Finally, a zucchini pizza crust that holds all the toppings and easy to adapt to dairy-free and gluten-free, but super tasty too. I am always looking for a way to cut down carbs, as I do love me some carb-a-licious food! My reasoning is, if I cut out carbs for main dish, I can save the the carb load for a scrumptious dessert. Regardless as to the why, the most important point for zucchini crust was texture and taste.
Vegetarians and carnivores alike will be thrilled with their customized toppings; as the multiple baking tests exceeded my expectations.
Prepping & Prebaking Zucchini Crust
The first step in a fabulous zucchini crust is extracting the extra water from the zucchini. For three 7-inch crusts you will need 6 cups grated zucchini. Toss the grated zucchini with 2 teaspoons salt, place in a tea towel lined colander and let sit for 1 hour. At the end of the hour, use the towel to squeeze out any remaining liquid.
Mix the flour, seasonings and egg together in a large bowl, and then stir in zucchini. Draw three 7-inch circles on parchment, flip over parchment with ink side down onto baking sheet, and spread the zucchini mixture evenly using the circles as a guide.
Bake at 375 for 30 minutes. The edges will be ever so slightly brown; it’s hard to over-bake these, I tried.
The bottoms (see below) are fairly brown, which is perfect.
Now, load up those toppings! I used my Red Basil Pizza Sauce which is thick and zesty. However, Garlic Alfredo Sauce or any other sauce is fab!
As part of the testing, I really overloaded the veggies to see how the crust stood up to the extra juices after they baked in.
Well, the proof is in the picture: the crust held up perfect, no drooping or crumbling.
My zucchini pizza crust adapts perfectly to vegetarians, dairy-free, and gluten free (using Bob’s Red Mill gluten free 1 to 1), and of course for those who enjoy their dairy laden foods & have no issues good old all-purpose flour.
After baking, the zucchini pizza crusts can also be frozen. One big baking batch of zucchini crusts could stretch out to two to three meals. So, we can time-saving to the list of wonderfulness to this bad boy too.
Have a great pizza night pie peeps!!!
Zucchini Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 6 cups shredded zucchini (plus 2 teaspoons salt) (about 4 medium zucchinis)
- 6 tablespoons gluten free flour
- 1/4 cup Parmesan cheese or 1/4 cup nutritional yeast (for dairy free)
- 3 eggs slightly beaten
- 1-1/2 teaspoons onion powder
- 1 teaspoon garlic powder
- 1 tablespoon basil
- 1 tablespoon oregano
Instructions
- One hour before baking, line a colander with paper toweling or a clean kitchen tea towel. In a separate bowl, toss shredded zucchini with 2 teaspoons salt. Place in the lined colander and into sink; let liquid draw out. After 30 minutes, squeeze zucchini in toweling to remove as much liquid as possible, and let drain another 30 minutes. At the end of timing, squeeze zucchini once more to remove more liquid. Zucchini is now ready to be made into crust.
- While zucchini is draining, prep toppings.
- Preheat oven to 375 F.
- For guide & ease of measuring, on a parchment-lined baking sheet trace the size(s) of your desired crusts with a permanent marker and then flip over parchment. Using a spatula, spread the mixture into three (3) round 7-inch diameter crusts or two (2) round 9-inch diameter round pizza crusts.
- Place crust in oven and bake zucchini crusts for 30 minutes @ 375 F; crusts will be slightly brown around edges. Remove crust from oven.
- Increase oven temperature to 425. While the oven temperature is increasing, add your desired toppings. Return pizza(s) with toppings to oven and bake for an additional 15 to 20 minutes until toppings are baked & cheese (if using) is bubbling around edges. If 20 minutes is not enough for your liking, an additional 5 minutes is totally okay.
- Let rest for 5 minutes on baking sheet before handling & devouring.
