I have a secret for you: I used to not like olives.
Weird, huh? Actually no, probably not. I feel like a lot of people don’t like olives. It’s one of those commonly disliked foods similar to tofu, cottage cheese, and anchovies… all of which I enjoy.
Olives were not a common food item growing up in the Duesterhoeft household. I wasn’t exposed to them and I just wasn’t into them. But then one day I discovered that I do indeed like olives.
I remember the moment vividly. Let me set the stage: June 2011. Immanuel Lutheran Church basement. My younger brother’s high school graduation open house. Sounds magical, right?
One of his top requested graduation food items was olives – kalamata olives to be precise. My reaction to this news was something along the lines of “Olives?! WTF. Who chooses olives?! I don’t like them. Such a waste of a food request.” My graduation requests were items like sweet potato casserole, mandarin orange cookie dessert salad, and cake (lots and lots of cake). All legit.
Anywho, to cut this story down: he requested kalamata olives. I didn’t get it. I tried one. I ate 10 more. I fell in love. BAM. Life forever changed.
I’m positive they were just regular jarred and pitted olives too, nothing fancy. I later apologized to my younger brother for making fun of his request and also to olives for all the years of undeserved dislike. All was forgiven.
After this wonderful discovery I realized one of my favorite flavor combinations of all time: kalamata olives + lemon + feta cheese. It’s just so fresh and light and flavorful. I am obsessed with Mediterranean and Greek food. Just can’t get enough.
Last Friday I headed straight from the airport to the grocery store. After being gone and eating out for the last week in Vineland I was excited to treat myself to a home-cooked, healthy-ish, relaxing meal. While I was on the flight home I was daydreaming about what this meal could be. I decided to make a cauliflower pizza crust topped with all my favorites: lemon slices, kalamata olives, feta cheese, and a healthy dose of arugula. I was very happy with my decision.
Have you ever made cauliflower crust? It’s actually pretty easy and very delicious. It is simply cauliflower mixed with egg, cheese, and herbs. The only difficult parts are having to pull out your food processor and needing to wring out all the excess water from the cauliflower. Both of key elements to getting the crust right, so they must be done. Luckily, neither tasks are really that difficult.
I topped the crust with lemon slices, kalamata olives, and sprinkles of feta cheese. After pulling it out of the oven I added a handful of arugula and some drizzles of sriracha, tahini, and lemon juice and some sprinkles of red pepper. I drool just thinking about it.
Although this isn’t your regular saucy, cheesy, carb-filled, comforting pizza it is still pretty dang good and comforting in a completely different way. The mix of toppings create such bright and simple flavors. It tastes good. It feels good. It was exactly what I needed.
Try it out and let me know what you think!
- 1 medium head cauliflower, coarsely chopped
- 1 Tbs olive oil
- ¼ tsp salt
- 1 egg
- ½ c shredded cheese (I used a mix of mozzarella and parmesan)
- ¼ tsp dried basil
- ¼ tsp dried oregano
- ¼ tsp pepper
- 1 lemon, sliced
- ¼ cup feta cheese
- ¼ cup kalamata olives, sliced
- 2 cups arugula
- Additional toppings: tahini, sriracha, lemon juice, red pepper flakes
- Preheat oven to 450 degrees. Place parchment paper on a pan or pizza stone.
- Place the chopped cauliflower florets into the food processor and pulse until ground. You may need to do this in batches depending on the size of your cauliflower and food processor.
- Put the cauliflower into a skillet, add the olive oil and salt. Cook over medium-high heat for 8-10 minutes. You can also microwave this for 4 minutes. Set aside in a large bowl to cool for 10 minutes.
- Once cool, use a dishtowel to squeeze out all the excess water. This step is very important, as it will help form a crispier crust. You should be left with 1 ½ - 1 ¾ cups of cauliflower.
- Place the cauliflower back into the bowl and add the remaining crust ingredients. Mix until combined.
- Form the “dough” into a ball and spread on the prepared pan into your desired crust shape: circle, square, oval, rectangle, infinite options.
- Bake the crust for 10-14 minutes until slightly browned on top. Then spread the lemon slices, feta cheese, and olives on the crust. Cook for an additional 5-7 minutes.
- After pulling it out the oven add the arugula and any additional toppings. I added drizzles of tahini, sriracha, lemon juice, and some red pepper flakes. Then I devoured it.
PS – If you don’t like olives, you should re-try them. They will change your world.
PPS – The reason I had to cook my cauliflower over the stove rather than in the microwave is because my microwave is broken. It broke 2 months ago. I need to buy a new one….
Just goes to show who the tastemaker of the family is..
I’ll always trust your food opinions from here on out.