Paleo Primal Gluten Free Pizza Crust

When I began this Paleo journey years ago, I was basically the only one among this family.  I learned to cook meals and make some simple additions to appease the rest of the crew.  It was a lonely life, but at least I FELT good!  It wasn't until recently that my husband really jumped onto the bandwagon and did a complete elimination to see what was upsetting his stomach.  Here we are several months later and he has yet to touch a drop of sugar and has had no dairy.  We discovered that while I can eat dairy with no problems, it bothers him immensely.  And on the flip side, he tolerates a host of grains while they make me feel terrible.  Go figure, we've always been opposites.

During my research into dairy products, I learned that most people who are bothered by cow's milk products are usually able to tolerate sheep and goat's milk products.  I went out on a mental limb and wondered if buffalo mozzarella would be ok too since it wasn't from a typical dairy cow and the milk is different.  All that talk of cheese combined with the fact that it was THE WEEKEND obviously led us to...where else, PIZZA.

Before Jeremy gave up dairy, a favorite staple treat among our family was the paleo pizza from Paleo Takeout by Russ Crandall.  You guys, if you don't have this book, get it now!  Every recipe is amazing.  After talking about my findings on non-traditional dairy, we decided to give it a try.  Jeremy would be our guinea pig and I would just eat because I could.  The problem would be stopping. 

The nicest local grocery where I live is Publix. These are the options I found, with the exception of the pesto which I got at Whole Foods. 

I went to our local grocery store and found some 100% grass-fed buffalo mozzarella (buffalo mozzarella comes from water buffalos and not traditional dairy cows, so it has a different makeup and is definitely more expensive), I also picked up romano (which comes from sheep's milk) and some uncured pepperoni for the kid's pizza.  This vegan pesto I keep on hand (because I'm obsessed with pesto) and I get it at Whole Foods.

As is, the recipe makes two pizzas.  We usually do a grown up pizza and one for the kids.  The recipe I'm going to share with you is from the book, the basic pizza crust, but with my favorite topping combo.  Underneath the recipe, I'll outline the specific changes I made and show you the steps.  Let's cook!

MODIFICATIONS:

1. In place of cream I used whole fat coconut milk from the can.  I stirred it up to mix the cream and liquid and used that.  My favorite brand is Thai Kitchen Organic and I get it from Amazon by the 12 pack.

2. Instead of Parmesan, we used shredded Romano.

STEPS: 

1. When mixing the dry ingredients and coconut milk and water, do not expect this to act like traditional gluten dough you may have used in the past.  The texture will be different, but it's good, trust me. 

2.When pressing the dough into the cast iron skillet, it may get sticky.  If that is the case, I usually wet my palms with a little olive oil and use them to press out the dough evenly.  I like to get it all the way to the edge of the pan and create a little crust by slightly pressing it up the sides.  

3. Get crazy with that fork! Poke the crust all over!

4. PESTO PIZZA

Spread a thin layer of pesto as your sauce base, and top with a few small balls of Buffalo Mozzarella (these spread out during cooking so you don't have to cover the crust) , marinated artichoke hearts, sun dried tomato slices, and a little crispy fried pancetta,  This is always a crowd pleaser.  For a vegetarian version, omit the pancetta a drizzle with balsamic glaze.  

This is the pizza we made for the kids.  I added some Sopressata along with the pepperoni. We left a tiny wedge meat-free for those of us toying with vegetarianism.  It was really good. 

NOTES:

While this pizza is undeniably delicious and does not hurt my stomach, the glycemic impact of the tapioca starch and potato starch don't do anything to help weight loss.  My husband and children may all possess the metabolisms of hummingbirds, but I have to be very careful how often I eat this.  I reserve it for a special treat.  

In other glorious news, NONE of the cheeses hurt anyone's stomach!  This is huge and we can't wait to experiment with more recipes.  

I hope you enjoy this recipe and if you make it please let me know what you think!

XO.