Friday night pizza was a staple in our house in my pre-diabetes days. IT took a rest for quite a while until I discovered my favourite Low Carb pizza bases using cauliflower and almond meal.

While my Irishman is a staunch pizza traditionalist, he’s happy eating my Cauliflower ‘Pizza’ creations. Even something like this which has a very un-traditional sauce of pesto.

He said to tell you this one should be called ‘Pea-zza’. Dad joke warning!

This pizza is still lovely with a regular pizza base so don’t feel like you need to go low carb to enjoy it! And a big shout out to the lovely Andrea Bemis from Dishing Up the Dirt for inspiring this tasty (not-so-authentic) topping combo.

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Pea & Pesto Pizza

Total Time 30

Servings people

Ingredients

1 large pizza base
200 g pesto 1 cup
1-2 handfuls frozen peas
2 handfuls bocconcini or mozzarella, torn.
baby spinach leaves to serve
squeeze lemon to serve

Instructions

Preheat your oven to 200C (400F).
If using a regular pizza base, roll out dough into a pizza shape about 28cm (11in) diameter. Place on a baking tray and cook for 5 minutes. If using a cauliflower / broccoli base they will already be pre-cooked.
Spread pesto over your base. If the pesto is very stiff, stir in a little olive oil to make it more spreadable. Scatter over frozen peas (don’t worry about defrosting) and cheese.
Bake for 10-15 minutes or until cheese is melted and the pizza is cooked through.
Slice into wedges and top with baby spinach and a squeeze lemon before serving.

WINE MATCH: A crisp dry white like a Sauvignon Blanc or Riesling.

Variations & Substitutions

short on time – use a large piece of pita bread as your pizza base. Or use commercial pizza bases or pea & pesto soup.

carnivore – add chopped bacon, sausage or salami with the peas or serve draped with prosciutto.

crunchy – scatter over pine nuts before baking.

dairy-free – use a dairy-free pesto and top with pinenuts instead of the cheese on top. Or just skip the cheese.

regular pizza base – see my favourite recipe here.

cauliflower pizza base – recipe here. Good with broccoli subbed for the cauli (even Finbarello enjoyed it!).

gluten-free / paleo / low carb – use my cauli pizza base.

carb lovers / more substantial – serve with garlic bread.

more substantial (low carb) – add some almonds.

keto / ultra low carb – replace the peas with salami.

Waste Avoidance Strategy

pizza base – freeze it.

pesto – commercial jars of pesto will keep for months in the pantry. Fresh pesto will keep in the fridge for a few weeks. Cover with olive oil to prevent exposure to air and browning reactions.

frozen peas – will keep months in the freezer.

bocconcini or mozzarella – freeze them.

baby spinach – either freeze or wilt down in a pan with a little oil and then keep in the fridge for weeks.

lemon – whole lemon will keep wrapped in a plastic bag in the fridge for months.

Prepare Ahead

Best when hot from the oven. However leftovers are super tasty hot or cold. And I did reheat it for dinner the other day after my photo shoot. Was surprised how good it tasted.