This February we want to prove that eating healthy doesn’t have to mean missing out on the foods you love. Our recipe inspiration for this month is all about those favourite foods, but with a little twist, so you can treat without cheating! This week…pizza! This paleo pizza has a base made with good carbs and protein from a mixture of flours and almonds and is topped with olive tapenade, chicken and sundried tomatoes.
80 g/ ½ cup arrowroot
130 g/1 cup tapioca flour
190 g/2 cups ground almonds
1 tablespoon mixed dried herbs (or dried oregano)
1 garlic clove
salt and black pepper, to season
pizza sauce
1 red (bell) pepper, chopped
5 medium tomatoes, halved
3 garlic cloves
½ – 1 tablespoon dried oregano
tapenade
70 g/ ¾ cup pitted/stoned black olives
70 g/ ¾ cup pitted/stoned green olives
1–2 tablespoons capers, squeezed of excess liquid
juice of ½ lemon
2 big handfuls of fresh basil
70 ml/5 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
toppings
1 cooked chicken breast, sliced
a small handful of sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
¼ – ½ green or yellow courgette/zucchini, shaved
a handful of rocket/arugula
fresh basil leaves, torn
1 teaspoon dried oregano
2 baking sheets lined with baking parchment, 1 brushed with olive oil
a high-powered blender (I use a NutriBullet)
pizza stone (optional)
MAKES 1 30-CM/12-INCH PIZZA
Begin by preparing the sauce. Preheat the oven to 180°C (350°F) Gas 4.
Put the red (bell) pepper, tomatoes and garlic on the prepared baking sheet without oil, sprinkle with the oregano and season with salt and pepper. Bake in the preheated oven for 20 minutes. Remove the roast vegetables from the oven and transfer to the high-powered blender and blitz to a smooth purée.
Meanwhile make the pizza base. Mix all the dry ingredients together in a large mixing bowl. Add 170 ml/ ¾ cup of water and bring the dough together to form a ball and put on the prepared baking sheet.
If you have a pizza stone put it in the oven to warm up. Roll the dough into a thin 30-cm/12-inch round on the oiled baking sheet. Then once the sauce ingredients are cooked turn the oven up to 200°C (400°F) Gas 6.
Bake the base on the pizza stone by shooting it into the top of the oven from the baking sheet, or on the baking sheet, for 20 minutes, or until golden. Remove the base from the oven but keep the heat on at 180°C (350°F) Gas 4. Rub with a peeled garlic clove to infuse it with flavour.
To make the tapenade, blitz all the ingredients except the oil together in a food processor. Slowly add the oil with the motor running. Set aside.
To build the pizza, spread the pizza sauce (you made not need all of it) over the base and bake for 5–10 minutes. Mix the chicken slices with 2 tablespoons of the tapenade. Add this and the other toppings to the pizza drizzling over a little more tapenade. Bake for another 10 minutes, or until everything is piping hot, then serve.