Paleo Pizza Crust

It has been months since I last posted a recipe.  It really has been a crazy last few months between travels, family illness, and the death of my father.  I am slowly finding a new routine and as of yesterday, renewed my commitment to get back to my cooking and enjoying of good food.  When my mom died a year ago, I was very diligent about making sure I was eating well because I desperately needed that to preserve my emotional and physical well being.  Since my dad died this last month, I have been having a hard time getting back to my cooking and baking.  I made things with so much joy and love for him and he loved my cooking and baking.  My menu planning was with him in mind (and of course lunches for Atzin).  Well, yesterday I went to see my chiropractor friend, Dr. Mario Gonzalez.  He didn't directly tell me, but definitely a light bulb went off, something energetic, that told me that I needed to be serious about how I ate if I was going to help my body recover from the grief as well as the wheat and corn I ate on my recent travels to Guatemala and Argentina.  I'm still feeling the inflammation and effects of the corn - of course, impacting my mood and my running because of the pain in my ankles.  My digestive system was thrown off by the wheat I ate in Argentina - how could I say no to my colleagues' offers of Argentinian pizza, beer, empanadas, and alfajores.

Inspired by my visit to Dr. Mario, Atzin (my soon to be college student son) and I made grain free pizza.  I can't say it was Paleo because it was loaded with cheese.  This is my favorite grain free pizza crust - it works every time! Atzin made a homemade basil pesto with pine nuts, basil, olive oil, garlic, salt, and pepper.  We used goat cheese and spinach as well on that pizza.  The other pizza had the traditional tomato sauce, bell peppers, mushrooms, and Atzin's favorite, pepperoni.

So here is the recipe for the crust:

This makes 4 pizza crusts.  I usually freeze them once they are baked and then have easy meals later.  Last night we just made all four given the size of Atzin's appetite with his workouts.

Yeast Mixture:
1/2 cup of warm water
1 1/2 TBSP of honey
1 1/2 TBSP of active dry yeast

Dry Ingredients:
3 cups of almond flour
1/3 cup of coconut flour
1 1/2 cup of arrowroot starch
1 tsp sea salt

Wet Ingredients:
3 eggs
2 TBSP olive oil
2 tsp apple cider vinegar

1. If you have a convection oven - you can preheat to 350 - if you have a regular oven, do 375.
2. In a small bowl combine the yeast mixture.  Let it sit for five minutes or so while you combine the dry ingredients.
3. Whisk together the dry ingredients.  
4. Add the yeast mixture and then the wet ingredients to the dry mixture. Use a hand mixer and mix well.
5.  Cover your hands with olive oil - you can dip or use an olive oil spray on your hands  Divide the dough into about 4 equal parts.  Place each of the balls of dough on parchment paper and pat them into circles with your hands.  Make sure they are well oiled or it will stick!  I also use a bit of olive oil spray on the parchment paper to keep it from sticking to the parchment paper while you pat the dough.  I tend to use my fingers more than palms for the patting down of the dough into circles.  You will get the hang of it, it should be quick movements.
6. Bake for about 12 minutes if it's one crust or you have multiple crusts in a convection oven.  If you have a regular oven and more than one crust in the oven, take out and turn after about 6-8 minutes and then bake for another 4-5 minutes.

After baking, your crust is ready for your creativity as you add your desired toppings.  Once you have your toppings on the crust, you bake for another 10-12 minutes.  It's great - you can see, if you make and freeze them, how you could have a dinner in a very short amount of time - and of course, you can make the pizzas paleo or vegan by omitting the cheese.  Atzin said that he could eat the crust with the pesto topping alone because that combination was delicious.  He said the crust and the pesto really complemented each other.  He was right!  You don't even need any other topping!