PIZZA
Crust:
8 ounces cream cheese, softened
4 eggs
2 ounces almond flour, generous 1/2 cup
1 ounce parmesan cheese, 1/4 cup
3/4 cup MiniCarb bake mix *
1 teaspoon baking powder
1/8 teaspoon garlic powder
1 tablespoon olive oil
4 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded, 1 cup
Toppings:
1/2 cup pizza sauce
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
4 ounce can mushrooms, drained well
Pepperoni slices
Italian sausage, browned and crumbled
Ham, sliced in bite-sized pieces
Other meats of your choice
1/2 cup green pepper, chopped, about 2 ounces
Sprinkling of herbs of your choice
For the crust, place the first 8 ingredients in a food processor fitted with the chopping/mixing blade. Process until you have a somewhat smooth batter and all of the ingredients are well incorporated. Add the shredded Italian Blend cheese and pulse until well blended. Spread the batter on a well-greased 11x17" jelly roll pan, pushing the dough up the sides of the pan slightly to form an edge crust. The dough will be very sticky, so after spreading as well as I could with a spatula, I covered it with a sheet of plastic wrap and pressed the dough in place through the plastic. Bake at 350º 15-20 minutes until nicely browned and set. The crust may puff up in the oven, but will sink back down on cooling. Let the crust stand on cooling rack a few minutes to rest and allow it to shrink down, if necessary.
Spread the pizza sauce over the crust, top with the cheese, then the meat and other toppings of your choice. I like to sprinkle a little Italian seasoning and garlic powder over the whole thing before baking. Bake for another 20 minutes, until the toppings are hot and bubbly. Cut and eat at once; it cools quickly.
Makes 12 good size slices
Can be frozen
* Other brands and types of bake mixes will work, but may have more carbs. MiniCarb has approximately 4 carbs per cup.
Per Serving: 348 Calories; 28g Fat; 20g Protein; 6g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 4g Net Carbs
This was closer to eating a bread crust than the Deep Dish Pizza recipe, but the carbs are a bit higher per serving. The servings are quite a bit larger though, so it probably comes out pretty close to the same. This is a pizza that you can pick up and eat with your hands, unlike the soft crust of the Deep Dish Pizza. I did find the crust to be a bit thick and dry, but it was also quite filling and one slice was plenty for me. I might try baking the crust by itself just a little bit longer to crisp it up more. Maybe it wouldn't seem so dry then. I baked mine 20 minutes before adding the toppings. Click the photo to see a close-up.
Note: The crust was greatly improved with reheating in the toaster oven. It got crispy. I really do like this pizza. I may try adding a bit of oil to the crust batter and see if that cures the dryness.
DOUBLE CHEESE PIZZA
Make as directed above, but use 16 ounces mozzarella on top.
Per Serving: 408 Calories; 32g Fat; 24g Protein; 7g Carbohydrate; 2g Dietary Fiber; 5g Net Carbs