I was out to dinner the other night after seeing Trainwreck, and I was forced (well, that’s dramatic) to watch others eat delicious chewy pizza from Eataly. That’s a ginormous Italian food market in Chicago that has a bunch of different restaurants, meat, cheese, produce, and oils/vinegars. I bought fresh basil, prosciutto, fresh figs, and mango and made little bundles and ate that for dinner, but I went home jonesin’ for some pizza pie. I haven’t made “meatza” in a super long time as it’s more of a Paleo entry-level recipe and I’ve been eating this way for 3 1/2 years so the novelty wore off fast. But since I finally finished up recipes for The Healing Kitchen, I am trying to get back to the basics of meat & veggies as I was going a little too creative with each meal. There are 4 pizza recipes in the book, so you can imagine that I have eaten pizza 8-12 times in the past 4 months! But now I’m in the pizza habit, and in order to ween myself off such an insistent craving, meatza is making a re-entry back into my life. Meatza, especially AIP meatza, isn’t going to blow you away by how much it reminds you of the real stuff. It’s NOT pizza. I don’t care if you even get to eat tomatoes & cheese – it’s still NOT pizza. 

 

BUT it is a fun & new way to get your meat & veg for the day in a pretty simple manner! This recipe uses a 2-minute olive ‘pesto’ as the base instead of a sauce which usually takes a bit of time to make. The zucchini and squash are quickly sauteed and served as is over a “crust” of ground chicken. You can use ground sausage, pork, bison or beef as well. Eat with a fork & knife or cut into large slices and eat with your hands! Speaking of hands… and feet, and abs, butt and pecs. Have you SEEN Trainwreck? You see all of John Cena’s EVERYTHING. Almost (it’s only R rated). I didn’t know who that was but I saw the movie with friends and went home and told my husband that some “large, muscle-y man is naked”. Then we went to see it again with different people and he was like, “Yeah, that’s a famous wrestler, idiot.” Okay, he didn’t call me an idiot (I’m sure he wanted to though), but I feel like I should know who that is. I also did not know who Tony Roma was, but now I do thanks to the movie indutry’s persistance in using professional athletes to sell chick flick tickets to their male counterparts. I guess I have officially assimiliated into American culture now. Overall, I thought the movie was pretty funny – mostly because of how inappropriate it was – I love inappropriateness. There’s too many rules in this world. We need less rules. Like I feel like I should be able to swim in my apartment’s pool before 10 am, but the sign says I can’t. Even though there are zero children in the pool at that time to splash me and make me swear off pregnancy for another 4 years. Doesn’t my management company want to prevent the overpopulation of their building? Clearly their interests lie elsewhere. 

 

Anyways, meatza. I just really like that word. Did you notice? 

 

 

 

 

Olive Pesto Meatza 

Serves 2 | Prep Time 8 minutes | Cook Time 12 minutes | Total Time 20 minutes

1 lb ground chicken thigh

3 tbsp coconut flour

1 tsp dried oregano

½ tsp garlic powder

½ tsp sea salt

10 oz black olives, drained (6 oz once drained)

½ cup packed basil leaves

1 tbsp olive oil

1 small zucchini, thinly sliced

1 small yellow squash, thinly sliced

1 tsp balsamic vinegar

 

1. Combine chicken, coconut flour, oregano, garlic, and sea salt in a bowl. Set aside.

2. Pulse olives and basil in a blender until finely chopped. Set aside.

3. Heat olive oil in a large skillet over medium-high heat. Sautee zucchini and squash for 5-6 minutes until cooked and wilted. Stir in balsamic. Transfer to a bowl.

4. Press chicken mixtue into the bottom of the skillet using your hands to create a 10-inch wide and 1/2-inch thick circle. You may also form the circle on a piece of parchment and transfer the meat to the skillet. Cook on each side fo 3 minutes until cooked through and golden brown, carefully using a large spatula to flip the “crust” over halfway through.

5. Top with olive pesto then layer with cooked zucchini and squash. Slice into quarters and serve warm.