Artichoke Olive Feta Pizza

I love making pizza. There are so many different varieties to try and everyone can get what they want. My son wanted plain pepperoni pizza which I can’t eat. I wanted olives on mine, which my husband won’t touch! So everyone got what they wanted. I just split the dough into three pieces and baked everyone their own “personalized” pizza. Of course, mine was the best : ) so it gets posted. I wanted something a little salty but still savory and very Mediterranean. This pizza is just that! Makes one serving – about a 5” pizza but the dough mixture will make about one regular 14” pizza crust.

1 pkg of pizza dough (I used Namaste allergy free brand and split it three ways)

1 Tbsp pizza sauce (preferably homemade!)

1 Tbsp diced onions

1 tsp olive oil

½ tsp white wine vinegar

¼ cup Swiss chard, finely chopped

1 Tbsp diced mushrooms

1 Tbsp artichoke, chopped

1 Tbsp Greek olives, chopped (I used a green, black, kalamata mix)

1 Tbsp feta cheese

•  Pre-bake pizza dough according to package instructions. 
• Meanwhile, sauté onions, mushrooms and chard in olive oil. Add in artichokes, olives and vinegar. 
• Cook for about 8 minutes or until vegetables are soft. 
• Spread sauce over top of pizza crust, sprinkle over vegetable mixture and top with Feta cheese. 
• Bake at 450° for about 10-15 minutes or until pizza starts to brown. Use more or less toppings as you’d like. 

Mini Polenta Pizzas

These little pizzas are a favorite at our house. They are fun for the kids and really quick and easy to make. In addition, it is gluten-free and low-fat. Polenta is a perfect alternative for carb filled pizza crust. You can use homemade polenta or cheat a little and use pre-made. Either way this is an easy, filling and delicious recipe!

1 roll of polenta (or homemade cut into small slices)

¼ cup balsamic vinaigrette

½ cup mushrooms, diced

1 cup fresh spinach

1 tbsp olive oil

¼ tsp minced garlic

¼ tsp sea salt

¼ tsp black pepper

2 small tomatoes, sliced thin

Shredded cheese

• In a large skillet, sauté mushrooms, spinach and garlic in olive oil until slightly tender. 
• On a large greased cookie sheet, place thin slices of polenta (about ¼ in thick). 
• Using a pastry brush, spread on balsamic vinaigrette over polenta slices. 
• Top each slice with a little of the mushroom/spinach mixture. Then top each slice with a tomato slice and sprinkle with cheese. 
• Bake at 375°F for about 15 minutes or until cheese is melted. I got one roll of polenta to make about 15 pizza slices. 

Stuffed Pizza Bites

I don’t know about you but my kids love anything they can eat with their hands or on a stick. My son actually ate dinner the other night solely with a toothpick just because he could. Anyway, we also love pizza so to make everyone happy, I just made these little pizza balls. They are perfect for kids! Plus you can customize them and stuff them with your favorite topping ingredients. They are a little more work than rolling out pizza dough onto a pan but it saves on the fight at dinner later. I actually got my son to eat these with NO complaints – and they were stuffed with spinach and mushrooms (something he hates!). I hope your family enjoys these as much as mine did! Makes about 16-20 dough bites (depending on your dough recipe!)

1 recipe for GF pizza dough (I made a batch of Bob’s Red Mill and threw some spices into the dough)

Extra GF flour for rolling out dough bites (maybe ¼ cup)
¼ cup diced onions
1 cup spinach
½ cup diced mushrooms
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp Italian seasoning (I like oregano, basil, thyme blend)
½ cup shredded cheese (I used DF)
1 can diced tomatoes plus 1 tsp italian seasoning

• In a small blender (I used my Magic Bullet), blend tomatoes and 1 tsp Italian seasoning until smooth. This will be your dipping sauce for your pizza bites!
• In a large skillet, sauté spinach, onions and mushrooms in olive oil. Add Italian seasoning to vegetable mixture.
• On a clean floured surface, roll out pizza dough into a large ¼” thick circle. Cut circle into about 2” squares (they don’t have to be perfect).
• Place dough square in the palm of your hand. Spoon on about ½ tsp of tomato sauce, 1-2 tsp of vegetable mixture and 1 tsp of cheese.
• Wrap up the dough mixture around the stuffing and secure seams, making the pizza balls. Repeat with remaining dough and ingredients.
• Place stuffed dough balls into a greased baking dish (a 2 qt dish should work).
• Bake at 450°F for about 20-25 minutes or until dough is cooked and starting to brown.
• Top with some tomato sauce and additional shredded cheese if desired and serve with dipping sauce!

Zucchini Cauliflower Pizza Crust

Remember how crazy my cauliflower pizza crust sounded?? Adding zucchini probably won’t make you less skeptical. However, it is awesome! I don’t exactly understand how forming cauliflower into a pizza crust makes it taste less like cauliflower but I’m glad it does! If you can get past the smell of cooking it, this pizza crust is a great alternative to dough crusts. Making pizza crust this way gives you tons of extra nutrients and added vegetable servings. It is also very low carb, low fat, gluten free, dairy free, and can be made Paleo. Makes 2 small circular crusts or 1 large square crust.

1 large zucchini, shredded (about 1 cup)

½ head of cauliflower, riced (about ½ cup)
1 egg (or equivalent egg substitute)
¼ cup GF bread crumbs (or GF flour will work also)
1 tsp garlic, minced
½ tsp sea salt
½ tsp basil
½ tsp oregano
Toppings
2 cups spinach
1 cup mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup raspberry balsamic vinaigrette
½ cup pasta sauce
½ cup shredded cheese (I used mozzarella style almond cheese)

• In a food processor, shred zucchini and cauliflower.
• In a large bowl, combine zucchini, cauliflower, egg, bread crumbs or flour, garlic, sea salt, basil, oregano. Mix until ingredients are well combined.
• Refrigerate crust mixture for about 30 minutes.
• Using foil or parchment paper, line a baking sheet. Spread crust mixture evenly into a thin layer on the baking sheet.
•  Bake at 400°F for 20 minutes.
• Remove from heat, add toppings and cheese if desired. Return to oven and bake an additional 10 minutes.
• Let cool for about 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Turkey Pizza Quesadillas

Quesadillas are one of my kid’s favorite meals. It’s also one of my favorites because they are so easy to make. We love regular chicken or cheese quesadillas but I wanted to change things up a bit. I decided to make an Italian version instead and it worked! The pasta sauce helps hold the ingredients together inside the tortilla and the seasonings in the turkey really make this taste similar to pizza. It’s just a simple and tasty version of one of our favorite meals!

8 6” corn tortilla shells

1/3 lb of ground turkey
1 tsp basil
½ tsp oregano
½ tsp garlic, minced
1/3 cup pasta sauce
¼ cup mushrooms, sliced
¼ cup bell pepper, chopped
1 cup spinach
½ cup shredded cheese

• In a large skillet, brown turkey and add in basil, oregano and garlic.
• On a preheated griddle, place tortilla shells. Spread pasta sauce over 4 of the shells.
• Layer cooked turkey, mushrooms, peppers, spinach and cheese onto the pasta sauce covered shells.
• Top with the remaining plain shells and cook on each side until slightly brown.

Cauliflower Pizza

I know what you are thinking. Cauliflower pizza – yuck? Don’t worry, not too long ago I was there also – completely skeptical. I had seen so many recipes using cauliflower to make different things but I hate cauliflower (taste and smell!). However, in the low point of my food life I thought, “why not?” So I tried and LOVED it. We all did.  I’m not sure how it happens but when you turn “riced” cauliflower into a pizza crust, something magical happens and it resembles nothing like the pungent veggie. Best part – low fat, little carbs, and customizable! It is a very delicate crust though so don’t be surprised when you can’t load it up with every topping imaginable.

 

1 head of cauliflower
1 cup of parmesan cheese (or Romano, etc. – just  hard, sharp cheese)
½ cup GF breadcrumbs
1 Tbsp dried parsley
1 tsp dried basil
1 egg

The first step is to “rice” your cauliflower. This helps make the veggie easier to work with. Take your head of cauliflower, uncooked and trim into chunks. Place the chunks into a food processor and pulse until the cauliflower resembles rice.

Cook the “rice” cauliflower in a saucepan filled with water. Bring to a boil and cook for about 2 minutes (just until tender). Strain the water from the cauliflower. Don’t use a typical colander because the cauliflower is probably small enough to fit through the holes. I use a juicer colander (very fine). You could also use cheese cloth. You just want to get as much water out as possible so your crust will crisp up.

Combine the strained cauliflower, cheese, breadcrumbs, egg, parsley and basil into a bowl and mix until well combined.

On a cookie sheet lined with parchment paper, press out the mixture to form your pizza crust. I press mine to about ¼” thick.

Bake at 350°F for about 20 minutes or until crust starts to brown on top.

                NOTE: You can make this into breadsticks as well. Just don’t add the toppings

TOPPINGS

Add whatever kind of toppings you’d like, just remember, the heavier the toppings, the soggier the crust. Here’s what we typically use:

½ to 1 cup of tomato sauce (depending on how saucy you want)
4-5 fresh basil leaves cut into thin strips
6 thin slices of mozzarella cheese
Parmesan cheese (to sprinkle on top)

Onto your cooked pizza crust, layer the tomato sauce, mozzarella, basil strips in that order. Sprinkle on as much parmesan cheese as you’d like and bake at 350°F until your cheese is melted.

We’ve also tried different varieties of toppings:

                Balsamic Vinegar, chicken, mozzarella
                Ranch, Chicken, Turkey Bacon, cheddar
                Spinach, strawberries and feta cheese