A healthy pizza hack

One thing I love the most, aside from my little family, is Italian food!  It’s just so good.  All of it.  The problem I have with it is that it can be so calorie dense.  So, I’ve done a little research and come up with this little belter as an alternative!  All of the flavour with a fraction of the calories and lots of veggies, winning!  It’s low carb too, absolute goals.  There is quite  a bit of prep with these, but I promise you they are worth the faff.

Prep Time: 15 minutes

Cook Time: 15 minutes
Makes: 12 boats, about 6 servings (less if you’re me!)

Ingredients
6 small courgette (2 1/2 lbs)
1 Tbsp coconut oil or your choice
2 cloves garlic, finely minced
Salt and freshly ground black pepper
1tbsp tomato puree
400g chopped tomatos
Plenty of oregano and basil – dried is fine
1 onion finely diced
6oz shredded mozzarella cheese
2oz finely grated parmesan cheese
1/2 cup mini pepperoni slices
2 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano

Directions
Preheat oven to 200 degrees. Line a large rimmed baking sheet with grease proof baking paper and set aside.

Cut each courgette into halves through the length (if they don’t lie flat trim a thin portion from bottoms so that they will lie mostly flat. (I only had to do this with one of the pesky little critters).

Pat insides dry with paper towels (cut portion). Align on prepared baking sheet. In a bowl, stir together coconut oil and half of the garlic then brush lightly over tops of courgette.

Lightly fry the onion and the remainder of the garlic for 3 to 4 minutes until softened. Plop in the tomato puree and fry off for another 5 minutes then add in the dried oregano and basil with seasoning and after a couple more minutes pop in the chopped tomatoes. Allow the mixture to thicken and reduce.

Go back to your cut courgettes and sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste then brush a slightly heaped tbsp of the sauce over each courgette, leaving a small rim near edges uncoated. Sprinkle tops evenly with mozzarella cheese then with parmesan cheese. Top with pepperoni slices (placing them more near centers as the cheese will melt (YUMMMMM) and spread). Bake in preheated oven 12 – 18 minutes (bake time will vary depending on how thick your courgettes are and how crisp/tender you want them). I like mine with a bit of crunch left in them so only cooked for 15 minutes.

Remove from oven and sprinkle with chopped fresh oregano. These are just as delicious hot or cold!!  If you try these do let us know what you think. If there are any particular ingredients you’d like us to try out for you, then get in touch or leave us a comment!

Happy munching lovely people!

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