Quinoa, pronounced as "Keen-wah" is a gluten-free whole grain that provides 8 essential amino acids. Quinoa is commonly used in salads, which is another delicious way to have it, but why have salad when you can have pizza?!

The quinoa pizza crust is delicious, a bit doughy and another great way to make pizza healthier! The quinoa needs to be soaked for 8 hours so I'd soak it before heading out for the day, or before bed if you want to make it for lunch.

I love dairy, but dairy doesn't love me so I used Daiya vegan cheese in this recipe. It taste and melts like real cheese! You can use regular mozzarella cheese instead.

Update: I've been making the crust as a 'flatbread' to eat with Indian Curry/Butter Chicken instead of naan. Instead of Italian Seasoning and Cheese, I used 1/2 teaspoon Cumin, 1/4 teaspoon chili podwer, and 1 tablespoon of oil in the batter. The recipe is really forgiving/flexible! Totally satisfies my craving for carbs!

Quinoa Crust - 2 servings

3/4 cup Quinoa
1/4 cup Water
1/2 teaspoon Salt
1 Clove of Garlic, chopped
1/2 teaspoon Black Pepper
2 teaspoon Italian Seasoning
1/4 cup Daiya Mozzarella Style Shreds or Mozzarella Cheese
1 tablespoon Olive Oil

Toppings - I used all veggies to keep it vegan, but use whatever you like!

Pizza Sauce
Daiya Cheese
Tomatoes
Onions
Jalapeno Peppers
Garlic

Step 1:

1. Soak the quinoa in a bowl with enough water to cover all the grains, give it a stir and cover. Let it sit for 8 hours.

Step 2:

2. After the quinoa has soaked for 8 hours, preheat oven to 450 degrees F.

3. Drain the quinoa with a sive.

Step 3:

4. Blend all the crust ingredients (soaked quinoa, water, salt, garlic, black pepper, italian seasoning, cheese), except for the olive oil in a blender or Magic Bullet until smooth and thick like pancake batter.

5. Pour the batter into your pan and spread it evenly with a rubber spatula. I like it about 0.5 cm thick.

Options:
a. Line a 9 inch glass pie plate with parchment paper. This makes one personal size pizza using half the pizza batter.
b. Grease a cake or pizza pan with olive oil, heat the pan in the oven for 5 mins prior to use.
c. Grease a cast iron skillet with olive oil, heat the skillet in the oven for 5 mins prior to use.

Be careful when handling the hot pans, use oven mits.

Use whatever size pan/skillet you have. The size of the pizza will depend on how thick you like the crust and how big your pans are, I prefer thin crust 'cause it's pretty hearty. A thick crust gets pretty dense.

Update: If you don't care for a perfect round shape, I found parchment paper and a baking sheet works just fine. Option b & c are still good if you don't have parchment paper around. Because the batter is a lot like pancake batter, you can make fun shapes! I made a heart shape by pouring the batter and finessing it with the back of a spoon. You can also use a condiment/squeeze bottle for better control. If you're not good at free hand drawing, you can use a drawing underneath the parchment paper and just trace it with the batter. Don't forget to remove the drawing before baking! Next time, I'm going to make a dinosaur pizza!

Step 4:

6. Bake for 15 - 20 mins, until it's a nice golden brown.

7. Remove from oven and flip the crust, return the crust to the oven and bake for another 10 mins until it's a nice golden brown.