know it was made of cauliflower. One of our goals this year is to eat a wider variety of vegetables, but this is difficult to do because my husband likes so few of them. I figured it would be very useful if I could camouflage one in a crust.
The verdict? He had no idea there was cauliflower in the crust! The quiche tasted like one prepared with a flour-based crust. I was genuinely surprised at this and I’ll definitely be making it again. If you’d like to see your picky eaters consume more veggies, then consider giving this a try!
Shared on the following link-ups:
Frugal Days, Sustainable Ways, Whatever Goes Wednesday, Works for Me Wednesday, One Project at a Time, Frugal Crafty Home, Best of the Weekend, Weekend Potluck & Creativity Unleashed.
I like vegies … but only on my terms! I tend to believe that vegetables are not food, they are what food eats! This sounds like a great way to include them and camouflage them in such a way as to make them palatable and not to be put off with them on the menu. Awesome!
The cauliflower was definitely camouflaged! If my husband would have known there was cauliflower in the quiche, he probably wouldn’t have been willing to eat it. After he tasted it, I told him about the crust and he continued to eat it and even had seconds and leftovers.
My husband is a NO VEGGIES guy potatoes and corn…. 2 years ago he had a heart attack and had a stent put in and he actually will now eat a few green beans, a few asparagus, is onions are FINELY DICED OR GRATED, he does not complain he acutally likes salad with baby spinach, nuts, and some fruit on it… never did i ever think he would change even a little…miracles do happen.
It’s unfortunate that it took a heart attack to change his eating habits, but it is encouraging to hear of the change!
I hope my husband will continue to grow in his openness to new veggies.
Shannon – would you believe I’m eating leftover quiche even as we speak?! Wow! How serendipitous is that! I’m kind of fascinated with this cauliflower idea … will save this post and give it a whirl at some point.
Have a super day!
It’s definitely worth a try!
oh my, this sounds delicious. I have been cooking a lot with cauliflower lately. We just made buffalo cauliflower for the Super Bowl. I am looking forward to trying this recipe.
Wow, that sounds like a great, healthier game day snack!
Great idea! This looks really good and healthy as well. I’m all for healthy, so this is one idea I need to try. Thanks for sharing with all of us!
sounds great!! Would love for you to come over and join our link party that just started! http://mommyondemand.com/happiness-homemade-6/
Thanks for sharing about the link party!
I reckon broccoli being similar to cauliflower would also work pretty well.
I’ve never tried, but it probably would work. Some quiches have broccoli in them, so those would be a perfect quiche to try out a broccoli crust.
I pinned this months ago and continue to see daily repins from it. It’s obviously so popular that it inspired me to create a unique pie crust roundup. Hope it sends a bunch of traffic your way!
futureexpat.com/2014/10/pie-crust-recipes/
What a fun roundup! Thanks!
Will fresh cauliflower work just as well? Along with EnerG egg and vegan versions of parm “cheese”? I’m mostly asking about the fresh, not frozen, cauliflower. ..I think the other ingredients will work fine. #GoVeg 🙂
Hi Kathy,
Yes, fresh cauliflower works just fine! I just usually have the frozen on hand, so it is what I use.
Used this crust for a tomato pie and my hubby never suspected the crust was made with cauliflower! (He does not like cauliflower!) Thanks for sharing this recipe. Substituting this crust and a few other ingredients allowed me to cut 145 calories out of each slice of tomato pie, without sacrificing taste.
Wow, MaryLinda, that’s an impressive amount of calories! I’m so glad this worked well in the tomato pie. Thanks for letting us know!
If using a fresh head of cauliflower, how much should I use? Do I just put it in the food processor raw or should I soften it first by steaming or cooking it?
Hi Aliyya,
It takes about half a head of fresh cauliflower (a little more if the head is small). I like to steam it a bit first before putting it in the food processor. If you do this, just make sure it cools completely and you squeeze out the moisture before making the crust.
You can place the cauliflower in the food processor raw if you want to save a little time. The pieces will be small enough that they will cook during baking. You’ll just want to watch it closely while baking because it may brown more easily (the long baking time helps remove moisture from the crust).
Enjoy!
Hi, do you think this would work as a pie crust? Bottom and lid I’m thinking or maybe folded over like a pasty (I’m from the UK) . I’m mega fussy about veg and I’m thinking I could use this as a pastry for my chicken and gravy pie? What do you think?
I think in terms of flavor it would be fine for a pie crust, but it would be difficult to use as a lid or folded over. This crust doesn’t hold its shape like a flour-based crust. It works when pressed in a pie plate because the plate helps it hold its shape. It would be yummy in a chicken and gravy pie. As noted, though, it works best as a bottom crust.
I can’t believe I haven’t tried this! LOL… I make cauliflower pizza crust quite often, we love it (though we love “real” crust more, lol)… why have I never though to use it for quiche! Happening this week for certain! 🙂 Thank you! 🙂
I like the “real” stuff better, too, but this is a great alternative!
Sounds like you’re married to my veggie phobic husband. Glad to know I’m not alone.
You are definitely not alone, Leanne!
Could egg whites replace the egg called for in the recipe?
It is just used to bind the cauliflower together, isn’t it?
I have so many egg whites in small containers in my freezer –
left over from making Hollandaise sauce.
I think that will work just fine. 🙂