Zesty Marinara Pizza

Pizza - the Holy Grail of the gluten and lactose free twenty-something.  We lived off of it in college and the taste and memories just make you feel good.  But what to do when you can't eat the crust OR the cheese?  As our dear friend Doug said, "Ill give you some sliced tomatoes and you can call it pizza."  Not very appetizing.

Luckily, on our apartment hunting trip to Pittsburgh, we found a nice little gem in the Squirrel Hill neighborhood, Gluuteny Bakery.  Brittany was as wide eyed as a kid in a candy store.  Bread.  Cookies. Brownies. WHOOPIE PIES? And the most beautiful thing in the whole store? Pre-mixed pizza dough.  We bought it.  We had to - it was a sign. A sign that we would be able to have a normal Friday night!

So we went a little nuts and came up with this gem. We like spicy foods and to eat on the somewhat healthy side, so we cooked up a little marinara with a kick, topped it with some ground turkey (left over from Mexican night),  fresh mushrooms, and gluten and lactose free cheddar cheese.*

Ingredients:
- One Gluuteny "Old World" Pizza Crust
- Half cup yellow onions - diced
- Quarter cup mushrooms - sliced
- One small can (10 ounce) tomato sauce
- Quarter cup ground turkey - browned
- Half cup of Cheddar flavored Veggie Shreds (It melts!)
- Garlic, Basil, Oregano, Salt and Pepper to taste
- Crushed Red Pepper Flakes







We prepared the crust almost per package directions. We pre-baked the crust for 5 minutes and coated it with olive oil for a nice browning.  While the pizza was pre-baking, we made the sauce.







We sauteed the onions until slightly brown over medium heat. Next we reduced the heat to low, added tomato sauce and seasoned to taste.  We added a fair amount of salt to cut the sweetness of the tomato sauce and a LOT of crushed red pepper, hence the zesty title.

We turned this...

... into this!

We topped the pizza with sauce, sliced mushrooms, and ground turkey.  Last came the cheese. We baked according to package directions (another 10 minutes or so) or as Brittany likes to say, "you take it out when it is done." Quite the scientist.

And no meal would be complete without a glass or two of wine.  Our selection tonight was a lovely Pinot Noir from the Pinot Evil Cellars.  Wine with pizza SHOULD come out of a box.

*We know, we know, it is SUPPOSED to be mozzarella.  But when you find a store that has ANY soy cheese, you can't complain about the flavor options.  The cheddar went well with the shrooms and turkey anyway.