Posted in Kitchen

Simple Journey Ministries Presents

Can I Have Some More, Please?

Thinking Outside of the Box About Pizza

I know I often post about pizza. Mostly because it is one of family faves AND it is SO EASY! People are often easily discouraged from making pizza at home because of the false thoughts of it being difficult and time consuming. Nothing could be farther from the truth. In Menu Planning: Simple & Delicious I talk about how I make 3 pizzas in 30 minutes for less than $3 per pie. But pizza is not only easy, it's very versatile! You can use pizza as a means of using up leftovers. It's so easy to think up ideas to use those bits of meat and veggies that have yet to have been gobbled up. Also, pizza can be easily made to meet dietary restrictions.

The reason behind this is that the basic idea of pizza lends itself to an unlimited amount of combinations of products. Pizza crust need not only be made from dough, it can be made from pita bread, English muffins, bagels, tortillas, french bread, hot-dog buns, gluten-free bread, etc. Different sauces can be used as well. Marinara is most common, but Alfredo sauce, cheddar cheese sauce, cream sauce, gravy, and dressing, can all be used as sauce options for pizza.

Our Pastor and his wife often have dinner with us. However, in the last few months they have had to make some strict dietary changes. In an effort to help make these changes FUN and delicious, I have been trying different mock-ups of food we have always enjoyed, but now, with a new twist. Obviously, on the easiest was pizza. To give you an idea of the versatility of pizza, I will walk you through how I made pizza to fit their needs.

Since they are only allowed to eat sprouted grain bread, I tried using it as a crust. Although it is dense and dry this didn't work well. When I found sprouted grain English style muffins, I knew I had something. They are perfect as pizza crusts!

Then came the trickiest part, they cannot have cooked tomatoes or dairy products. This was a brain stumper for me because it seemed as though I wouldn't have any option for toppings other than veggies and perhaps a meat. By God's grace I began thinking colors. Marinara sauce is red. What else is red? RED PEPPERS. So I took some red peppers, gently roasted them. Then I chunked them up and made a sauce just as I would normal marinara, simply without the tomatoes.

Toppings were simple. For those picky people, I still use traditional marinara and cheese. However, everyone picks what they want and there aren't any thoughts of deprivation.

So remember, think of pizza outside of the box, when in need of something to prepare for those with dietary restrictions. It may be a welcomed surprise!

Buono Appetito!