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I have finally done it!

I created thee best gluten-free, zero guilt pizza substitute I’ve ever had. EVER! I hate to use the word “substitute” because it lacks nothing for us on taste and texture. But I thought it necessary since it’s not a true pizza with dough.

It took me a few try’s to get here, but like Shaye and Angela @homemakerchicpodcast say, #itdoesntjusthappen

Since setting my goal to eliminate all seed oils from our kitchen, pizza was the toughest one to replace. I started making boxed mixes, using avocado oil. While they did the trick, I wasn’t in love, and still felt that yucky carb hangover that I get from any processed carb food. And Rob doesn’t do cauliflower well, so those were out.

I kept waiting and hoping that some company would make something better for me to buy. But, I’m not patient and also, most often, just like to figure things out on my own. I also thought, why do I need the dough anyway? I had heard about “Meazza”, and decided to finally give it a try.

My first attempt tasted like boiled spaghetti meat. I smashed the sausage on a stainless steel baking sheet and baked it as the crust and it was…meh. It was missing a lot. I couldn’t put my finger on it. The texture was pretty good, but the flavor was a sad echo of pizza.

After some trial and error, I figured out that a giant hot skillet and the broiler were the key to this success.

This is so guilt free (and easy, less than 30 minutes) to me that I will serve this for breakfast. We all agreed that this was an easy and delicious once a week meal too. Hello menu planning.

Ingredients

2 Lbs. Loose Sausage (your flavor of choice) I like breakfast

1 C. Shredded Parmesan Cheese
Pizza Sauce (I use marinara and add oregano to make it pizza sauce)
Toppings of choice

Directions

Mix sausage and cheese together thoroughly

Pre-heat large cast iron skillet until it's hot, hot, hot
Dump and spread sausage into the skillet until evenly distributed and also curving part way up the sides. I used a round bottomed wine glass but a large spoon and/or fork could work too.
Cook until half grey and half pink. Basically the bottom is cooked and the edges of the openings are grey but the centers are pink.
Put skillet on the middle rack in the oven and broil on high for 2 minutes, or until sausage is all grey/cooked.
Remove and add sauce, cheese, and other toppings.
Return to the oven and continue to broil on high 6 minutes or until cheese is bubbly and just brown.
Remove from the oven and suck out the excess grease with a basting tool or scoop out with a spoon best you can.
Allow to cool in the skillet on a trivet or cooling rack for 10 minutes before cutting and serving.

Notes

The meat will have cracks and gaps in it as it cooks. This is fine and allows it to vent and brown better.

Let me know in the comments below if you give this a try.