Low-carb Loaded Pizza
Almond flour crust
2 cups almond meal flour (such as Bob's Red Mill)
1 teaspoon garlic powder
½ teaspoon sea salt
¼ teaspoon baking soda
2 large eggs
1 tablespoon olive oil (plus more to keep dough from sticking to your hands)
Toppings
6 thin slices (about 4 ounces) low moisture, part skim Mozzarella cheese
1 cup low moisture, part skim, shredded Mozzarella cheese
¾-1 cup no-sugar-added pizza sauce
1 link (3 ounces) hot chicken Italian sausage, sliced
1 medium sweet green pepper, cored and sliced into thin rings
½ medium onion, peeled and sliced
¾ cup mushrooms, washed, stems trimmed and sliced
½ cup black olives, sliced
Heat oven to 350 degrees and place oven rack in the middle position.
For the crust: To a medium mixing bowl add almond meal flour, garlic powder, sea salt and baking soda; whisk together until combined, about 15 seconds.
Add eggs and olive oil and with a spoon mix and stir together until combined into a dough ball.
Line a 12-14-inch round pan with parchment. Using a pastry brush, brush parchment with olive oil. Oil your hands and place the dough ball in the pan's center and begin pressing the dough out into a circle, making the dough as evenly thin as possible. Form a raised edge all around the dough. Bake 15 minutes, or until golden brown. Remove from the oven and cool to room temperature.
Raise oven temperature to 400 degrees.
To assemble: Distribute mozzarella slices over crust, fitting them together edge-to-edge and trimming them with a sharp knife where necessary to cover the entire crust. Spread pizza sauce over cheese slices, distributing it within a half-inch of the edge. Distribute toppings evenly over the sauce; top with shredded cheese. Bake 15 minutes, or until cheese begins to brown slightly and the crust browns around the edge. Remove from the oven and cool slightly before cutting into eight wedges.
Serves four to eight.
Cook's note: If you have a pizza stone, slide parchment paper and prepared pizza off the round pan and onto the stone and bake as directed.
Nutrition values per slice: 335 calories (69.1 percent from fat), 25.7 g fat (6 g saturated), 10.6 g carbohydrates, 4.2 g fiber, 2.3 g sugars, 18 g protein, 86 mg cholesterol, 588 mg sodium.
SaltSense: Omitting the added salt reduces sodium per slice to 443 milligrams. 36 percent of this pizza's sodium comes from the cheese.