Thursday, October 29, 2015

Low Carb Pizza Crust w/ Zucchini - NEW RECIPE

This evening I was in the mood for pizza. I considered waiting until tomorrow night to make it but decided that tonight was the night! I experimented a little with my pizza crust recipe this evening. I modified one of my crust recipes by adding grated zucchini to it and a few other tweaks. I didn't want it to be wet and soggy but more "bread-like". I have a number of different pizza crust recipes; some crispy, some chewier, thick crust and thin crust. This evening I wanted a softer crust that could be picked up or eaten with a fork. It turned out great! The crust rose a bit more and was fluffier than my others. I will definitely be making it again! Since I was testing this new crust recipe, I decided to keep the toppings fairly simple so I could really test the crust for taste, texture etc. I topped tonight's pizza with Muir Glen Organic Pizza Sauce, shredded mozzarella, and Fiorucci uncured pepperoni. I really enjoyed the simplicity of a few excellent toppings. I snapped a few photos below and included my new pizza crust recipe. Enjoy!






Low Carb Pizza Crust w/ Zucchini
Makes One 12" round pizza (3 to 4 servings)

Ingredients: 

Dry Ingredients
1/3 cup almond flour
1/4 cup ground chia seed 
1 Tablespoon coconut flour
2/3 teaspoon baking powder (aluminum free)
1/2 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon onion powder 
1/4 teaspoon sea salt, or to taste
1/4 cup finely grated Parmesan cheese
1/3 cup shredded mozzarella cheese

Wet Ingredients
1 large egg
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3/4 cup grated zucchini (about 1 medium zucchini), lightly squeezed dry

Toppings (Optional)  

Pizza sauce, pesto sauce, etc.
Cheese: shredded mozzarella cheese, sliced or diced fresh mozzarella, provolone, etc.
Vegetables of choice: onions, green peppers, mushrooms, spinach, etc. 
Meats of choice: sausage, ground beef topping, etc.
Other: artichokes, olives, pepperoni, etc.

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees F. Whisk dry ingredients together in a bowl. In a separate bowl, beat wet ingredients together, then add to dry ingredients and mix well. Let the dough sit for approximately 5 minutes to thicken. 

Spread dough on a lightly oiled large pizza pan, nonstick pizza pan or cookie sheet lined with greased parchment paper. Use a lightly oiled rubber spatula (or hands dampened with water) to press dough out to desired shape and thickness (I usually press mine to about 1/4" thick).  


Bake for 15-20 minutes or until golden brown and cooked through; check crust after 15 minutes; remove from oven when it looks and feels done. 
Spread crust with sauce; top with cheese and desired toppings (high moisture fresh vegetables such as mushrooms or raw meat toppings should preferably be pre-cooked to help prevent a soggy crust). Place pizza back into oven and bake an additional 5-10 minutes or until cheese is melted.  If desired, run pizza under the broiler for a few minutes to lightly brown the toppings and make the cheese bubbly.

            

6 comments:

CyberSis said...

Hi GGC,

Looking forward to making your new zucchini pizza crust. It looks wonderful! I love all kinds of toppings on pizza, but my absolute favorite is still the "classic" pepperoni pizza ... Fiorucci, of course.

We had a particularly beautiful autumn this year with gorgeous, brilliant colors and lovely weather. I say "had" because after the last couple of days of high winds and rain it's pretty much gone. That's the way of autumn, though, isn't it! No matter how long it lasts it isn't quite long enough! This was one for the record books and the memory banks, though ... and we took lots of pictures! I hope you're still enjoying the real thing down where you are! :-)

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi CyberSis,

I just had leftover pizza "cold" for lunch and I like it that way as well! I have plenty left for dinner, too in case I decide not to cook this evening.

Lucky you with a gorgeous autumn. Our leaves began turning but then we've had almost a week of rain that did knock a bunch off the trees. I'm hoping for a little good weather this weekend so we can drive up towards the northern part of Georgia to see if we can catch some pretty leaf color there. You are right though, it doesn't last long enough. Sounds like yours was unusually spectacular. I absolutely love all the colors of fall. :-)

bonnie nelms said...

yes, i will definitely be trying this soon. curious...not aware of 'several' other pizza crust recipes. only one w/flax, another w/chia. is that it, in addition to this...or are there more? i don't want to miss anything LOL!!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Bonnie,

Here is the link to my "5 pizza crust recipes" post I did this past June. My zucchini crust makes #6. http://www.gourmetgirlcooks.com/2015/06/5-amazing-pizza-crust-recipes-low-carb.html

Now you are completely up to date with pizza crust recipes! ;-)

Darlene said...

I made this tonight for dinner. We absolutely LOVED it! I think it's the best wheat-free crust so far. I may just stick to this one and toss my other crust recipes! Thanks for a winner!

Gourmet Girl Cooks said...

Hi Darlene,

Yay! I'm so happy you enjoyed it. I really liked it a lot too! There is nothing like a good pizza is there! :-)