Grain-free    &&    Low Fat    &&    Vegan Option

Hey. So, I’ve taken a bit of a hiatus. I will catch you up later. But I’ve been thinking a lot about resuming my food blogging! Also, I just saw this perfectly good post I wrote up **PRE-PANDEMIC** sitting here. I didn’t post it right away for reasons, which I will include in the catch-up post. For now, I’ll just say: Thanks for sticking with me. I plan to be back soon. In the meantime, please enjoy some pizza!

Original post:

This was a bit of a project, but so worth it when you want to kick back with some comfort food (and possibly your spouse has been making you super jealous with real pizza that comes in a cardboard box with a tiny plastic table in the middle and is delivered by a guy wearing a cap who inevitably rings the doorbell when the husband’s in the bathroom, leaving you to get the door. Ahh, the true American pizza experience).

Robot Pizza with Roasted Garlic Sauce

Makes two 11″ pies; serves 3 to 4

60 minutes (including about 45 minutes for roasting garlic. Use extra between-time to cook a vegetable, or throw together a salad to make a complete meal! Let’s be honest, a few leaves of basil on a pizza does not count as a serving of vegetables.)

Bits

– For the crust

• Corn flour for dusting
• 315g chickpea flour
• 65g Greek yogurt (or substitute vegan yogurt for vegan option)
• 20 g yam
• 1+ tsp salt
• ½ tsp cumin
• ¼ tsp turmeric
• pinch of asafoetida (or garlic powder)
• 4-5 Tbsp water

– For the roasted garlic sauce:

    Dry:

• ¼ cup chickpea flour
• 1 tsp salt
• ½ tsp dried thyme (or Italian seasoning or ground sage)
• ¼ tsp cumin
• ½ tsp smoked paprika
• 2 tsp nutritional yeast

    Wet:

• 1 head garlic
• ½ cup water
• ¾ cup milk of choice (skim cow milk to keep the dish nearly non-fat, or alternative plant-based milk for vegan option)
• 1 tsp of Dijon mustard
• 2 tsp tamari

– Suggestions for the topping (or use toppings of choice):

• 2 medium slicing tomatoes
• 4 sliced peppadew peppers
• Handful of basil leaves
• ¾ cup low fat cottage cheese, strained/drained of excess liquid (omit to make vegan)

Algorithm:

• Adjust oven racks to top and bottom thirds of the oven and pre-heat the oven to 450ºF. Sprinkle a couple good pinches of corn flour over two baking sheets.
• Slice the top off of your head of garlic and wrap it tight in aluminum foil. Bake it in the pre-heated oven for 40 to 45 minutes until garlic is browning and soft throughout.
• Combine the crust ingredients except the water in a medium-sized mixing bowl. Add 4 Tbsp of water and stir to bring it together into a rough dough. Knead with your hands, and add the remaining little by little until the dough just comes together, but is still dry and kneadable. Knead a few times in the bowl until the dough is smooth. Set aside.
• Put the dry ingredients for the garlic sauce in a small mixing bowl and set aside.
• Prep your pizza toppings of choice: slice fresh tomatoes, tear some basil leaves, slice some peppers, put some cottage cheese in a cheese cloth and squeeze out the excess liquid… etc.
• When the garlic is done roasting, use a knife to remove the soft garlic cloves from the papery encasements in the bulb, and place in a small food processor or blender. Add ½ cup water, and blend until smooth.
• Add the blended garlic to a small saucepan over medium heat. Add the remaining wet ingredients for the sauce to the saucepan and stir to combine.
• When the contents of the saucepan are hot but not boiling, pour a small amount into the bowl with the dry ingredients to make a paste. Continue pouring the wet ingredients little by little into the mixing bowl holding the dry ingredients, stirring in between additions, until you get a thin sauce. When most of the wet ingredient mixture has been incorporated, pour the contents of the mixing bowl back into the saucepan and warm over medium heat, stirring continuously for about 3 minutes until the sauce thickens noticeably. Remove from heat and set aside to cool until ready to use.
• Split ball of dough in half. Spread a pinch of cornflour on a smooth surface or cutting board and use a rolling pin to roll one of the halves into a flat circle (or a rough approximation of a circle) of desired thickness. I rolled mine pretty thin, about ¼-inch thick. Repeat with other half of the dough.
• Divide the garlic sauce between the two pizzas and spread into a smooth layer. Add other toppings of choice (except basil; that’s best added after baking). Bake pizzas in the oven and bake for about 12-15 minutes until the edges of the crust start to brown.
• Remove baking sheet from oven and let pizzas cool for a few minutes on the baking sheet. Scatter reserved basil leaves on top of the pizzas. Sprinkle with salt, pepper, and/or chili flakes as desired. Cut into slices and serve!