Late in November, I traveled to Omaha to judge Afghan Hounds. Well actually I landed in Omaha then went across the Missouri river to Council Bluffs, Iowa. Great location, wonderful people.
The return flight had me in the Omaha airport waiting for my late night plane, and I succumbed to the personal pan size pizza from the food vendor. And..I ate the WHOLE thing. Not just the toppings but crust and all.
Sigh. After so many years of resisting, I gave in.
And it was good. Oh so yummy GOOD. To the point that I briefly wondered if all this low carb stuff was worth it. Yes, that good.
What was good about it? What’s good about most pizzas. The crust of course! The crunchy chewy olive oil drenched crust.
Good pizza crusts are loaded with high quality flour and gluten which puts them off the menu for me. What could I do to get at least close to that taste sensation?
When I got home I went through my recipes, and remembered the Fathead Pizza. I originally found this recipe on a forum but it has also had its own blog entries. The basic recipe:
1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella
¾ cup almond flour
2 tbs cream cheese
1 egg
Garlic salt
Parchment paper and cookie sheet
1. Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.
2. Microwave the mozzarella and cream cheese until smooth.
3. Mix the cheese with the almond flour and egg. I also add a few dashes of parsley, fennel and oregano.
4. Flatten out the dough on the parchment paper/cookie sheet. I like to put my hand in a sandwich bag so that nothing sticks.
5. Liberally sprinkle the crust with garlic salt. Poke the dough a bit with a fork to prevent bubbles*.
6. Bake for 8 minutes, and poke any bubbles.
7. Bake for another 4-6 minutes until it is slightly brown on top.
8. Add any ingredients for your topping and then pop back into the oven to melt the cheese on top
Where it says use water on your hands, I used olive oil while patting out that crust. Then I added
cook the crust first
a layer of Parmesan flakes. I cooked the crust, then added simple toppings: mushrooms, green chilies, along with, of course, more cheese.
Was it good? Oh, yeah. It was good that night, and for several subsequent meals. I reheated mostly in a frying pan, using that good olive oil to prep the pan.
Was it as good as a ‘real’ pizza? I think it’s as real as it gets but no, it’s not as mouth indulging delicious as a yeast-y gluten-y pizza. But it also won’t interfere with my eating plan, nor will it trigger me into more more more.
And that, my friends, is good.
Mona Karel Author 