Pizza - free from dairy, soy, gluten, grains, nuts and an egg free option.

Pizza base! Free from dairy, soy, gluten, grains, nuts and with an egg free option.

The most simple and delicious pizza base recipe, free from all the usual suspects plus with an egg free option. Hooray! We love this pizza base recipe, I think it’s right up there with a gluten filled pizza base, it’s the thin, crispy type of base that compliments any toppings you slather on it and lets the flavours shine through.

You will need:

• ½ cup tapioca flour
• ½ cup coconut flour
• ½ cup oil - I use a combo of coconut and olive oil (50:50 usually) it also works fine with just olive oil
• ½ cup warm water
• 1 egg OR

egg free: 1 Tbsp gelatin (we use great lakes beef gelatin) mixed with 2 Tbsp cold water first then add enough boiling water to top up to quarter of a cup, stir to dissolve.

• ½ tsp salt

1. Preheat oven 200 deg fan bake. Combine the tapioca, salt and coconut flour together. Add both the oil and water and mix together. As you begin to panic because the mixture has gone all crumbly you can add the egg, or if egg free, the gelatin that you have pre dessolved in the water.

2. It should now start forming into a smooth batter, then a sticky ball. Decide what size you are making your pizza - this makes one huge pizza the size of my oven tray, or two smaller ones.

3. Lay out some cling film on the bench to appropriate size (I oil it slightly) and place the mixture on top. Lay another piece of cling film over top (also oiled) and roll out between the two until your desired size base is made.

4. Take off the top layer and replace it with some greased baking paper. Flip it over so the baking paper is on the bottom and peel off the other piece of cling film. Slide onto your baking tray and bake for 12-15 minutes or until starting to brown on top. Put your toppings on and bake again for another 10-15 minutes.

Some of our favourite pizza toppings include:

Tomato paste with garlic and herbs added, salami, ham, capsicum, red onion, goats feta

Cranberry sauce, chicken, cashew nuts, mushrooms, rocket or baby spinach

Hummus, leftover meat, capsicum, thinly sliced courgettes, thyme

Basil pesto, ham, red onion, cherry tomatoes, mushrooms

Greek style lamb mince with dollops of coconut yoghurt, chopped baby spinach and mint leaves

Seed crackers

Made these at Playcentre with the kids today, with some beetroot hummus. They disappeared pretty quick so I think they were enjoyed by all!

You will need:

1/2 cup of each: 

• Sunflower seeds
• Pumpkin seeds
• Sesame seeds
• Linseeds (flaxseed)

• Salt (scant half a teaspoon) 
• sesame seeds to sprinkle on top
• 1 heaped teaspoon flour (wholemeal, gluten free, buckwheat, tapioca). 
• Blender or food processor

Soak the seeds overnight, soak the linseeds separately to the rest.

Preheat oven to 180c.  Drain the seeds, the linseeds would have 'gelled' overnight and will be slimy and coated in the water (this is what helps to hold the crackers together) just drain off any excess water. 

Put the seeds in the food processor and process until it becomes a light paste but still has some visible chunks of seed. 

Mix in the flour and salt. 

Oil two baking sheets the size of your baking tray. Place half of the mixture on each sheet. Oil two more sheets and place on top of the dough. 

Roll out between the two baking sheets to about 2-4mm thin. Carefully, slowly peel off the top sheet. 

Scour cut marks into the dough so they easily break into squares when they are done. 

Sprinkle with some more salt and sesame seeds. Bake for about 20 mins. 

Sometimes the edges are done first, but the middle isn't crisp yet, if this is the case, break the crackers into squares then put the middle pieces back in to crisp for a further 5 - 10 minutes. 

Let them cool in the baking paper, then try not to eat them all at once! 

Chocolate "cream"

 

Saturday morning pancakes! We had nothing creamy to put on top so I whipped up a chocolate 'cream'

You need: 

1 avocado

1/2 banana

2 t raw cacao 

1T maple syrup 

1/4 c coconut milk

Blitz in blender

This is based on an avocado mousse I make for dessert (or breakfast!) and complements the pancakes perfectly where we would usually have whipped coconut cream or coconut yoghurt plus has the added bonus of nourishing avocado. 

You can't taste the avo at all, I use tinned coconut milk for this as its a bit thicker to help add volume and texture. 

Hummus

 

Hummus! It's so easy to make your own. The ones in the supermarket have added sugar, vegetable oils and preservatives. 

You need:

- A blender, food processor or stick blender of some sort. 

- 1 tin of chickpeas (drained and rinsed)

- 1/4 c olive oil

- 1 t salt

- 1/4 c lemon juice

- 1 T garlic (I prefer the garlic cooked - you can pan fry or roast it first)

Optional - 1T tahini, parsley.

Dump all the ingredients together and blend! Add some water if it's too thick until it's the consistency you like. 

Once you have made this as a base you can add different flavours - some of our favs are roasted veges (kumara, pumpkin or carrots) or beetroot, or sundried tomatoes. Or cumin, curry powder, paprika and chilli all add a nice touch too.