Margherita Pizza

Imagine, pizzeria quality pizza without the bloat! With lectin-free crust, tomato sauce and approved toppings, O Sole Mio, you're eating pizza again!

Lectin Free Gourmet Pizza

To have good pizza, it takes a winning trifecta of crust, sauce and cheese. Other toppings are ancillary, and quite by preference. But if the crust, sauce and cheese aren't right, and you can't make a great basic cheese pizza, you don't have yourself a real pizza at all.

So, let's start with the crust. This is from a box — I kid you not! I could make this grain-free crust from scratch, but this boxed brand is nearly perfect (just missing salt), and it's made from such pure ingredients, WHY BOTHER? Now understand, this crust is made from grain-free flours and no yeast, so it's going to be different from the crust you're used to. But with an open mind, and an open mouth, you will see that different can be delicious. And in this case, it definitely is.

The sauce is real, from-scratch, tomato marinara. Don't worry, we're going de-lectinize the Roma tomatoes before we eat them. Plenty of garlic and basil make this sauce just WOW! And let's talk about the whole milk Italian mozzarella. It's salty, stretchy, melty and bubbly from pastured cows. Who could ask for more?

The Recipe

Lectin Free Gourmet Pizza

(Crust)

1 Box Simple Mills Pizza Dough Almond Flour Mix

1/2 t Kosher Salt (mix contains no salt, but it needs it)

2 T Apple Cider Vinegar

2 T Olive Oil (don't use grapeseed of vegetable as box recommends)

6 T Water

(Sauce)

5 Roma Tomatoes

2 Cloves Garlic

1/4 C Fresh Basil

2 T Olive Oil

1/2 t Kosher Salt

Instructions:

Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Make the dough. Pour the pizza dough mix into a medium bowl, add salt and prepare the crusts as directed (except use olive oil). It makes two 8 inch pizza crusts, so plan your toppings accordingly.Bake the crusts without sauce or toppings for 5 minutes. Remove from oven and set aside. Increase oven temp to 400 degrees.

Now prepare your tomatoes. In a medium sauce pan boil 4 cups of water and drop in the Roma tomatoes. Boil for about 5 minutes. Remove from water and let cool until you can handle the tomatoes without burning your fingers. With your favorite sharp knife, cut off the navel end of the tomatoes. Then pull the peels off the tomatoes and cut tomatoes in half lengthwise. With a spoon, gouge out the center vein and scrape out all the seeds. Now you can dice what's left of the tomato for the sauce. By skinning and de-seeding the tomatoes, you have eliminated most of lectins from the fruit.

Now make the sauce. In a medium sauce pan, heat olive oil on medium flame. Peel and mince garlic and add to the pot, follow immediately with the diced tomatoes and salt. Stir together and reduce heat. Simmer covered for about 20 minutes, stirring occasionally and checking to make sure your sauce doesn't burn. Meanwhile, finely chop the fresh basil. When done cooking, add basil and stir for even distribution. This is enough sauce for both pizzas.

Spread the sauce evenly on your prepared grain-free crusts. Next, ad the cheese. Use pastured, whole milk mozzarella. I think Galbani Italian mozzarella is great. For Margherita pizza cut thin slices of mozzarella and arrange evenly. For pizza with traditional (or not so traditional) toppings, shred the cheese and sprinkle it over the sauce. Finally add toppings. Bake the pizzas at 400 degrees for about 10-12 minutes or until cheese starts to bubble. I like to finish with a quick 500 degree broil with the door open so I can see when the cheese is brown and bubbly. For Margherita pizza, add fresh basil leaves after you remove pizza from oven. Be sure you select toppings that are lectin-free and plant paradox compliant.

Pair with a pinot noir, dry rose or cabernet sauvignon, even Champagne! You can't go wrong with good pizza and good wine. Now quit salivating and go make it!