In my last post I mentioned making an effort to let my girls help or prepare meals more often. The following is the creation of my 9 year old daughter and I, and the photos are of her pizzas. She mixed the dough first with a spoon and then kneading it with her hands ( she loved that part!). I then divided the dough and rolled it out for her, we then pre-baked the crust, removed it from the oven and she then put all the toppings on and we grilled them. Oh, I almost forgot she also mixed up the pizza sauce we used. This was such a fun treat for them, we used to have pizza quite frequently on Friday nights pre-Paleo, so they really enjoyed it! We have a large family so we had to repeat this process several times, ( I make triple this, but cut the recipe down for everyone), some we topped with Cheese and others we did not. For grilled Pizza we like the crust rolled nice and thin and crispy almost like a cracker, Yum! We hope you enjoy it as much as we do, feel free to change up the herbs and spices to whatever you like, and use your favorite toppings, too.
GRILLED GRAIN FREE/ "PALEO" PIZZA
2 1/2 cups of almond flour (you may need another 2-3 TBSP)
2 eggs
3 TBSP of good extra virgin olive oil (I like Kasandrinos Extra Virgin Olive oil (Kotinos) )
1/4 tsp baking soda
1/2 tsp dried sweet basil (or any herbs, garlic etc. of your choice)
First thing you want to do is get your grill started, we used charcoal and some leftover mesquite wood chips for ours. The key is to use very little briquets, you want a really low heat, like really low or it will burn. Another option is to put most of the briquets on one end of the grill and use more of an indirect heat. We started out with the rack on the lowest setting and as the coals cooled we just raised them and it worked wonderfully.
Then preheat your oven to 350 degrees, and combine all of the above ingredients first with a spoon and then kneading and mixing well with your hands. Next, take 2 sheets of parchment paper ( they need to be about the same size), I buy mine on a large roll from Costco and just tear it to fit my pan. Take the desired amount of dough, depending on your pan size, and roll it tightly into a ball with your hands. Place on one sheet of parchment paper on your work surface, then place the "dough" on the parchment paper, flattening slightly with your hands. Take the second sheet of parchment paper and place over the top of the dough. Then using a rolling pin, roll in all directions to get the shape and thickness desired (we did both rectangular in a jelly roll pan and round on a pizza pan). I roll mine really thin (about a generous 1/8 inch), but 1/4 inch should be fine too. Then remove the top sheet of parchment paper and using the bottom sheet of parchment paper slide the whole thing onto your desired pan (leaving it on the bottom parchment paper). Place in the oven either on the middle rack or one rack up from that (I usually have 2 going at a time and rotate the rack they are on), bake for 15-20 minutes. Then remove from the oven spread with your Pizza Sauce and top with your desired toppings. We love to mix it up, but Applegate Pepperoni is always a hit! Then using the pan just slide the whole thing off onto the grill, and then remove the parchment paper by sliding the pizza off the paper while it is on the grill. I found that to be the best technique for me, but use whatever works best for you. Then close the cover on your grill and check it after a few minutes, I like to use a spatula to move it around on the grill so if I have a hot spot, it gets rotated. Ours took about 10 minutes on the grill and we had our grill at a really low heat. Then using a spatula carefully direct the pizza to either the pan you started out with, a cutting board or other surface, cut, serve and enjoy! This is a great recipe to get the kids involved with, they love mixing, rolling, and making their own pizzas! Be sure to throw lot's of veggies in there too! Mushroom, Linsey Natural Olives, tomatoes, peppers, sweet onion, zucchini, artichokes, etc.
We look forward to experimenting with some pesto, pine nuts, chicken, etc. too later this summer!
*Next time we make this I will try to remember to get photos of the process, I personally love process photos and find them helpful.*
