Paleo Pizza Challenge

What is the Paleo Pizza challenge ? The challenge is to make a pizza paleo without cheese and have it taste good. 

I have been enjoying Paleo foods for a few years now. Ive had many delicious Paleo meals. I enjoy just about every Paleo meal i consume. I enjoy my breakfasts, lunches and dinners, and I enjoy many Paleo snacks and treats. I have consumed amazing Paleo party foods. I have even enjoyed Paleo cookies and Paleo brownies. But Paleo Pizza is no easy task.

Its all about the cheese. Now if your Paleo diet includes cheese, you will probably find a pizza that tastes good. However, if you dont allow cheese, to the best of my experience, you are going to have a rough time finding a tasty pizza. It could happen. I would like to remain hopeful, but many of the “Paleo pizzas” i have tasted bear little resemblance to the real thing. Im just being honest here. I have had  pizzas without cheese that were good, but they were a far cry from regular pizza. After all, a good pizza is loaded with cheese.

Where can you buy a Paleo pizza ? This is not as easy as most Paleo snacks or Paleo party foods. There are restaurants, especially in NYC that do offer Paleo and claim theirs tastes like the real thing. But often, those are pizzas with a Paleo crust, and cheese.

You can buy Paleo Pizza crust mix from Julian Bakery. Most of their products are good so I would assume their pizza crust is also. Here are the ingredients;

• Arrowroot Flour
• Almond Flour
• Pumpkin Powder
• Dried Egg Whites
• Xanthan Gum

I have little doubt that their pizza crust is good. Just add some mushrooms, onions, peppers and …… cheese. This doesnt top Paleo people from trying though. There are many Paleo pizza recipes available, both online and in Paleo books. However, your biggest challenge will be the cheese. Another challenge is tomatoes. Many Paleo experts do not eat tomatos as they fall into a category called nightshades.

Here is a somewhat typical Paleo pizza recipe;

Crust Ingredients-

2 Cps Almond Flour
-1/2 teaspoon. Garlic Powder
-1/2 teaspoon  Salt
-1/4 teaspoon of  Baking Soda
2  Eggs
-1 Tablespoon of Olive Oil

Instructions

1. Preheat your oven to 350*.
2. Mix the contents together into a dough ball.
3. Place the ball on oiled pizza tray and hand mash into a pizza crust
4. Bake for aprox. 15 minutes
5. Remove the crust from oven and add your favorite toppings.
6. Put back into the oven until the toppings are warm.

So there you have it, and its probably o.k. but compared to a real pizza, its not going to work for me. so here is my personal solution. Cheat.

If you are not using the Paleo diet to control an autoimmune disease, that is you are just doing it to lose some weight and feel better, you can allow yourself to cheat on occasion. and put pizza high up on your list.I know I do. Even if you eat a real cheese pizza once a week, it should not interfere with your goals. Remember though, if you are trying Paleo to improve a health condition, you will want to follow Paleo 100% if possible.

It is usually easy to come up with a Paleo version of any common food. Most of the Paleo versions are good if not excellent. However, a great pizza without cheese or tomato ? While I remain hopeful, it remains to be seen.