Who doesn’t love pizza? You can enjoy pizza guilt free if you invest a little time (not long) to make your own! I’ve been experimenting and this crust produces amazing results.

I need to be able to pick up pizza with my hands, duh! The buckwheat flour really binds the quinoa together as one. The pesto, spinach and onion topping will not dissapoint! Feel free to use tomato sauce and any other toppings of your choosing.

The added bonus with this pizza is the protein punch from the quinoa! Take that, regular pizza. It’s also gluten free!

Quinoa & Buckwheat Crusted Pizza with Pesto & Spinach

Serves about 5

What you need: food processor

Ingredients:

For the crust:

-1 1/2 cups of quinoa, soaked in water for about 5-6 hours and drained
-3 heaping tbsp. of buckwheat flour
-1 tsp. garlic powder
-2 tsp. dried oregano
-1 tsp. dried basil
-1/2 tsp. each of sea salt and pepper

For the pesto:

-1/2 cup + 2 tbsp. of extra virgin olive oil
-2 tbsp. filtered water
-1 1/2 cups of fresh basil
-a few sprigs of fresh thyme
-3 garlic cloves (or to your liking)
-juice from 1/4 lemon

Toppings:

-1/2 white onion, diced
-2 cups of low fat part skim mozzarella cheese, shredded
-salt and pepper
-sprinkle of garlic powder
-1 cup of raw baby spinach

Method:

Preheat the oven to 400 Degrees F. After draining the water from the soaked quinoa, place it in a food processor with the buckwheat flour and all of the dried spices above. Process for a minute or so until it resembles a pancake mix. Grease an extra large baking dish with olive oil and press the crust mixture into the pan, flattening out with the back of a spoon into a rectangle. Place in the oven for about 10 minutes until it’s solidified.

While the crust is in the oven, make the pesto by either reusing the food processor or in a Nutribullet. Process all above pesto ingredients until smooth. Chop the onions. When the crust is done, remove and add pesto, cheese, onions and spinach. Bake for another 15-20 minutes until edges are crispy and the cheese is melted.

This was such a huge hit with my entire family. I hope you can share in the joy of it and feel good about your health!

Samantha xx