Pizza with courgette crust

I've been flat out with work for the last few weeks. That and also it's been rather warm, I've been doing a lot of salads and fish for dinner. When I wrapped up a case yesterday afternoon, I decided to take a breather and head out to get the necessary ingredients to make pizza at home.

Pizza with courgette crust, topped with ventricina salami, chorizo, roasted red peppers, chestnut mushroom, red onion marmalade, goat cheese, and baby spinach 

I hadn't had pizza in ages. My last one was probably a year ago, a frozen Dr Oetker, which I didn't really enjoy (and reacted badly to,  eh hem). But I missed it. So when I finally decided to give a wheat free, grain free crust using grated courgette and ground almond a go, I also forked out a pretty penny and got some quality cured meats and artisan cheeses. 

Ingredients

yields 2 large crusts or 3 medium crusts

1 large courgette, finely grated ≈ 2 C lightly packed

⅛ tsp pink salt

¾ - 1 C ground almond

1 large egg, lightly beaten

1 tbsp coconut oil

1 tsp garlic powder

1 tsp dried oregano

Method

1. Place the grated courgette in a colander and sprinkle with salt. Toss well. Place the colander over a large bowl and let drain for 30-45 minutes.
2. Preheat the oven to 205°C.
3. Squeeze as much moisture out of the grated courgette as possible. Then transfer the grated courgette into a dry dish towel or a pad of paper towels. Wring the towel over the sink/bowl and squeeze the water out of the courgette.
4. In a medium, dry bowl, mix the courgette, beaten egg, coconut oil, garlic powder, and oregano together and start to form dough (it will be a bit wet at this stage).
5. Add in the ground almond as needed gradually until the dough is drier (not too wet, not too dry).
   
6. Divide the dough into 2-3 portions.
7. On a silicon mat-lined (or parchment-lined) baking sheet, spread or roll each portion of the zucchini dough out into a thin oval or rectangular shape. (I use a rolling pin and large cling film to do this.)
8. Place the pan on the bottom rack of the oven and bake for about 12 minutes or till the crust starts to brown, turning the pan halfway through. Then place the pan on the top rack of the oven for about 5 minutes, until browned.
9. Remove the pan, flip the crust, and bake for another 5 minutes. The crust should be firm and golden brown when ready.
   
10. Remove the crust and turn the oven up to 260°C.
11. Top the pizza as desired. (I use marinara sauce, ventricina salami, chorizo, roasted red peppers, chestnut mushroom, red onion marmalade, goat cheese, and baby spinach.)
    
12. Place the pan back into the oven on the bottom rack and bake for 2-3 minutes, and then on the top rack for about 2 minutes.
13. Remove and let cool on a wiring rack for 5-10 minutes before serving.
    

I was a bit suspicious about the crust. But when I took it out halfway through cooking to turn the pan, it was looking like crust so I felt more assured. And indeed, it was delicious! The thinly sliced ventricina had an incomparable flavour and went so well with the spicy chorizo and red onion marmalade. Husband was full of praise and finished his portion in no time. I'll definitely be making this crust again and experimenting with different toppings!