Pizzaaaaaaaa!

In general, I'm really enjoying the benefits of the primal lifestyle.  I'm not particularly good at the "getting enough sleep" part, but the exercise, the food, and the periodic freedom from electronic devices works well for me.  I don't miss bread and I've adjusted to the lack of cookies.  But man, oh man, have I missed pizza.  I've eaten it now and then, just scraping it off the crust, but the empty crust is so sad and I dislike wasting food.

I've been meaning to work on this recipe for ages, so I made it for myself for my birthday.  I had eggplant, green bell peppers, and potatoes in my CSA farm veggies last weekend and it just seemed like a good idea.  If you get a chance, give this a try and let me know how it turns out:

Primal Pizza Casserole

Sauce:

2 Tbsp olive oil

6 garlic cloves, minced

1 tsp dried basil

1 tsp dried oregano

16 oz can tomato sauce

Pizza:

1 eggplant, cut into bite-sized pieces

2-3 thin skinned potatoes, cut into bite-sized pieces

Olive oil

Salt/pepper to taste

1 onion, sliced

1 green pepper, sliced

1 small can sliced black olives

1 container portabello mushrooms, sliced

1 package sweet Italian sausage (sliced if pre-cooked, squeezed out of casing and browned if not)

1 package uncured/no nitrate pepperoni

1 lb fresh mozzarella, sliced or shredded

Preheat the oven to 400F.  Toss the eggplant and potatoes with olive oil, salt, and pepper.  Spread on a large rimmed baking sheet covered with foil and roast, uncovered, until tender—about 45 minutes.

While eggplant and potatoes are roasting, cook the pizza sauce.  Heat oil in a small saucepan over medium heat.  Add garlic and cook about 1 minute.  Stir in basil and oregano, then add tomato sauce.  Cook a few minutes until flavors are blended.  Set aside.

When the eggplant and potatoes are roasted, toss with onion, green pepper, mushrooms, and sausage.  Stir in half of the pizza sauce (freeze the other half for another batch).  Pour into a 9x13 pan, cover with mozzarella, and top with pepperoni.  Bake, covered, for 20 minutes.  Eat and enjoy!  (And if you eat it cold from the fridge, it tastes like cold pizza—yum!)