Tuesday, January 20, 2015

Gluten Free Almond Meal Pizza Crust with Turkey and Spinach Topping


We're constantly looking for new, exciting and tasty ways to explore healthy food in my house.  Myself, I have a gluten sensitivity (which I tend to ignore) that makes me feel kind of icky. We also have heart disease in my household so low fat, low sodium dishes are a must for us.  Low sodium, low fat, no gluten...no flavor, right?? Definitely not the case in my kitchen most of the time.  I love to try new recipes but even more so, I like to throw some stuff together and hope for the best when it's time to eat it.  That's kind of where we went with tonight's meal and I couldn't be more pleased with the results! We had "pizza" tonight that was low fat, low sodium, gluten free and totally delicious. What I loved the most was the crust has four main ingredients and combined in a bowl, no mixer required.

Gluten Free Almond Meal Crust (makes 1 crust)
2 cups almond meal/flour
2 tbsp coconut flour
2 tsp olive oil
2 egg substitutes (mine was 1/2 cup)

Preheat oven to 375 with a pizza stone in the oven to preheat as well.  Mix all ingredients together in a bowl with a spatula. It will come together quickly and should be moist and slightly sticky.  Place the ball between two pieces of parchment paper and roll out to 1/4" thickness. Mine is never totally round. I like to call it rustic :) Remove top layer of parchment paper.  I prefer a bit of an edge on my crust so I folded over the outside by about a half inch. Pick up the parchment and place in crust in the oven on the stone.  Bake for 10 minutes. Remove from oven, add toppings, bake again for 10-12 minutes or until edges start to brown or cheese (if you're using any) starts to melt. The crust is thin, crispy and delicious!

Turkey and Spinach Topping (makes two)
20 oz lean ground turkey
1 can no salt added diced tomatoes
2 tbsp stone ground mustard
1 tbsp no sugar added pickle relish
1 tbsp garlic powder
1/4 cup dehydrated onion (if you don't have these on hand, dice a small white onion and brown with the ground turkey)
1 cup frozen chopped spinach, thawed
1/2 tsp red pepper flakes (more or less based on heat level desire)

In a large skillet, brown the ground turkey and drain any grease.  Add remaining ingredients excluding cheese and heat slightly.  Add half of the mixture to the top of your warm crust.  Evenly spread cheese over the top. Bake 10-12 minutes or until cheese is melted and crust is starting to brown.

Your left over topping would freeze well or use it to make a second pizza while you devour the first. My family also likes to eat this mixture with fresh baked corn tortilla chips as well!

While I haven't yet tried it, I think this crust would hold up well to having added spices.  Some Italian seasoning would be a lovely addition to give it some more flavor.  It would also hold Parmesan cheese well but would likely require a little additional oil to retain the moisture.  I will most certainly continue to experiment with additions to this crust because I am in LOVE :)

I'd love to hear about your experiences with this recipe!  Use the comments or email me :)

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