By using a spelt or a gluten-free chia chickpea crust (or other healthy crust option!), along with the most nutrient dense leafy green kale and a few other colour veggies (and maybe a sprinkle of your favourite organic grass-fed cheese), there are many ways to make pizza a nourishing option even while training for your next important race.
In fact, I’ve got a few clients who have perfected their perfect pre-long run (which will be their pre-race dinner) pizza to ensure they are optimally carb loaded for their upcoming marathons!
Makes 1 pizza (2-4 servings)
Ingredients
CRUST
- 1¼ cup whole spelt flour (OR for a gluten-free version use:
- ⅓ cup sorghum flour
- ⅓ cup chickpea flour (or brown rice flour)
- ⅓ cup arrowroot starch
- 1 tsp baking powder
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 1 Tbsp dried oregano
- ⅔ cup hot water (with 2 Tbsp chia seeds whisked in if doing the gluten-free version)
- 2 Tbsp virgin coconut oil, melted
SAUCE
- ½ small can tomato paste (156 mL)
- 1 Tbsp extra virgin olive oil
- ½ tsp sea salt
- 2 tsp dried oregano or dried basil
TOPPINGS
- 1 Tbsp virgin coconut oil
- ½ of an onion, sliced
- ½ a red or green pepper, diced
- small handful of fresh parsley, finely chopped
- 2 large or 3-4 small kale leaves (½ of a bunch), washed and torn into small pieces
- 1-2 broccoli crowns, in florets
- ¼ cup nutritional yeast flakes OR ½ cup grated organic cheese or crumbled goat feta
- 8 black olives, pitted and chopped
- ⅓ cup fresh or thawed from frozen organic corn
- 50g smoked wild salmon or lox (or 1 organic chicken breast, baked or bbq’d and shredded)
- 2 tomatoes, sliced
Directions
Heat oven to 425.
CRUST
- In a medium mixing bowl, blend the spelt flour (or gluten-free flours), baking powder, salt and oregano.
- In a small bowl or measuring cup, measure out the hot water, whisk in the chia seeds and add the coconut oil.
- Add the water/oil mixture to the flour mixture and mix until thoroughly combined. Add a bit more flour if the mix is too sticky. Form into a ball.
- Turn out onto a piece of parchment paper and roll flat into an 12-inch circular dimension. Transfer it onto a pizza pan or baking sheet, fixing the edges so they are smooth.
SAUCE
- In a small bowl, mix the tomato paste, olive oil, salt and oregano.
- Evenly spread the pizza sauce onto your pizza crust.
TOPPINGS
- In a fry pan, melt the coconut oil. Sauté the onion, pepper, parsley, broccoli and kale until soft.
- Evenly distribute the sautéed veggies over the pizza, then add the olives and corn. Top with the (chicken if using), tomato slices and nutritional yeast or cheese.
- Bake for 20 minutes.
- As soon as the pizza comes out of the oven, top with slices of smoked salmon (if using). Let sit 5 minutes, and serve warm.
Enjoy!
To good eats and strong running… Cheers,
Sarah J Cuff, RHN