Emma Newlyn Yoga

A healthy yet satisfying and totally tasty alternative to pizza, these protein packed chickpea bases are easy to make and cook quick enough to make midweek. Unlike a dough-based pizza base, these ‘pancake’ pizzas are far lighter and easier to digest, and of course since you’re the one making them, you choose exactly what goes into them!

Simply soak a couple of ingredients for a few hours, and the rest of the recipe takes no more than 20 minutes.

INGREDIENTS

• 1/2 cup chickpea flour (also known as gram or besan flour)
• 1/2 cup warm water
• 2 tbsp olive oil + more to use in the pan
• 1 egg – this really helps hold the pizza base together well
• 1 tsp dried oregano
• pinch of salt and pepper
• For the topping: try seasonal greens and bell peppers, olives and capers, or whatever you have to hand! If you’re adding fresh basil, scatter this over after taking the pizza out of the oven as it’ll burn easily otherwise. Use chopped tomatoes or passata for a healthier natural tomato sauce too.

METHOD

1. Add the chickpea flour, warm water, olive oil and oregano to a large bowl and whisk well
2. Leave the ingredients to soak / set for a minimum of 1 hour
3. Just before cooking, whisk in the egg
4. Add a small glug of oil to a pan and heat on a medium flame
5. Once the pan is hot, pour in the chickpea batter and cook exactly as you would with a pancake. When bubbles start to form, ensure you can slide the base around in the pan so it doesn’t stuck to the bottom.
6. This bit is wort doing to make sure the base turns out well: grease a large plate with a small dab of olive oil, and place the plate over the pan with the pizza base in. Carefully flip the pan so the base ends up on the plate and then slide the base back into the pan to cook on the other side for a couple of minutes.
7. Once cooked, slide the base onto a baking tray lined with baking paper and bake for 5 minutes at about 190C
8. Whilst the base is cooking, prepare any ingredients you’re using as a pizza topping
9. After 5 minutes, top the pizza base and return to the oven for roughly 10-15 minutes. Turn the heat up to 200C for a slightly crispier crust.
10. Remove from the oven and slice into pieces before devouring!

Enjoy

*main image via feedmephoebe as ours had been eaten way before the picture could be taken…….