Gut loving Detox Pizza- Vegan & Gluten-free
My go-to pizza when I feel like I'd love a bit of crunch without the bread
Most of my inventions come from creating recipes for clients with specific nutritional needs. When I imagined this one in my head it was nowhere near what I expected. I imagined it being a complete fail on the first go and that it would need a few more attempts to refine it. To my surprise, I was completely wrong. This is a pizza masterpiece in all its glory when it comes to healthy pizzas and just like with traditional Italian pizza, it's all about the base
The base is just almonds, chia seeds and water. I needed to think of a way my client could eat almonds on the day this recipe was meant for and also offer something that was exciting to eat. So I thought I'd turn some almonds into power and use chia seeds as a binder as water alone wouldn't be enough. I turned this all into a dough, created the pizza base shapes and hoped for the best. Cooking time turned out to be less than I expected so I assumed the dough might've kept some of its moisture and I would've had to think of a third ingredient. Well, these beauties turned out just fine and shockingly crunchy and delicious. You have to try for yourself! :)
Do change the toppings to suit your own preference and feel free to change the cheeze for tomato sauce.
Okay, let's get to it! :)
Recipe
(makes 2 small pizzas)
Ingredients for the pizza crust
• 2 tbsp organic chia seeds, ground
• 1 1/4 cups ground almonds
• 1/2 tsp pink Himalayan salt
• a little coconut flour for dusting
Ingredients for the pizza sauce
• 1 cup cashews, soaked overnight or in boiling water for 30 minutes
• 1 small carrot, peeled and chopped
• 1/2 small white onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tbsp fresh lemon juice
• 2 tbsp tahini
• 1tsp pink Himalayan salt
• 1 cup drinking water
Ingredients for the pizza toppings
• 1/2 courgette, finely sliced
• 6 chestnut mushrooms, finely sliced
• black olives to taste, sliced
• a handful of arugula
Method
1. Use a coffee or herb grinder (a mini chopper or food processor should work too, they may just take a little longer) to grind the chia seeds. If you have a bottle blender like "Breville blend active" it works wonders. Use that :)
2. Stir the chia seeds with 4 tbsp of fresh drinking water and let the mixture soak for 20 minutes
3. Preheat your oven to 180C and line a baking tray with baking paper
4. Ground the almonds into a powder together with the salt
5. Kneed the almonds and salt with the soaked chia seeds to create a smooth dough
6. Throw a little coconut flour onto the surface you are going to work on
7. Divide the dough in half and roll out each piece on the floured work space
8. Lay the circles of dough onto the baking paper and bake in the centre of the oven until golden.
This may take between 12 and 15 minutes
9. Gently cook the courgette slices and mushrooms in a pan at medium heat for about 5 minutes, using just a teaspoon of coconut or flax oil
10. To prepare your pizza sauce, add all ingredients to your blender and blend until really smooth
11. Once done, remove your pizza crust from the oven and pour your pizza sauce on top
12. Add the toppings. You can choose to remove the pizza from the oven a few minutes before it is done and reinsert it with all the toppings for a couple minutes if you wish
13. Enjoy with kombucha for added gut health benefits
