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| Not much left after two pizza-starved beings dug into this one. |
I've missed pizza since ditching it because of carb-heavy crusts. Even my own super-thin, delicious and crispy whole-wheat crusts were not acceptable. Wheat is wheat—a carb bomb no matter what. Scraping the toppings off pizzas does not do the trick as far as the overall pizza experience goes. Gotta have
something beneath the pepperoni and cheese.
So I was excited when my friend from long ago, Grace McGran (Diane Cratty when I knew her in the 1970s) resurfaced in my life, and among many other gifts, has supplied a recipe for a low-carb pizza crust.
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| Believe it or not, this is a zucchini-based pizza crust, and it is delicious. |
Grace was a pastry chef for 40 years!! and had ballooned to an unacceptable weight before she read a
book that changed her life that corresponded, more or less, with the end of her happy career fashioning breads, pie crusts and decadent desserts. She's put her extensive chef/baking experience into creating low-carb substitutes for stuff like pizza crust and zucchini bread. Whenever I try out one of her recipes, I will share the results. In the meantime, if you don't want to wait for me, go directly to
Grace!
She's amazing. She has, however, a caveat about her blog: it's posted on a weight-loss/wellness community called sparkpeople, which mostly focuses on the pervasive low-fat, whole-grain myth of healthy nutrition. (Without joining, you may not be able to access. Membership is free.)
To be clear, both Grace and I embrace, with good reason, the low-carb lifestyle. This dietary path does not include bread or most grains, but does include butter, coconut oil, olive oil, nuts and other fats that seem to encourage weight loss and/or weight maintenance.
Here's Grace's recipe with a few photos and my pizza toppings. The crust is the important thing. I'm so happy to have it! And who would have thought that the lowly zucchini could have risen to the challenge. Thank you, Grace!
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| My pizza loaded up with pesto, peppers, onions, uncured salami, and serrano sauce. |
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| Just out of the oven, with cheese, cooling on Grace's crust recipe. Can't wait. |
Zucchini Low-carb Pizza Crust
Zucchini - 3 cups, grated (buying this out of season was worth it)
2 eggs
Extra virgin olive oil, 2 Tbsp
Almond flour or almond meal, 4 Tbsp
Flax seed meal (ground flax) 4 Tbsp
Coconut flour, 4 Tbsp
Chickpea flour, 4Tbsp
Pinenuts, 4 Tbsp (I used sunflower seeds as pinenuts are now $19 a pound!)
Parmesan cheese, finely grated, 4 Tbsp
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp garlic powder
1.5 tsp sea salt
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Shred the zucchini, then put into a bowl. Sprinkle with 1 tsp salt and toss with a fork. After 10 minutes or more, transfer to a colander to let drain for a few minutes. Then squeeze by hand until liquid is gone. Grace uses a ricer for this operation.
In a separate bowl, mix the dry ingredients thoroughly, using a fork or whisk. In another bowl, combine the eggs and olive oil and stir until well combined. Now mix all ingredients together. You should have a fairly stiff dough.
Prepare a 14-inch pizza pan by covering it with a round of parchment paper. (I didn't have parchment paper but slathered my pan with solid coconut oil, which worked fine. No sticking!) Using your hands, pat the dough evenly over the pizza pan. It will be 1/4 inch thick. Try to even it out so there are no thin areas to burn.Place in the 400 degree pre-heated oven for 20 minutes, then remove to add your toppings.
My pizza toppings:
Basil pesto, enough to cover the partially baked pizza crust
Serrano sauce, a thin smear to cover the pesto (a good marinara sauce would be fine, but not quite as kicky)
Overlapped pieces of uncured Applegate brand salami, or other uncured meat topping
Chopped red onions to taste
Marinated artichoke hearts, four or five, chopped
Sliced sweet peppers, liberally applied
Return baked crust with toppings to the oven for 15 or 20 minutes, depending upon how thickly you've layered. Remove from the oven and top with whatever cheeses you're using (I used Parmesan and mozzarella) Turn off the oven and return the pizza to the oven for five minutes to melt the cheese.
About the unusual flours. When Grace sent her recipe, I was dismayed. Coconut flour? Garbanzo bean flour? Almond flour or meal? But have no fear. The gluten-free craze has hit the hinterlands as well as metro areas, and I was able to easily locate all carb-free flours in Oregon's rural Rogue Valley.
