For those days when you want something lower in carbs, but you still have those pizza cravings - I give you these Courgette (Zucchini) Pizza Bites. They have all the delicious cheesy and tomato-y toppings of a pizza, but sat on top of little discs of courgette (zucchini), rather than dough.
Let's face it, a pizza is all about the toppings anyway. Hardly anyone bites in to a pizza and says "Mmmm, what a delicious base", although I did say that when we were in Rome.
Pizza is my weakness and it always has been. Let's just say that we were on first name terms with the pizza delivery guy at one point. Which is when we knew things needed to change. So, we started experimenting with some healthy pizza alternatives and this is one of our favourites. Even better is that the kids love it too.
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Why should you try it?
- A delicious low carb pizza alternative
- Ready in just 10 minutes
- Easy to adapt with your favourite pizza toppings
- Kids love them
What you will need
- Courgette (zucchini) - Jumbo size (at least 2 inches in diameter, but bigger is better). Not the kind of courgette you will find in a supermarket - you may need to go to a farmer's market or grow your own.
- Chopped tomatoes - Try to use the best quality canned tomatoes as cheaper ones can be quite watery.
- Cheese - We use mature cheddar because it has such a strong flavour, that you don't need to use a lot of it.
- Herbs - We used basil and oregano for an authentic pizza taste.
- Garlic powder - Because everything is better with garlic! This is optional though.
Step by step
One: Put the courgette slices on a baking tray and spray with a little oil. Put them under the grill for 2 minutes each side.
Two: Take them out of the grill and add one tablespoon of chopped tomatoes to each circle.
Three: Sprinkle over the garlic and oregano.
Four: Add the cheese.
Five: Sprinkle the basil on top.
Six: Put them back under the grill for 3 minutes, until the cheese bubbles.
Courgette pizza base
You have probably seen courgette pizza bases lighting the low carb world on fire. They are made by mixing grated courgette, egg and cheese together and forming a dough.
You don't need to go to that much effort for these, as a big round of courgette makes a perfect sturdy pizza base, and a portion of vegetables too. Win-win!
Imagine sitting there eating these pizza bites and knowing you are eating some vegetables too. *Smug pizza eating face*. Oh, and these only take 7 minutes to make too!
What toppings to use
We have kept the toppings simple with just cheese, tomato and herbs - but feel free to get creative. You don't have much space to work with like you would on a big pizza dough, but you can put a few extras on.
Some finely chopped shallots and spinach would be good, or chorizo if you want meat.
Not only do we recommend using a really good strong cheese on these (the stronger the cheese, the less of it you will need, which means lower in calories and fat), but the tomatoes should be the best quality too. Cheap tinned chopped tomatoes will be too runny for this recipe.
Pizza base alternative
If you are not a fan of courgettes, we have made these with aubergine (eggplant) as the base too and it's worked just as well. Plus, you can usually find massive aubergines, which means all the more room for those toppings.
Giant tomato slices, Portobello mushrooms or even a cauliflower steak would work too. Here is a challenge, find as many vegetables as you can to use as a pizza base. Don't we all love a challenge that involves pizza?
Extra tips
- If you don't like courgette, then you can use aubergine (eggplant), tomatoes or Portobello mushrooms as the base instead.
- These little bites can't handle too many toppings due to their size, but some finely chopped onions, spinach or chorizo under the cheese works well.
- We used cheddar cheese, but try some Parmesan or goats cheese instead.
- Serve them with homemade potato wedges for a filling meal.
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Recipe
Courgette (Zucchini) Pizza Bites
Ingredients
- 1 Jumbo courgette (at least 3" diameter, or use 2 medium sized) cut in to circles
- 10 tablespoon Chopped tomatoes canned
- 40 g Mature cheddar cheese
- 1 teaspoon Dried oregano
- 1 teaspoon Garlic powder
- 15 Basil leaves finely chopped
Instructions
- Put the courgette slices on a baking tray and spray with a little oil. Put them under the grill for 2 minutes each side.
- Take them out of the grill and add one tablespoon of chopped tomatoes to each circle.
- Sprinkle over the garlic and oregano.
- Add the cheese.
- Sprinkle the basil on top.
- Put them back under the grill for 3 minutes, until the cheese bubbles.
Notes
- If you don't like courgette, then you can use aubergine (eggplant), tomatoes or Portobello mushrooms as the base instead.
- These little bites can't handle too many toppings due to their size, but some finely chopped onions, spinach or chorizo under the cheese works well.
- We used cheddar cheese, but try some Parmesan or goats cheese instead.
- Serve them with homemade potato wedges for a filling meal.
Edyta at Eating European
Now, this is my kinda recipe. I love pizza but always feel guilty by all the "dough", but these zucchini pizza bites will do the trick :)
Jenni LeBaron
What a great easy and low carb way to enjoy pizza! These look like a fun new option a for a good pizza night!