Food | Gluten-Free Pizza with Butternut Squash Base

About two weeks ago I came across this recipe on Niomi Smarts blog. I am really into healthy eating at the moment, so a healthy pizza sounds pretty good to me.

After my trip to the organic food store I made this pizza. I changed some of the ingredients and measurements into my own liking, and just what we had at home.

I have to say this pizza is super yummy! It sometimes tastes a bit sweet, because of the almonds (and maybe the pumpkin?) but with the right toppings you hardly taste it. It feels good that I am eating a pizza that is super yummy and so healthy as well.

Ingredients for 1 pizza:

Base:
1 Butternut Squash
100 grams of Almond Flour
140 grams of Buckwheat Flour
3 tbsp. of Flaxseed
1 tsp. of Italian Herbs
A Sprinkle of Salt and Pepper

Pesto Sauce:
A Large Handful of Fresh Raw Spinach
About 25 Cashew nuts
About 10-15 Fresh Basil Leaves
Juice of 1/2 Lemon

A bit of Garlic Powder or Fresh Garlic (depending on what you find handy)
A Sprinkle of Salt and Pepper
A generous shot of Olive Oil

Toppings:
Just put on the pizza whatever you like! I had the following ingredients on mine:

Mozzarella

Goat Cheese

Extra Spinach Leaves

Grilles Chicken

Slices of Tomato

Cherry tomatoes

Fresh Baby Leaves

Extra Pepper

What will you need to bake this pizza:
1 Deep Roasting Tray
Baking Tray
Food Processor 

Step 1

Preheat the oven to 200C. Cut the butternut squash in half and scoop all the pumpkin seeds out. I also cut the head of the pumpkin. No idea if this is necessary!

Step 2

Lay the pumpkin half’s in the deep roasting tray and fill it with water, until they are half emerged. That should be enough! You can always add more water, though. Put them in the oven for about 45-60 minutes. If they are soft, they are perfect! You can check by sticking a fork in the pumpkin. Get the pumpkin out and let it cool off.

Step 3

Mix two tablespoons of flaxseeds with four tablespoons of water and set aside until you need it. It will become very pasty in a minute or so!

Step 4

When the butternut squash is cooled down you can scoop all the squash flesh out. It can be a bit messy, but that makes cooking even more fun!

Put all the squash flesh in a large bowl and add the almond flour, buckwheat flour, soaked flaxseeds, Italian herbs, salt and pepper and an extra tablespoon of flaxseeds to make it even healthier!

I think chia seeds or hemp seeds would also be a great addition to the base, now that I think about it!

Step 5

Stir everything together until it is smooth and dough-like. Get your baking tray and lay it with some parchment paper. Put the squash mixture on here and spread it evenly. Put the pizza base in the oven for 30-35 minutes on 200C.

Step 6

While the base is baking in the oven we can make the pesto sauce. I never had pesto as a sauce base on my pizza, so I found it very interesting!

Just put the spinach, basil, lemon juice, salt and pepper, garlic powder, cashews and olive oil in the blender. Mix it for a while until everything is smooth and voilà there you have your homemade pesto!

Step 7

When the base is out of the oven it is time to decorate! Put the green, pesto sauce on the pizza base and leave the ends open for a nice, crusty pizza look. Spread it out evenly and then add your toppings. As is said earlier, I added tomatoes, cherry tomatoes, mozzarella, goat cheese, grilled chicken and spinach leaves.

Step 8

Put it back in the oven for 10 minutes and your pizza should be all good! Add some fresh baby leaves and a sprinkle of pepper and your homemade, healthy pizza is done!

A super yummy pizza, that is healthy and very filling! I will definitely make this one again!