When you're craving pizza but want to hang strong on the low-carb TV dial, this is a reasonable alternative.
It's very simple. It's got a pizza taste. The crust is total cheese, baked on its own and then topped, but I won't pretend it's like having a thick-crusted, chewy, authentic old-world Italian pizza. If I did, Tina Radcliffe would go all cement shoes crazy on me and I'd have to go to confession and it would be a mess, mess, mess!
So as it is, it's got great taste, it keeps you on your diet, but I'd have to eat the whole pan to call it a meal. And that might defeat the purpose. But the kids wolfed it like a crew of mad dogs, underfed. It was pretty funny!
Crust:
1 8 oz. pkg cream cheese (room temperature)
1/4 cup Parmesan cheese
1 tsp. garlic
1/2 tsp. pepper
Mix together with mixer. Spread in 13 x 9" pan lightly sprayed with cooking spray. Bake at 350 degrees for about twenty minutes, until crust is golden brown.
Cool for ten minutes. Sprinkle with garlic and parsley.
Top with marinara sauce, cheese, pepperoni. (I don't know if you can heavier with this because the crust is flimsy.... So if you pile things on, it will all collapse.) This was jarred sauce Bethy brought over and cheese from the 5lb. bag of shredded mozzarella from Sam's Club...
Bake for about 10-15 minutes until cheese melts and pepperoni crisps up slightly.
Let cool about ten minutes before trying to cut! The cheesy crust sets up nicely once it's cooled a little, and the blend of flavors is marvelous... but be careful, toppings can slide right off the "cheese" crust! Too funny....
And this is what we were doing at other times during the week!!! The big kids had a half-day on Halloween so we had a pumpkin carving contest... Oh my stars, what kind of babysitter turns a bunch of kids loose with steak knives???????
"Can I take him? And if I do, will I get in trouble because he's just a wittle, bitty, sweet baby!!!"
How stinkin' cute are they???? And how much fun (and mess!!!!) there is in my life.
God is good, all the time!
Morning, Ruthy!
ReplyDeleteI've seen this recipe before, but cream cheese for pizza crust? Maybe if it was cheesecake pizza... ;-)
I'm tempted to try a recipe I discovered the other day--it uses mozzarella cheese for the crust. Talk about high fat!
Pics are great, as always. Finn is getting so big... They do grow up way too fast, don't they?
Finn is adorable! You know Mel, when I'm going low carb, I don't worry about fat content because it doesn't matter. And this tasted great. But it wasn't filling and one of the teens had a big slice on a bagel. She said it was marvelous, but that won't work for low-carb, right??? Bratty, skinny, cute kids!!!
DeleteWow, this is strange. I think that a thin crust Veggie Pizza at Pizza Hut is as low carb as I am going to get. LOL.
ReplyDeleteOne of my daycare moms had sent me the pic.... Had to try it!
DeleteMm I'm wondering about a real carby crust THEN that cream cheese then the other toppings..
ReplyDeleteSusanna
Laughing!!!
DeleteThis looks like low carb heaven. Definitely going on next week's menu!
ReplyDeleteCan't you see this paired with a big salad?
And you're SO RIGHT! God is good, all the time :)
Jan, that's what I thought! If you have it and nice big bowl of salad or veggies, that would work. But on its own, not filling enough.
DeleteI needed this recipe. I have been craving pizza and knew this sort of recipe was out there! Thanks a million, Ruthy!
ReplyDeleteJulie, tell me what you think when you try it! I found versions on several sites, but they were all pretty much the same. A telling thing was that I didn't find one on the big sites by Googling it, so that tells me they weren't all that impressed, maybe?
DeleteOne of my favorite things in life is backed cheese! You know, the parts that get brown and crispy. So this will probably be my next favorite thing!!! :) :)
ReplyDeleteYou just made my day, Ruthy. LOL I'll have to give this a try. :)
Love the kid photos!
That was supposed to be BAKED cheese.
DeleteMissy! You would love this because the baked cheese consistency was what a couple of people didn't like... but then Paul walked in (Mary Ruthy's dad) and he loved it and made me give Mandy the recipe. So it was an interesting mix of reactions.
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