How to Make a Courgette Pizza

I never used to be such a foodie, in the past I was happiest when I could grab a jar of something tasty and conveniently throw in my chicken and veg. It was always about the convenience factor, but now it is a very rare occasion that I reach for a jar of anything. I am all about throwing in a few choice purees, honey and spices to see what I come up with, of course there are days when it doesn’t go to plan, but for the most part I am really loving everything that I cook up in the kitchen. Everything is an experiment, and I am loving the idea of trying to make meals I used to love and relish, a healthy alternative.

This weekend was a bit of a learning curve, Saturday night consisted of Quinoa and Lentil Burger in a malt bun with Polenta Fries, and Sunday was Courgette Base Pizza and Polenta Fries (I have missed the idea of fries recently, so this is perfectly ok!). Now both of these options may sound crazy and anything but appetising, but the finished meals looked and tasted rather amazing! In fact… I would say they look as good (If not better) than the ‘real thing!?’.

I have been posting many of these creations onto my Instagram account, and many of you want to know how I am creating these meals. I have to be completely honest, I am not coming up with these ideas all on my own. I have taken great inspiration from Deliciously Ella, who is actually a complete magician in my opinion, but recently I have been adding some twists into some of her recipes. The Courgette Pizza was actually a complete fluke. I didn’t know if it was going to work or not, I didn't know if it was going to taste appetising at all for that matter.

Armed with my Nutribullet, a Courgette, Bramley Apple Sauce (YES REALLY!) Soy Sauce, Buckwheat Flour. I was ready to attempt my Courgette Pizza Base. I use the below recipe to make two pizza bases, but you could just as easily do one big base, Luke and I usually have different toppings on our pizza’s, so for us it works better to have a smaller pizza each, not to mention it halves the calories!

What you will need:

Food Processor

A Pizza Pan greased with oil and Buckwheat Flour

Mixing Bowl

Recipe

1 Courgette

Handful of Basil

1/4 of a cup of Bramley Apple Sauce

3 tablespoons of Soy Sauce

1 Lemon cut in half

1 and a half cups of Buckwheat Flour

Method

- First you will need to blend the Courgette and Basil up, I use my Nutribullet for this. Once this is completely blended together pour it into a mixing bowl.

-Pour ¼ of a cup of Bramley Apple Sauce into the cup, and then add it into your mixing bowl to mix with the Courgette and Basil.

-Now add in 3 tablespoons of Soy Sauce, (or a few more if you want some more flavour going on) and squeeze the lemon half’s into the mix.

-Add in your 1 and a half cups of Buckwheat Flour to the mix. This should give it a more dough like consistency.

-Now spoon your dough onto the Pizza Pan. As I use a Pizza Pan I always place a piece of baking parchment underneath the try to stop the dough leaking through the holes into the oven. The dough is runny until it starts to bake, and I find that cooking the base for 10 minutes and then flipping it gives it enough time to cook completely.

-Bake both of your Courgette Pizza Bases in the oven for about 20 minutes on 200C. Once the bases are firm and a little crisp, you can take them out and top them with whatever you want.

Of course now you need to top it, I always add Passatta as my pizza sauce, it’s tasty and low in calories. I HAVE to throw some Mozzarella on top, I only put about 30g, and that seems to satisfy my cheese cravings that are hard to avoid with Pizza! I Also throw on Basil, Coriander Pepperoni and Mushroom. You really can put whatever you like on it.

Cheat Polenta Fries

Of course if you want the real Pizza experience, you are going to need some fries to accompany it! I cooked up some Polenta Fries to go with our Courgette Pizza. I couldn’t find the maize to cook it up completely from scratch. All Tesco’s srocked was the readymade Polenta which I had to make do with. It comes in a 500g pack, and all you have to do is cut the Polenta into chip like shapes and place them on a baking tray. Once on the baking tray you can throw on:

-Salt

-Pepper

-Paprika

-Parmesan Cheese

Put them in the oven with your Pizza for 20 minutes, turning the fries over half way through so that they are crisp on both sides. You could even add a few more of the above flavourings in that time!

That’s a tasty and nutritious Pizza and Chips meal that weighs in at 734.25 calories (less if you can sacrifice Mozzarella and Pepperoni!).

This may well be my new favourite meal combination!