Brussels and Bacon Pizza with Quinoa Crust

As I’ve been on the search for healthy alternatives to some of my favorite foods, I am pulling inspiration from several places. This recipe I pulled from a page in Shape Magazine when the picture caught my attention immediately… not to mention I am interested in anything that has bacon and Brussel sprouts in the title. A tasty, protein packed alternative to pizza.

For this recipe, you’ll need a food processor or blender to make the quinoa crust, and a cast iron skillet to transfer into the oven on high heat. Links to these items below.

Toppings on this pizza are of course interchangeable, but make sure you give the Brussel, bacon, and red onion mixture a try.

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Ingredients:

· 1 ½ cups quinoa

· Boiling water

· 2 tbsp extra-virgin olive oil

· 1 garlic clove

· 1 can (15 oz) diced or crushed tomatoes

· 2 tsp baking powder

· 8 ounces of fresh mozzarella

· 1 ½ cups brussels sprouts

· ¼ small red onion, thinly sliced

· 2 slices of cooked bacon, chopped

Instructions:

The quinoa crust is going to take most of the time of this recipe, so we will begin there.

1. Preheat the oven to 425 degrees

2. Boil water and pour on top of the 1 ½ cups of quinoa until it’s about 1 inch over the quinoa, letting it sit for 20 minutes

3. In a medium pan, pour in 1 tbsp of olive oil to medium heat. When hot, drop in the clove of garlic letting it sear for about 2 minutes before adding the can of diced tomatoes. Bring the tomatoes to a simmer for about 5 minutes before removing from heat and adding in some salt and pepper.

4. After letting the hot water sit with the quinoa for 20-minutes, drain and rinse the quinoa before transferring to food processor/ blender.

5. Once you’ve transferred the quinoa to the food processor, add ½ cup of water, and 2 tsp of baking powder and process until smooth – this took about 4 minutes for me. This will turn into a batter-like texture.

6. Before pouring the “batter” into the cast iron skillet, glaze the skillet with olive oil. After pouring the quinoa into the skillet ensure it’s even and smooth before transferring into the oven for 20-minutes.

7. Remove the skillet from the oven topping with the diced tomatoes, cuts of fresh mozzarella, brussels, red onions, and bacon (I sprayed my brussels and red onions with olive oil before scattering on pizza). Bake for about 10-minutes or until vegetables are tender.

Enjoy!