Paleo Pizza Crust

    Hello! 

   First, if you clicked here thinking, "this says Paleo, but it's covered in cheese!!!". I know, cheese isn't paleo (it's considered Primal, "technically"), but the real star of this show is the crust, and it is Paleo. Hund-o-pee (that means 100%, cool new word compliments of my cousin). He's a weirdo. 

   Ok, now let me move on and say that "pizza" & "paleo" don't really go together.   

   Someone asked me the other day what Paleo was. In the words of Michelle from Nom Nom Paleo: "In a nutshell, the Paleo diet (or, as I like to think of it, the Paleo template—the word “diet” tends to mislead folks into thinking this is nothing more than a temporary weight-loss program) is based on the notion that for optimal health, modern humans should go back to eating real, whole unprocessed foods that are more healthful than harmful to our bodies".
 
   So, what does that mean? It means focusing on whole, unprocessed foods like meat and eggs, seafood and vegetables, as well as fruits, nuts & seeds. Things that should be avoided on the "Paleo Template" are foods that can cause our bodies harm such as grains, legumes, sugar, and dairy. 

   Based on those facts, pizza sounds like an out-there idea! And really, pizza isn't an everyday paleo meal for me & the fam, but it sure is nice to have on a Friday night once in a while! Seriously, somehow having pizza for dinner on a Friday night makes me feel young again! Not that I'm "old", but it does something to my brain that says "you're so hip eating pizza on a Friday night!", then my brain focuses back into the fact that I'm also married with three kids and a mortgage and a pile of responsibilities, and I'm eating a Paleo pizza. And that I said "hip"......

     Moving on! 

    Dairy and I have a love-hate relationship. It doesn't make me bloated, or make me feel ill, but it does make my saliva thicker, causing mucus (eeewwwwww). So, I just avoid it if I will be singing somewhere (in front of people, that is. I'm always singing in the house, and that can sound as good or as bad as I want it to!). Also, I don't have some sort of Paleo accountability partner who looks at me disapprovingly if I eat dairy. I eat Paleo based on how I feel, and because dairy doesn't seem to assault me with ill-feelings, I consume it periodically.   

   Now, all that being said, this pizza crust is dairy free, and what you put on it is up to you! 

   I found the recipe at Paleo Spirit for this crust. Lea Valle (at Paleo Spirit) deserves all the glory here people! I did make some adaptations, but it was her basic paleo pizza crust that made me believe in paleo pizza! I've made many other kinds of crusts before, and they basically all sucked. Thumbs down.

   So, get ready, this stuff is awesome!  :)   

Basic Paleo Pizza Crust
Makes 1- 12 Inch pizza crust (approximately). I have doubled and tripled the batch with great results


Ingredients:

• 1/2 Cup Tapioca flour (plus extra for rolling out the dough)
• 1/2 Cup Arrowroot flour

**You can also just use 1 full cup of either flour, but the blend gives the best results**

• 1/3 Cup Coconut flour, plus 2-4 tablespoons more, kept separate
• Pinch o' salt
• 1 Tbsp spice of choice. Good options are garlic powder, onion powder, paprika, dried parsley or Italian blend seasoning
• 1/2 Cup Olive oil
• 1/2 Cup warm water or broth/stock
• 1 Egg, whisked

**If you are going the dairy route with this pizza's toppings, adding up to 1/4 cup parmesan into the crust mix is also a-mmmmaaaaz-zing! :)  Just mix it with the dry ingredients


Method: 

1. Preheat oven to 450 and prepare a round pizza pan or baking sheet with parchment paper. Set aside
2. Combine the 3 types of flours and the salt and seasoning, and whisk together to fully combine
3. Pour in the oil and the warm water and stir it up.
4. Add in the whisked egg, and combine well. You'll now have a slightly sloppy dough (photo A)
5. Now, one tablespoon at a time, add the extra coconut flour and continue mixing until you have a nice dough. It should still be a little sticky, but manageable (photo B)
6. Flour your countertop well with tapioca flour and plop your pizza dough out onto the floured surface
7. Flour your hands with the tapioca or arrowroot, and start to knead the dough, adding more flour to your hands and counter as needed until you've got a dough that is no longer sticky, but is sturdy (Photo C). Depending on where you live (altitude, etc.) or the weather you may need up to 1/2 Cup extra flour
8. Place your dough ball onto the pizza pan (or baking sheet) and roll out using a floured rolling pin, a can, or just by squishing it down with your hands
9. Bake in preheated oven for 10-13 minutes or until it is lightly golden 
10. Take the crust from the oven and add sauce, and toppings, then bake until the cheese is melted (if using) or until you think it looks good-about 10 minutes is about all it needs generally

​Other Options:

      A: Bake the crusts a day or two before you need them, let them cool completely (on their baking sheet or pizza pan), then wrap in plastic wrap until you need them. Once you're ready to use them, just heat the oven to 400, add your toppings to the pizza, then heat for 15 minutes or until hot and the toppings are ready

      B: Bake the crust, let it cool completely, then wrap lightly in plastic wrap (on it's baking sheet/pizza pan) and let and freeze completely. Then you can take the crust off the pan and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place into a freezer safe bag (or a few layers of plastic wrap for a bigger pizza). Once ready to use, preheat oven to 375, remove plastic, add toppings to the frozen crust and bake until hot through and toppings are ready, about 20 minutes

      C: Bake the crust for 10 minutes, then and add the toppings and bake, but only for 5 more minutes until the toppings are nearly ready. Remove from the oven and let cool completely. Then wrap lightly in plastic wrap (on it's baking sheet/pizza pan) and let and freeze completely. Once frozen, you can wrap tightly in plastic wrap, and place into a freezer safe plastic bag (if it's a small pizza) and freeze. If it's a large pizza, just wrap in a few layers of plastic wrap). Once ready to use, preheat the oven to 350, remove the plastic and heat pizza for 15-20 minutes or until the pizza is hot. 


      You could also make the dough, and wrap tightly in plastic wrap and place into the fridge for a few days until ready to make the pizza. I've never done this, but I think if you did, you would need to pull the dough out of the fridge for at least 30 minutes to let it warm back up slightly. If you try this method let me know how it goes! 

   My kids who have made and eaten (and complained about) other pizza crusts really (really!!!) like this one! My lovely 6 year old took her first bite and said (very concerned), "can Caleb eat this?". Caleb is our for real, all the time gluten-free family member, and Abby has tried some pretty crappy gluten-free foods and actually thought I had maybe made a mistake and the crust wasn't gluten-free!

   Pat yourself on the back, Amy-Lyn, you've fooled the toughest critic out there. :)  

   As for Paleo pepperoni, the pickings are really slim, but Maestro makes a pepperoni that I can get at a great price at my usual grocery store and is Paleo (therefore gluten-free) and tasty!  

​   I went a little picture crazy with this pizza....it is just too good to be true...except it IS true! I didn't get any pictures of just the crust, well I actually did get some, but they were just kind of "bleh" and I don't really like "bleh" photos, I like, "Wow!!! That looks yummy!" kind of photos. But you get a nice bottom shot of the crust in that collage above, so that's something.

    When I made this the first time I was still mentally prepared for failure. For a weird taste, or a floppy crust you couldn't hold, but this pizza crust is the real deal! It's so easy to make, tastes great, and has a super hold! Oh, and it even tasted great and held up after being micro-waved the next day in my husbands lunch! What? I know! I know.....

   If you want to feel cool and young this weekend, make some pizza. Hahaha, just kidding.  

   For real though, have a great weekend, and make some pizza!