You know that driven feeling you get when you tell someone something over and over again and they STILL don’t believe you; here’s a little story that perfectly encapsulates that feeling.
I’ve been telling David for months that pizza crust can indeed be made using nutritious vegetables like squash instead of all that terrible flour that makes you fat. He didn’t believe me the first time I told him, nor the second, or third, and so-on and so-on. I figured it was time to prove the man wrong!
The catch to this story is that I wasn’t actually positive I was right. A good friend of mine had told me it was possible and very delicious so I was sticking with my womanly obstinate gut here.
Come on ladies, you know what I’m talking about, She-man woman power! “I WILL MAKE IT WORK, one way or another”…(David’s far too familiar with this type of stubborn will power).
Anyways, I looked up a recipe a few weeks ago and was pumped and ready to blow his mind! I was overjoyed to find an easy to understand recipe with only 5 ingredients and I conveniently had every single one in my kitchen…or so I thought. (I’ll leave the answer to this relevant mystery for later.)
The crust called for
- 1 spaghetti squash
- 1 egg
- 1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
- 1/4 teaspoon cayenne
- 1/2 teaspoon salt
All you had to do is cut the squash in half, scoop out the seedy innards, coat with olive oil, cook in the oven at 375 for 45 minutes, pull out, scrape the insides with a fork producing stringy yellow pieces, mix in a bowl with other ingredients and spread on a baking sheet.
Easy enough.
I also looked up a recipe for pesto since my husband resents tomatoes and was able to make healthy delicious homemade pizza sauce.
All that called for was:
- 1/4 cup cashews (Brilliant! Much cheaper than pine nuts and gave a great texture.)
- 1/2 cup basil
- 1 cup packed spinach
- 1/2 lemon
- sea salt and pepper to taste
- 8 tbsp olive oil
- (And I added garlic because everything tastes better with fresh pressed garlic cloves.)
For the topping I cooked up some hot italian sausage, sautéed mushrooms, onions, garlic, arugula, and got ready a hefty amount of shredded mozzarella and crumbled feta.
I took each step carefully, wanting this to be the best meal David ever had, unfortunately, I messed up the most significant step of all…
After baking the squash, adding the pesto, and throwing on the toppings, it was time to blow David’s mind. He was already impressed with the delicious smells wafting from the kitchen and I was feeling pretty darn good about myself.
The pizza was placed on the table, the red wine was poured, but as I pressed the knife down into my masterpiece, all my dreams were instantaneously crushed…
The spaghetti squash laying on my kitchen counter was no spaghetti squash at all, but a BUTTERNUT squash. It all began to make sense why I wasn’t able to produce stringy pieces from the squash and instead was left with mush when mixing up the crust ingredients earlier.
It’s a good thing my David loves me A LOT! He welcomed the mush onto his plate, took a bite, and enthusiastically said “yum!”. It was no pizza, but the toppings were certainly delectable. We ended up eating about half of that goopy mess of a mea. Although David’s eyes held a glint of “I told you so” in them, he never mouthed the words, so I took that as permission to give this “no flour” veggie crust another shot.
Lessons I Learned:
- Butternut Squash is MUCH different than Spaghetti Squash
- Always poke the crust before adding the toppings in case it is soft and mushy
- Never give up on your dreams
- Try, Try, and Try again
I will go at this recipe again, next time producing a crunchy, tasty, healthy crust that will indeed knock David’s socks off.
She-man, woman power all the way!
Happy Healthy Cooking!