"We seldom get into trouble when we speak softly. It is only when we raise our voices that the sparks fly and tiny molehills become great mountains of contention."
Zucchini Pizza Crust (Low-Carb and Totally Amazing)
by Melanie Gunnell
This low-carb zucchini
pizza crust is totally and completely out-of-this-world amazing.
Throw your skepticism aside and just believe me, ok? (For a million
reasons, not the least of which is that it could make a super cute,
Pinterest-worthy St. Patrick’s Day meal, you know, with the
greenish crust and all, and then you’ll feel like a rock star,
which is never a bad thing).
And then after you
believe…make it. And if you’re me, make it again and
again and again and again.
My sister, Em, has made
this pizza crust dozens of times and kept telling me about it —
so often that I kind of started to ignore her (sorry, Em). It’s
just that I really, really hate wringing water out of zucchini. Maybe
I’m old and pre-arthritic, but it hurts my hands and disturbs
me the way it turns the kitchen towel all green and swampy.
Anyway, after Em
realized I was avoiding the zucchini pizza crust issue, she finally
told me she wouldn’t speak to me until I made it and since I’m
really trying to convince her to
run this half-marathon with me, I decided to just get
it over with. We have a very mature sisterly relationship.
So I made it. Totally
cringing in anticipation of what Brian was going to say. That man
loves his pizza and I hate to brag, but our homemade
pizza kind of rocks. So throwing a green zucchini
pizza crust at him?
Well, I wasn’t
sure how it would go over. But I forged ahead with the comfort
knowing he will eat just about anything I put in front of him (good
man that he is), whether or not it’s followed up with: “Um,
that may not necessarily be the most blog-worthy thing you’ve
ever made.”
To say this crust was a
complete home run is an understatement. My family is in love. I’ve
made this four times or so, and each time, we polish it off entirely.
No leftovers. And Brian always raves, which is pretty remarkable for
an old-fashioned guy who loves his BBQ chicken pizza on real, live
pizza crust.
As you can see, you
really need to give it a try. A few keys to success:
Seriously, wring out as much
liquid from the zucchini as your little hands can muster. This last
time, a light bulb went off and I decided to use the
same bag I’ve started using to strain my
homemade yogurt, and holy dry zucchini — it worked wonders and
is absolutely the only way I’ll wring zucchini from now on.
Preheat a baking stone or
overturned baking sheet for at least 30 minutes. The crust needs to
start out on that hot, hot stone in order to brown to perfection
(otherwise you’ll end up with limpy, quiche-like crust, ew).
Don’t expect the dough to be
anything like regular (yeasty) pizza crust. It’s very soft and
sticky and I know you’ll be wondering if there’s any way
it will turn into a pizza you can actually pick up (I was nervous,
too, the first time) but I promise it bakes perfectly in the oven,
especially if you use the ingredient amounts in the recipe and
follow tips #1 and #2 above.
As I mention in the
notes of the recipe, I’ve also used part cauliflower when I
didn’t have as many zucchinis in my refrigerator (wringing out
the water from the cauli, too) and it was fantastic as well.
I’m definitely
not giving up traditional pizza but I love how quickly this crust
comes together and the fact it’s a little less carb-loaded (but
still amazingly delicious). I have a feeling once zucchini is
proliferating like mad in our garden, we’ll be making this at
least weekly.
Zucchini Pizza Crust Yield: Makes 1-2 pizzas, depending on the thickness of the crust
The dough is pretty
soft and sticky so don't be afraid to grease your hands to pat the
crust into an even thickness. I personally like the crust fairly
thin. Also, keep in mind that if you coarsely grate the zucchini, you
might end up with more than the 3-4 cups which is ok — just
stick to about 3 medium zucchini (1 1/2 pounds).
I used to use regular
old kitchen towels to squeeze the zucchini dry until I had the idea
to use the same
bag I use for straining yogurt...and it works amazing
well. The driest zucchini I've ever wrung out which makes me happy
(and means I'm a nerd and I'm ok with that).
Oh, and last thing —
one time when I made this, I was short on zucchini, so I shredded up
some raw cauliflower and used that with the zucchini (I wrung as much
water as I could out of it, too)...and it was equally amazing.
Ingredients
3 medium zucchini (about 1 1/2 pounds or 3-4 cups finely shredded and packed)
Preheat a baking stone or
overturned rimmed baking sheet at 450 degrees F for 30 minutes.
If you have time, sprinkle the
zucchini with a teaspoon of coarse kosher salt (1/2 teaspoon if
using table salt) and let it set for 15-20 minutes. Wring out the
zucchini really, really well. And when you think it's wrung out all
the way, wring it out some more. You want it as dry as possible.
You'll end up with about a cup or so after it's been wrung dry.
In a large bowl, combine the
zucchini, flour, garlic powder, oregano, basil, salt, eggs, and
cheeses. Stir together (I usually abandon the spoon and dig in my
hands to get it all combined).
Grease a sheet of parchment paper
(two pieces if you are making really thin pizzas).
The dough is pretty soft and
sticky so you may want to grease your hands as well. Press the dough
into the desired shape and thickness on the greased parchment paper.
You can get this dough pretty thin if you work at pressing it out
evenly (I like it about 1/4-inch thick).
Slide the parchment paper with the
pizza crust onto the preheated baking stone (if you don't have a
pizza peel, you can use an overturned baking sheet to slide it on).
Bake for about 10 minutes until the crust looks set and the bottom
is starting to brown.
Carefully remove the parchment and
pizza crust from the oven and top with pizza sauce and toppings.
Bake for another 3-5 minutes until the cheese is melted and bubbly.
Recipe Source: adapted from a recipe sent to me by my sister, Em,
originally from here
Melanie Gunnell is a food-loving, chocolate-obsessed mom who has a desperate need to share
her favorite tried-and-true recipes with the world. In a past life she graduated from Brigham
Young University with a degree in public health, but for the past ten years, stay-at-home
motherhood has been her job along with blogging-from-home for the past five.
She resides in the brilliantly cold tundra of Northern Minnesota with her husband and their brood
of five children: four boys and one tiny, bossy girl. Dark chocolate (particularly the act of
shoving chocolate chips in her mouth whilst hiding in the pantry) is her coping skill of choice for
both the never-ending winters and the never-ending wrestling matches in her front room.