Quinoa Crust Pizza
Who knew that you could make a pizza base out of cooked quinoa?! I often find myself “accidentally” cooking too much quinoa just so that I can have a delicious, gluten free pizza the next day!
Ingredients
- 125 g cooked quinoa (see Lisa’s tip for cooking measurements)
- 30 g mozzarella cheese grated
- 1 egg beaten
- sea salt or herbamare
- white pepper
- ¼ to ½ tsp. Dried Oregano
topping
- 1 tsp. olive oil
- 4-5 tbsp. tomato-based pasta sauce (I like a Marinara style one)
- sea salt or herbamare
- cracked black pepper
- 75 g shiitake or closed cup mushrooms sliced
- 50 g mozzarella cheese grated
garnish
- basil leaves
- Parmesan grated or shavings
- sea salt and pepper to taste
Instructions
- Preheat the oven to 400°F, gas mark 6, 200°C (180°C fan-assisted) and line a baking tray with parchment paper.
- Place the cooked quinoa, 30g grated mozzarella cheese, beaten egg, seasoning and dried oregano into a mixing bowl and combine well.
- Spoon the mixture onto the parchment paper lined baking sheet and, using the back of a large metal spoon, spread the mix evenly out to form a round “base” (aim for about 8-10 inches/20cm-25cm), pressing it together and down firmly to ensure that it’s all well compressed. If you like a deeper crust then, at this stage, you can build the edges up slightly but resist the urge to make them too thick or thin. Place the baking sheet into the oven and bake for 20 minutes until the base starts to turn golden brown, then remove and carefully turn the base over and return it to the oven to cook for a further 10 minutes.
- Place a frying pan over a medium heat, add the olive oil and, when warm, tip in the mushrooms and sauté until they are lightly golden and the juice has evaporated, then season with sea salt (or herbamare) and black pepper.
- Once the base has cooked, remove it from the oven and carefully turn it back over onto the baking sheet. Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the surface of the pizza base, leaving a border of approx. ¼ inch around the outside. Season with a touch of sea salt (or herbamare) and cracked black pepper then top with the remaining grated mozzarella cheese and the sautéed mushrooms (plus any additional toppings of your choice) then place it back into the oven for 8-10 minutes (or longer if you like it crispier) until the cheese has melted.
- Remove from the oven and garnish with the grated/shaved parmesan and fresh basil leaves.
- Serve and enjoy!
- If you make this recipe, I’d LOVE to see how you get on - so either send me a photo to lisa@myrelationshipwithfood.com or post a picture to Instagram using the #myrelationshipwithfood and tag @myrelationshipwithfood
Notes
[recipe-video]
LISA’S TIP
Not only does making your own pizza mean that you can experiment with delicious alternative bases like this quinoa one and my cauliflower version, but it’s also a great way of using up any “odds & ends” of cheese, veggies, leaves etc that you have lurking in the fridge and putting store-cupboard ingredients like tinned/jarred anchovies, sun-dried tomatoes or even eggs to good use – the list is endless! And why not try spreading pesto on the base instead of the tomato sauce if you fancy something a bit different? It’s delicious!
I always keep cooked quinoa in the fridge as, not only is it great for making gluten free pizza bases, but it also makes a great addition to or base for adding to salads, soups, poke bowls…the list goes on! I tend to cook 200g (dry weight) of quinoa which gives a cooked weight of around 550g and this will make 4 quinoa pizza bases.
For the quinoa – place the uncooked quinoa into a fine mesh sieve and rinse with cold water until the water runs clear. Tip the quinoa into a medium saucepan together with 300ml of cold water, bring to the boil and then immediately cover with a tight fitting lid, reduce the temperature to low and cook for 20 minutes – DO NOT lift the lid during the cooking process or the steam will escape!
Once cooked, remove the lid from the pan and gently fluff the grains with a fork before covering the pan with a clean tea towel and leaving to cool completely. You can then use it as required and it will stay fresh in the fridge for 5-7 days.