As much as I love eating my Zucchini Pizza and Cauliflower Pizza, they can be a little high effort given you need to grate the veg.
So I was thinking of how could I make an even easier pizza for weeknight dinners that would be a) low carb and b) enjoyable for the whole family.
Which gave me the brain wave to replace the veggies with extra almond meal and extra eggs. Talk about a winner!
Although to manage expectations it’s more in the deep dish Chicago-style pizza realm. Definitely not the thin crispy crust you’d expect in Naples.
But something everyone in my family is happy to eat any night of the week.
UPDATE: I made this recently without the tin. Just spread the mixture on a tray lined with baking paper and drizzled with a little oil. Made a circle about 30cm (12 inches) diameter. Baked 250C (480F) For 10 minutes – so the whole thing only took 15 minutes to make.
Easy Almond Pizza
Ingredients
- 4 eggs
- 1/4 teaspoon salt
- 150 g almond meal (almond flour)
- 50-100 g water
- 4 tablespoons tomato passata / puree
- 50 g prosciutto or other pizza topping
- 75 g cheese or mozzarella
Instructions
- Turn your oven to 250C (480F). Line a 28cm (11 inch) springform pan with baking paper. I just tear an extra wide sheet and dampen it with water from the tap. Then scrunch and smooth it to line the base and sides of the pan. OR line a baking tray with paper.
- Mix eggs, salt and almond meal in a bowl. Add water gradually until you have a thick batter (you may not need all the water). Tip the egg mixture into the lined springform and use a spoon to spread it to the edges OR if using the baking tray just spread it out into a circle approx 30cm (12 inches).
- Swirl the tomato passata on top of the egg mixture. Top with torn prosciutto and sliced cheese.
- Bake for 15 minutes for the spring form pan OR 10 minutes if using the baking tray or until the pizza is browned and feels springy when touched.
Nutrition
Variations & Substitutions
dairy-free – skip the cheese and serve with dairy-free pesto.
nightshade-free – replace tomato with pesto or just skip it.
vegetarian – prosciutto = grilled eggplant, zucchini or mushrooms.
Low FODMAP – replace 1/2 the almond meal with rice flour.
different toppings – feel free to go to town with your favourite toppings!
more vegetables – add them to the topping or try these zucchini or cauliflower pizzas.
more fancy / for entertaining – serve with a classic green salad or Reliable Cabbage Salad. And sprinkle over some basil leaves.
Waste Avoidance Strategy
eggs – will keep in the fridge for weeks or use for another meal.
almond meal (almond flour) – keep them in the pantry.
tomato passata / puree – unopened keep in the pantry. Once open keep refrigerated.
prosciutto – freeze it.
cheese – most hard and melting cheeses will keep for weeks wrapped in waxed paper or baking paper and stored in an airtight container (or sealed ziplock bag) in the fridge. If you need to store for longer cheese can be frozen.
Problem Solving Guide
bland – more salt! Different toppings.
too dry – overcooked pizza base – because of the high amount of egg it will dry out when over cooked. Next time get it out earlier. For now a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil will help.
no oven – cook the base mixture in a large frying pan like a frittata and serve with proscuitto and un-melted cheese on top. OR cook the base mixture like scrambled eggs and melt in the cheese at the end.
sticking to the pan – it’s super important to line the pan because of the egg.
no large spring form pan – Just spread the mixture on a tray lined with baking paper and drizzled with a little oil. Made a circle about 30cm (12 inches) diameter. Baked 250C (480F) For 10 minutes – so the whole thing only took 15 minutes to make.
Prepare Ahead
You can but it’s best when hot from the oven! Just cook as per the recipe. Leftovers will keep in the fridge for up to 2 weeks or can be frozen. To serve, allow to come to room temp or warm in the oven.
Add to my Old Favourite Recipes
I used unblanched almonds – a mistake ? I didn’t have a dish so used oven pan. It spread out a lot so my topping didn’t really cover it well – a little canned spinach, feta and pine nuts. Flavour bomb grated lemon, mint and chopped trail mix added once out of oven. I cooked at 225C as I have a fan oven so thought 250c would be too hot. Not the case. Cooked it longer and eventually zapped it at 250c at end. Consistency didn’t taste like pizza at all, so not really what I was expecting. Would blanched almonds (zapped in liquidiser) have made it a lot better ? I will try again using a 30cm dish, cook at 250C, use blanched almonds, grind them longer, a different cheese that “covers” better. So I will consider not a fail, just a learning curve.
You really need commercially ground almond meal Sandra to get that super fine consistency – will has a big impact on texture and the amount the mixture spreads.
Excellent work to use it as a learning curve!
Hi, Jules, I just saw you made this with without the tin, using only the tray, so will have to try that, but jumped on here to ask how much would you reduce quantities if you only had a 9-inch tin like your Super Simple Egg and Bacon Pie recipe uses?
Multiply everything by 0.75 to reduce the quantities Melanie 😉
Thanks, Jules. I made it today in the 9″ pan using the reduced quantities and it turned out great! The reduction made perfect sense when I read you made a 12-inch pie, but never crossed my mind for the 11-inch pan…what would my childhood math teacher think?! 🍕
This is a fun recipe to make. The passata spreads out thinner than I was expecting and it was tempting to add more, but your quantity was just right.
Excellent work Melanie!
You math teacher would be thnking you make amazing pizza 🙂
I was reluctant to try this, but decided to after, using ground sunflower seeds instead of almond meal. Given that even just with that and the eggs, the mix was liquid, I declined to add any water and put in 2 Tbsp of wheat flour instead, which got it up to roughly dough consistency. I have a cast iron baking tray, so went the inferno option, which had two results. Firstly, the dough wept a large quantity of fluid, which fortunately didn’t seem to make it to the edge of the tray. Secondly, the cheddar that I’d used because I didn’t have mozzarella didn’t so much melt as dry out into thin, brittle sheets. Fine.
Yes sunflower seeds react in a different way to almond meal Mark – they seem to have a higher moisture content.
This pizza sounds amazing. I’ve been doing almond flour pizza crusts for a while, but they all include cheese (fat head style) and must be baked at low temperatures. They also need to be baked before adding toppings. So yours sounds way more efficient (no surprise there). I’ll need to come up with a good sub for passata (which, BTW, I found in our grocery store this week!!), and I would probably add veggies, since I really like one-dish meals. Pre-roasted Brussels sprouts sounds good. I also need to point out that paper burns at 451ºF, so using baking paper at 480º is not a good idea… (note that I can set off our smoke alarm at noticeably lower temperatures ?)
You can just make a pizza ‘bianca’ and skip the tomato Susan 🙂
Loving the sound of your brussels sprouts idea.
My paper doesn’t burn even at this high temp because it’s mostly covered by the food and it’s not in the oven for long enough. But I would hate to set off your smoke alarm – so trust your judgement. 🙂
Tried this for lunch today, and while it was easy to make, I probably won’t do it again. I skipped the passata and used pepperoni for the meat (I found small pepperoni slices which were perfect). Almost forgot to add the Brussels sprouts, and rather wish I had. For me, their flavor is just much too strong. Also, the pizza for us, was too much for two servings, and too small for four servings. When I spread the dough on the baking tray, it looked like some egg leaked out, but the final pizza I took out of the oven was just fine. I guess the other thing that made me not like this as well as I expected was the texture of the crust – it was too much like bread rather than crust. Personal preference. But I can see where sprinkling some Italian seasoning on the dough would make a good focaccia…
Good to know Susan 🙂
I have a couple of fathead dough pizza bases that I made in the freezer so I’m using one of those. Put some nice veg, cheese and anchovies on it. Yum.
Anchovies are always a good idea Leonie 🙂
Made this tonight without the tin – just spear the mixture on a tray lined with baking paper about 30cm diameter.
Baked 250C (480F} For 10
Mins – worked a treat!
I made this tonight and both my husband and I enjoyed it. It was easy to make, delicious and very filling. It satisfied the desire for pizza too. We will definitely be making this again!
So glad you enjoyed Diane!
Jules, this reminded of Chicago deep-dish pizza, but not as heavy! I used store-bought tomato sauce, so I had to cook a little longer, but it is delicious! I used a pie dish and coconut oil cooking spray, and it came out just fine. Your recipes are the first I’ve used to try almond meal, and I’m so surprised at how easy it is to get that spongy texture. Thank you!
Fantastic Carmen! So glad you enjoyed 🙂
I am delighted to see a pizza crust with just almond meal & eggs & water. I love the combination of low carb and simplicity. I’ll definitely need to try this. The nice thing is that this crust would work with any toppings of choice. I have never wanted to give up pizza just because I need to eat low carb, and have tried several no-carb to low-carb crusts. I’m hoping this turns out to be the best one. One question: is this dough so wet that I can’t do it on a regular baking sheet? Thanks.
Yes it’s more like a batter Susan – but you could use a rimmed baking sheet – if the mixture is thinner it will cook more quickly – so check early 🙂