Unfortunately the standard take-away or frozen pizzas are made of refined grains and a huge amount of vegetable oils and trans-fats which are a bit of a no-no for those of us on a healthy whole food journey!
I generally try and stay away from all that rubbish and even though its nice every now and again to indulge (I still go for the gluten-free base though)- I refuse to believe that there isnt a tasty healthier unprocessed version out there! So I am on a quest for the perfect healthy pizza base!
NOTE!!!!! before you jump to conclusions, this is NOT a post about the 'deliciousness' of cauliflower pizza which seems to be really in fashion at the minute.
Just about every second health nut is raving about how tasty the cauliflower substitute is - 'it tastes just like the bad stuff', 'you wouldnt even know its got cauliflower in it'.
Oh yea?
Well! I firmly believe that all those claims are giant LIES!!!
This is just my own personal opinion but I have tried a few cauliflower pizza recipes and each one has let me down! I have gotten my hopes up with every new version I see - whacked all the ingredients together for the base, baked it in the oven and then pulled it out with excitement only to find that when you cut into it, it doesnt hold its shape! You cant pick up a slice! Its too crumbly! And the taste isnt much better! It just tastes like cauliflower no matter what anyone says! And yes you can season it all you like with herbs, salt, cheese etc which overall improves the flavour but definately not the texture. If I cant eat my pizza by the slice - I'm sorry it just doesnt feel like pizza to me!!!
After about my 6th attempt at lieing to myself about how pizza-like this damn cauliflower thing was, I got tired and packed it in! And launched a new search to try and find something with a little more substance and texture, a mix that would hold a reasonable amount of toppings without falling all over the place!
Surely there is an answer!
I decided to try experimenting with grain free bases and tried blends of coconut flour and almond flour which was tasty but still too dry and crumbly (grrrrr.....).
So in the middle of my crazy google search, I stumbled across a pizza recipe on bodybuilding.com by the author of proteinpow - Anna Sward. A recipe based around sweet potato - yes sounds crazy I know, and at first I was a bit sceptical, I love sweet potato but wasnt so convinced if its sweetness would go well with pizza sauce, cheese, chillis, salami etc. All in all I went against my doubts and tried it - I figured that anythings has to taste better than cauliflower! (again I love cauliflower AND even cauliflower fried rice! but it just doesnt work with pizza! END OF!).
Now I had to make my own adaptations to this recipe based on what I had in the press - it was friday night and I was too lazy to get in the car and go to the shops! So here is my version!:
- Roughly 120g of cooked sweet potato (wrap it in tin foil & roast it first - or you could steam/boil etc)
- 2 large organic eggs (the recipe calls for egg whites, but I cant stand waste! and eggs are so much better for you when you eat them whole - plus the extra healthy fats in the yoke add to the overall flavour of this recipe)
- 1/4 Cup almond flour
- 1 tbsp Coconut Flour
- 1 tsp Chia seeds
- Salt, pepper, oregano/herbs to taste
Just throw all the ingredients into a bowl and whisk until combined. Spread onto a baking sheet (you have to spoon this mix onto the sheet as it is more like a batter than a dough - make sure to spread it thinly and evenly for best results - if you like it a bit thicker thats fine but be prepared to cook it in the over a little longer so the middle cooks properly). Then bake in a preheated oven at 180 degrees for 10-15 mins.
Keep an eye on the edges when they start to turn golden brown and crispy then its ready to take out. Then cover in toppings of whatever you fancy and bake again for another 10 minutes. Anna recommends brushing the edges with olive oil to add a little extra to the crust which I forgot to do because I was blindly hungry at this point and couldnt wait to eat it! So dont forget that step like me!
My chosen toppings were onions, red & green peppers, salami, pumpkin and some mozzarella and parmesan cheese. But pretty much anything should work (except pineapple - I just dont understand why you would want to put this on your pizza people!)
And the verdict?
I was nicely surprised with this one! I hadn't any high hopes for it to be super tasty but it didnt let me down at all! The base was tasty with a hint of sweet potato and I really liked the doughy texture. And the best thing was that when I cut it in slices and picked one up - it actually stayed in slice form and didnt just collapse! It definately gets at thumbs up from me! And will be a staple in my future friday nights! Processed junk free, trans-fat/veg oil free, gluten and grain free and still tastes good - perfect!
Now my versions calories are a quiet a bit higher than the PP recipe given the almond flour and eggs added to the mix instead of a grain flour and egg whites, but its packed full of healthy fats and protein so that wasnt something I stressed about - and minus the artificial fillers and overall rubbish! I personally believe it also only really serves one unless you are planning on making a couple of sides with it.
Give it a go and see if you like it!
The original link to Anna's recipe is here, if you'd prefer to try that one. She has also listed another clever little one made with vegan pea/brown rice protein powder which I have also tried before in the past and is a little more pan-cakey but works very well too!
Enjoy!! - also if anyone has found any amazeballs healthy pizza recipes that would make my life a better place please share!!
Mary
xxx
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