Rustic Ricotta, Egg and Zucchini Pizza

Just because you're egg free, gluten free or dairy free doesn't mean you have to miss out on having pizza! Last weekend I wanted to create a delicious pizza that didn't look boring, inedible or just plain weird. Since finding out that I can't tolerate gluten I've tried using a few things to create a great pizza base and none of them have wowed me. About six months after becoming gluten free I tried to make a potato pizza base, I've tried a cottage cheese and potato base, rice paper rolls and my all time favourite FLOP was the rice, egg and cheese base. So when I discovered a gluten free base that was similar to our local pizza shops 'deep pan base' at the supermarket I was in heaven.

Recently I purchased a new cookbook 'Quirky Cooking' by Jo Whitton and Thermomix. In the past I've purchased cookbooks that are specifically designed for people with a gluten intolerance and all the pictures look beautiful but the taste isn't always the best. Jo's book is completely different, the pictures look great and the food tastes good as well. So when I saw her recipe for #Egg and Zucchini Pizza I knew that I had to give it a go. Now as always I change recipes up because I need them to fit into my budget, the ingredients I have and to the likes of my children. So with Jo's help this is the recipe I came up with.

Rustic Ricotta, Egg and Zucchini Pizza

Ingredients

Pizza Sauce

2 tomatoes, cut into quarters

2 garlic cloves

2 sprigs basil, leaves only

2 sprigs oregano

1 teaspoon balsamic vinegar

pinch fine sea salt

80 grams tomato paste

Ricotta, Egg and Zucchini Topping

400g zucchini, cut into quarters

150g sun-dried tomatoes, cut in strips

2 eggs

100 grams soft ricotta

capsicum, cut into fine strips

3 mushrooms, thinly sliced 

1 teaspoon dried Italian herbs

pinch of salt

Method

Pizza Dough

1. Preheat oven to 210°C. Prepare your pizza dough as per recipe and place it on your pizza tray.

2. Set aside.

Pizza Sauce

3. Place all ingredients into mixing bowl and blend 4 sec/speed 5.

4. Spread over pizza base.

5. Rinse and dry your mixing bowl.

Ricotta,Egg and Zucchini topping

6. Place zucchini into mixing bowl and chop 4 sec/speed 5. Spread zucchini over pizza sauce.

7. Top with sun-dried tomatoes, capsicum and mushrooms.

8. Bake for 10 minutes.

9. Remove from oven. Place spoonfuls of ricotta around the outside of the pizza base to keep the egg in.

10. Lightly beat eggs with a fork, then drizzle over pizza and sprinkle with herbs and salt.

11. Bake for a further 8-10 minutes at 210°C or until the egg is cooked and the pizza is lightly browned on top.

12. Allow to cook slightly before slicing and serving.

Now if you don't have a Thermomix you can use a blender to mix all the ingredients together to make the Pizza Sauce and to chop up the zucchini. Just follow the instructions as above and remember to clean the blender between both step.

All in all I had this pizza all made and cooked with 40 minutes. Mr Opoes and I really enjoyed our pizza and as I made small pizza's for the children using small pita breads they had their pizza's within 20 minutes. Nearly everyone liked their pizza's but I did have to make a few changes to Quinlan's one. I ended up adding more vegetables to his pasta sauce and I making him an Egg, Ham and Cheese Pizza.

If you want to make it more of a meal I would suggest adding a garden salad to go with a pieces of pizza. This also allows you to add some more vegetables to your daily allowance, this is one reason why I enjoy making pizza for our family as I'm guaranteed that we'll all have at least 5 serves of vegetables in this one meal. What's your favourite pizza topping?

Megan