"Pizza" Pasta - Wheat/Gluten, Soy, Dairy Free

 So this is not so much of a recipe as a meal idea, but this was so yummy and quick I had to share! It was brought about by a mistake I made. Before leaving the house to run some errands, I pulled what I thought was ground turkey out of the freezer to thaw as I was planning on making a quinoa/turkey meatloaf. Well, when I got home I realized I had grabbed turkey breasts that my husband wants to smoke tomorrow. So I started digging through the fridge hoping for some inspiration and happened upon some smoked turkey sausage (Butterball brand, as others have soy and/or beef or pork casing) and figured, what the heck.

Anyway, what we came up with was actually super yummy. I have mixed Diaya with pasta with red sauce before and it wasn't as good and the reason, I discovered, is the order you mix them together in. The way the melted cheese mixes with the pasta sauce makes a creamy, orange-ish sauce reminiscent of Chef Boyardee, rather than red sauce with pieces of mozzarella in it.

  So here is the recipe, I hope you like it! It's super kid friendly!

Pizza Pasta

1 package corn pasta, any small shape (read: not spaghetti)
2 Butterball smoked turkey sausages, cut into bite size pieces
1 jar (about 20 oz) your favorite allergy free pasta sauce. We like HEB brand garlic and herb sauce.
1 cup Daiya mozzarella shreds

Cook pasta according to package directions. Once drained, immediately return to pot and add Diaya. Stir until cheese is completely melted. Stir in pasta sauce and sausage. If it's not hot enough, heat over medium heat while stirring constantly since Diaya can burn easily.

Dairy Free/ Wheat Free Pizza Toast!

I know, I know, another pizza themed recipe. Since finding out Jack's newest allergies, we've been craving pizza and dying to find a good substitute. Also, I've been battling a virus this last week and just haven't felt up to anything complicated for dinner. I remember making 10 minute pizza toast as a little kid, so I thought I'd give it a go tonight. It came out well! I also made myself a tortilla BBQ pizza that was very good. This was really quick and could easily be made vegan (since this bread is free of animal products) or to suit most dietary needs. Use gluten free bread if avoiding gluten.

Dairy Free/ Wheat Free Pizza Toast

8 slices Food For Life White Rye Bread (or any bread that fits your needs)
4 Tbl Bertolli Classic Pizza sauce
6 Tbl Daiya Mozzarella Cheese Shreds
2 Tbl (or so) Hormel Turkey Pepperoni
1 cup fresh spinach, chopped
Whatever other toppings you want!

Preheat oven to 350.
Place all pieces of bread on a cookie sheet. Bake for 5 minutes. Remove from the oven. Flip the pieces of bread over and spoon pizza sauce onto each. Top with Daiya Cheese, spinach, pepperoni, and anything else that sounds good (maybe onion!). Bake for another 5 minutes and check to see if cheese has melted. If they need more time, bake another five minutes or even broil them for 1-2 minutes. Be careful, Daiya can burn quickly!

My tortilla pizza involved:
1 medium yellow corn tortilla
1 Tbl Stubbs BBQ sauce
1 Tbl Daiya Mozzarella shreds
1 Tbl chopped grilled turkey breast
a handful of mandarin oranges
a pinch of italian seasoning

I baked it the exact same way, on the same cookie sheet as the toasts. It was AWESOME. The tortilla got stiff enough that I could hold the whole thing and eat it, but not so hard that it crunched or broke when I bit it. And near the end I folded it in half and had a pizza taco!!!

Mini Polenta Pizzas

I know people say the polenta in the little tube from the grocery store is not very good, but I've never had polenta before and I didn't want to go through all the trouble to make it from scratch just to find out I don't like it. So I bought a tube of sun dried tomato and basil flavor and tried to find something to do with it. I found a recipe for polenta lasagna and I just sort of worked off of that, making these little tasty treats that are almost like pizza bagel bites without the whole in the middle. Very yummy and not hard to make and a giant plus: this did not create a lot of dishes for me to do! I think these would make a great lunch for the boys!

I just used the Food Merchants Organic Polenta in Sun Dried Tomato and Basil, cut into 1/2 inch rounds. I oiled a small cookie sheet and lined these up and sprinkled a little more olive oil on top. I baked them at 425 for 15 minutes then broiled them for 5 minutes. Then I sprinkled on chopped fresh spinach, a spoonful of marinara sauce, and a little bit of Daiya Mozzarella and popped em back in the oven at 425 for 10 minutes. These are sprinkled with nutritional yeast flakes also. Yum!

Dairy, Wheat, Gluten, and Egg Free BBQ Chicken Pizza

  There is this delicious chain in California (and they have one location in Washington, apprently) called Sharky's Woodfired Mexican Grill. It's fabulous! One of the things I used to love to eat there but I don't think they have anymore is the Naked BBQ Chicken Pizza. It was n a super thin crispy crust, almost more of a crisp tortilla than pizza crust. It had BBQ sauce, grilled chicken, onions, low fat mozzarella and I think a few shreds of cheddar, and various green things... fresh oregeno, bell pepper, I think scallions also. Can't remember exactly, but I know it was superb and I was totally craving it this afternoon so I decided to see what I could make here at home. The result was obviously not the same, but a really really good substitute that can stand on it's own right as a fabulous pizza! Even the kids loved it, despite the green things! This is going to be something we make often. Omg, so yummy!
  I can't believe I used to feel like we were so limited by these diet restrictions! What I realize now is that we were actually really limited in what we chose to eat before... I never would have dreamed of making many of the dishes I make now, with 'real' ingredients or otherwise. And it's amazing how, well, amazing food tastes when it's fresh, not processed and full of unpronounceable ingredients and beaver butt (see Buffalo Chicken Meatball recipe for clarification), and made with love at home. I love it!
Allergy Free BBQ Chicken Pizza

• Bob's Red Mill gluten free pizza crust mix (calls for 2 Tbs flaxmeal, 6 Tbs plus 1 1/2 cup water, and 2 Tbs olive oil)
• Daiya Mozzarella (3/4 cup) and Cheddar (1/4 cup) shreds
• 2 cans grilled chicken breast, drained (you can use real grilled chicken if you have the time, but I was in a pinch)
• 4 Tbs gluten free BBQ sauce, divided
• 1 Tbs oregeno
• 1 large red onion, sliced
• 1 half green bell pepper, chopped

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Make pizza crust dough according to package directions. Once raw dough is spread onto oiled cookie sheet, bake for 12-13 mins (the directions call for 7-9 but the extra time will help make it crispy crust!). Spread 3 Tbs BBQ sauce onto the crust. Sprinkle on onions and chicken. Then sprinkle on mozzarella and cheddar, bell pepper, and oregeno. Take remaining bbq sauce and drizzle it over toppings. Bake for 17 mins or until cheese is melted and pizza looks done.

 Yummy!

Dairy, Egg, and Wheat Free Pizza

  Tonight we had pizza.... again. Yeah, we already had pizza only two nights ago but we were out in Fort Worth just trying to browse Barnes & Noble, and the crowds and traffic were so bad that we got home with not much time to make anything elaborate. But this pizza is so omg good!
  We used Bob's Red Mill Gluten Free Pizza Crust Mix plus, since we are not using eggs, we substituted 2 Tbl flaxmeal mixed with 6 Tbl water, then made the dough as directed on the package. It's so easy! Also, last time we used italian flavored ground chicken sausage, but this time we used Oscar Mayer turkey smoked sausage, cut into thin coins like tiny pepperoni. The sauce was Kirkland Signature Marinara Sauce and we used Daiya Mozzarella Cheese. The effect was nothing short of magical!

Is it just me or does rectangular pizza take you back to the glory days of junior high?

  As you can see, Chris was so excited he couldn't get away from the finished product while I was trying to take a picture! Lol, it was really good. Chris said he preferred the the chicken sausage last time, but I think the marinara sauce is what I liked most about this version. This is a really easy to make dinner on nights when time just gets away from you.