With only a handful of ingredients, these super-healthy pizza bases are light, thin & tasty, with a pleasing springy bite of elasticity. Quinoa delivers an easily digestible protein, while sunflower seeds are wonderfully versatile sources of vitamins E & B1, healthy fats & minerals. You can also make tiny biscuit-sized bases, load them with toppings & use them as canapés. The ‘dough’ stores well in the fridge for a couple of days – I usually make extra so I can have a quick repeat performance the next day.
½ cup quinoa
½ cup sunflower seeds
¼ cup water
1 tsp gf baking powder
¼ tsp salt
1 Tbsp psyllium*
* if you haven’t got any psyllium & you’re thinking ‘why would I buy a bag of something I’ll barely use?’ Well, it stores well, you can use it in my rice & seed bread recipe here, plus I’ll soon be sharing an awesome crusty spongy pizza base recipe that uses psyllium too. See, three reasons why you should grab some!
Soak the quinoa in plenty of water overnight, then drain, rinse and drain again. Put all the ingredients into a food processor and blitz for a good couple of minutes. You’ll need to scrape down the sides a couple of times, as the soft grey tones of the sunflower seeds merge completely with the creamy white of the quinoa. A sticky, thick batter will emerge, with a slight springiness to the touch.
Preheat the oven to 175C and line a baking tray with cooking paper (remember to use the smooth ‘nonstick’ side of the paper). Using wet hands, scoop out handfuls of ‘dough’ and spread them on the baking paper. I usually aim for the size of a saucer (you can try making them bigger, but I love making myself two small pizzas with different toppings)
Prebake the bases for about 10 minutes. They will rise ever so slightly, get a vague tan and you’ll be pleased to find they have a bit of bendiness and elasticity, thanks to the psyllium.
Now you’re free to do what you will with the ready-to-go pizza bases. Decorate them with toppings and bake until even more browned. Two of my favourite combos are in the photo above: the dairy-free one is mushroom and marinated artichoke on a base layer of green herb spread, the other is spinach, goat feta & olives with pesto. So light, so good.
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