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Zucchini Pizza Crust With Lemony Pea Pesto From the #NScookbook | Nutrition Strippped
Eat Well Sep. 13. 2016
Mains

Zucchini Pizza Crust With Lemony Pea Pesto

Sep. 13. 2016
Mains
McKel Hill Kooienga, MS, RDN, LDN

McKel Hill Kooienga, MS, RDN, LDN

Founder of Nutrition Stripped® and the Mindful Nutrition Method™

A gluten-free pizza crust made with zucchini and topped with a lemony pea pesto, arugula, and pine nuts for a simple and delicious dinner recipe.

It’s been three whole weeks since the release of the NS Cookbook but I’ve still got several recipes to share! Today I’m sharing one of my favorites from the cookbook – Zucchini Pizza Crust with Lemony Pea Pesto. It’s a gluten-free pizza crust made with zucchini and topped with a lemony pea pesto, arugula, and pine nuts for a simple and delicious dinner recipe. I’m positive you’ll love this one! Keep reading for the recipe.

Zucchini is a surprisingly chameleon-like vegetable — I find myself using it frozen in morning smoothies, pureed in desserts, and, now, grated in pizza crust! Zucchini pizza is a great way to sneak in extra servings of vegetables, and it is naturally lower in carbohydrates and higher in fiber compared with traditional crusts. This recipe pays homage to a cauliflower crust, which is one of my most popular recipes from the blog. Both of these recipe components — the crust and the pea pesto — can be enjoyed on their own, yet when combined, it’s evident they’re meant to be enjoyed together.

What’s the verdict?

What do you think of zucchini in pizza crust? I’ve seen a lot of you make this one at home, so if you decide to make it for yourself share it with #NScookbook so I can see! Seeing you guys bring the cookbook to life is probably one of my favorite things ever, so please share! I hope you enjoy this one, and if you liked it or have any suggestions, let me know in the comments!

xx McKel

Photos by Katie Newburn

p.s Love this recipe and want over 100 other recipes not found on the NS blog? Get them in the #NScookbook!

The Recipe

Serves 4

Print

Ingredients:

For the pizza crust:

3 cups finely grated zucchini

1 to 2 teaspoons sea salt

1/2 cup almond flour

2 tablespoons brown rice flour

2 eggs, beaten

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons nutritional yeast

1 teaspoon dried oregano

1/2 teaspoon red pepper flakes

Freshly ground black pepper

Olive oil, for drizzling

For the Lemony Pea Pesto (makes about 1 1/2 cups):

1 (10-ounce) bag frozen peas

2 tablespoons pine nuts, toasted

2 cloves garlic, minced

2 tablespoons olive oil

2 tablespoons filtered water

2 tablespoons hemp seeds

1 tablespoon grated fresh lemon zest

Juice of 1 lemon

Pinch of sea salt

Freshly ground black pepper

Garnishes: arugula, grated fresh lemon zest, lemon juice, and freshly ground black pepper

Directions:

For the Zucchini Crust:

Place the grated zucchini in a strainer, sprinkle the salt on top, and gently toss until the salt is distributed.

Allow the zucchini to sit and sweat excess moisture for 45 to 60 minutes.

Transfer the zucchini from the strainer to a nut milk bag or cheesecloth. Wrapping the cloth around the zucchini entirely, use your hands to squeeze out any excess liquid. Repeat the process until the zucchini no longer releases liquid. Place the zucchini in a large bowl and add the flours, eggs, garlic, nutritional yeast, oregano, red pepper flakes, and black pepper to taste.

Stir to combine well.

Position one rack in the middle of the oven and another in the top position. Place a pizza stone (for a crispier crust) or a baking sheet lined with parchment paper on the middle rack.

Preheat the oven to 500 ̊F. Place a large piece of parchment paper on a clean countertop and drizzle it with olive oil. Spread the zucchini dough onto the parchment paper and form the dough into a large 10-inch round or oval, about 1/2 inch thick. Transfer the dough from the parchment paper directly to the hot pizza stone or lined baking sheet and bake for 20 minutes. Flip the pizza crust over and bake for an additional 10 minutes, until the crust is firm-crisp.

Carefully remove the crust from the oven, spoon on the pesto to the desired thickness, and bake on the top rack for 5 to 7 minutes, until the pesto is warm. Remove from the oven. Top with garnishes, if desired, and serve immediately.

For the Lemony Pea Pesto:

Quick-thaw the peas by blanching in boiling water for 3 minutes or microwaving until soft. In a food processor or high-speed blender, combine the peas, pine nuts, garlic, oil, water, hemp seeds, lemon zest, lemon juice, salt, and pepper to taste and pulse until the mixture is well combined and thick. Adjust seasonings to taste. Store in an airtight glass container.

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