Sausage & Rapini Pizza is so good and the perfect healthy recipe for your next pizza night! It’s gluten, grain & dairy free, making it IBS friendly and the ideal pizza for anyone following a paleo diet.
DID YOU KNOW? Cassava flour is a good choice for those with gluten intolerance symptoms and sensitive digestive systems or disorders, such as irritable bowel syndrome.
Cassava flour is derived from cassava root (also known as yuca or manioc), a starchy, high-carbohydrate tuber – similar to yam, taro, plantains and potato.
Starchy tubers tend to be safer for people with gut issues since they contain more soluble fiber and less insoluble fiber. Soluble fiber can be soothing for the gut, whereas consuming large amounts of insoluble fiber when your gut is inflamed can aggravate IBS symptoms.
Once a month (OK fine, every two weeks) the BF and I experiment with different pizza toppings for this cassava flour pizza crust. You can find the original pizza crust recipe created by Otto’s Naturals, here.
We’ve nailed down another great recipe which was inspired by my little Jen days. I could always count on a sausage & rapini pizza from Caruso’s Pizza when I would visit my dad on the weekends. This pizza put all others to shame! Looking back, I’m truly grateful my dad was hopeless in the kitchen or else I wouldn’t have got my weekly dose of this pizza 🙂
So, if you’re looking for a gut friendly pizza with a whole lot of Italian love, this is the one for you!
Sausage & Rapini Pizza is so good and the perfect healthy recipe for your next pizza night! It’s gluten, grain & dairy free, making it IBS friendly and the ideal pizza for anyone following a paleo diet.
1cupcassava flour, I recommend Otto's cassava flour
1tbspcoconut flour
5tbsparrowroot flour
1tspsalt
1tspgarlic powder, optional
1egg
¼cupavocado oil
TOPPINGS
1/2cupplum tomatoes, drained and crushed
20wholemushrooms, sautéed
1bunchrapini, boiled & sautéed
1cured Italian sausage, sliced
Sea salt to taste, mix into tomatoes
Instructions
Prepare yeast mix: In a small bowl, add warm water and honey. Mix to dissolve. Sprinkle yeast in. Mix to dissolve. Set aside for 5-10 minutes to activate. It will get foamy on top.
Mix dry: Mix dry ingredients in large mixing bowl to combine.
Mix wet: Lightly whisk eggs and olive oil together in a small bowl.
Mix together and form a dough ball: Add egg mixture and activated yeast to the dry ingredients and form a dough ball. Transfer ball to an oiled bowl, cover with dish towel and set aside in a warm place (70-80 F is ideal) to rise for 1 hour. It will not double in size, but it will rise a little.
Prep toppings while dough rises: Remove stems from rapini, boil until tender and drain. Grab two stove-top pans and saute 1 sliced garlic clove in 2 tbsp avocado oil, in each pan. Add rapini to one pan and mushrooms to the other. Season each with sea salt and coat in oil and garlic. After a few minutes remove rapini and set aside. Add some red or white wine (other liquids work too) to the mushrooms and cover for a few minutes. Remove when liquid evaporates and mushrooms are cooked. Set aside.
Once dough has risen, preheat oven to 550 F. Preheat pizza stone, baking sheet or metal pan.
Roll and shape dough: Place the dough on parchment paper. Place a piece of parchment paper over the dough (if necessary) and shape dough with your hands by pushing down (on top of parchment, so it doesn't stick) and roll with rolling pin. Flatten your pizza about 1/8-1/4 inch thin. Roll the crust thick or thin (to your liking) by shaping with your fingers and rolling the edges. Use extra cassava flour if dough is sticking. NOTE: Split the dough in half before rolling it out to make two smaller pizzas.
Add toppings: Add tomatoes, rapini, mushrooms and sausage onto the dough. Lift the whole piece of parchment paper with pizza on top and transfer to the preheated baking sheet.
Bake in the oven for 8-12 minutes until dough is firm and slightly golden, pulling out halfway and removing parchment paper. For a crispier golden crust, allow a few more minutes. Allow more time if cooking at lower temperature.
Sausage & Butternut Squash Skillet makes for a wonderful dinner during the fall and winter. The combination of warming spices, butternut squash and sweet Italian sausage creates a recipe that’s heartwarming and healthy–not to mention, low-carb and paleo too!
DID YOU KNOW? Butternut squash has over four times the recommended daily value of vitamin A and over half the recommended intake of vitamin C in just one serving!
Vitamin A has the ability to fight diseases like cancer and autoimmune disorders, it can also help prevent the common cold and other infections. Part of how it protects against such a large number of infections and diseases is because vitamin A reduces inflammation, which is at the root of most diseases.
Inflammation is generally caused by an overactive immune system that attacks more than it should. Vitamin A helps to keep your immune system in balance therefore reducing inflammation.
In addition, butternut squash contains high amounts of vitamin C, anothercommon immune system booster that not only helps prevent and treat colds, but also lessens or inhibits the development of more serious conditions from common infections.
Consider adding more butternut squash to your diet to help boost vitamin A & C. Try this yummy Sausage & Butternut Squash skillet.
What you need for Sausage & Butternut Squash Skillet
Sweet Italian sausage (find pastured pork sausage here)
Butternut squash
Chicken broth
Onion
Garlic
Fresh sage
Fennel seed
Ground cloves or ground allspice
Crushed red pepper
Ground nutmeg
Avocado oil
Sea salt & black pepper
Want more wholesome squash recipes? You’re going to love these …
Sausage & Butternut Squash Skillet makes for a wonderful dinner during the fall and winter. The combination of warming spices, butternut squash and sweet Italian sausage creates a recipe that's heartwarming and healthy--not to mention, low-carb and paleo too!
1 1/2poundsbutternut squash, peeled, seeded and cut into 1-inch cubes*
1largeonion, chopped
4clovesgarlic, sliced
1tsp.crushed red pepper
1/4tsp.ground nutmeg
1/2cuporganic chicken broth
Sea salt, to taste
Ground black pepper, to taste
Instructions
In a medium bowl, mix sausage, finely chopped sage, fennel seed, cloves/all spice and ground black pepper.
In a large skillet with a lid, heat oil over medium-high. Add the sausage mixture and cook, breaking into large pieces until browned.
Add the squash, onion, garlic, crushed red pepper, nutmeg and coarsely chopped sage; season with salt. Cook, stirring occasionally, until the vegetables begin to soften, 2 to 3 minutes.
Add broth and cover. Reduce the heat to medium-low and simmer, stirring occasionally, until the squash is tender, 18 to 20 minutes.
Notes
* TIME SAVER: You can find containers of peeled and cubed butternut squash at most grocery stores.
If you’re following a low-carb or keto diet and someone tells you that you need processed foods like breads, pastas and cereal grains in order to get adequate amounts of fiber in your diet, hit them with this fact …
One serving of kale contains more fiber than 3 slices of whole wheat bread!
Don’t forget to throw in a “KALE YEAH!” at the end 😉
Italian Sausage & Kale Soup
INGREDIENTS:
6 slices pastured bacon (diced)
2 pounds Italian sausage (casing removed)
1 tablespoon avocado oil
1 small yellow onion (diced)
4 cloves garlic (minced)
1 large sweet potato (peeled and cut into small cubes)
4 cups chicken broth (store-bought or homemade)
4 cups filtered water
1 teaspoon Italian seasoning (I made my own blend using oregano, basil, rosemary, & fennel seeds)
1/2 teaspoon sea salt
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
4-5 large kale leaves (chopped)
1 cup full-fat coconut milk (canned)
1 lemon (juice only)
INSTRUCTIONS:
1. Using a big stove-top pot, cook bacon over medium-low heat until crisp. Remove bacon from pot and set aside. Drain excess fat from pot.
2. Add sausage to pot and break apart meat. Cook at medium heat until sausage is brown and a little crispy. Remove sausage from pot and set aside.
3. Add avocado oil to pot and sauté onion and garlic until onion becomes translucent. Add sausage, potatoes, chicken stock, water, seasoning, salt and pepper.
4. Bring heat to medium-low, cover pot and let cook for 30-minutes.
5. Add kale to pot and let cook for 5-minutes.
6. Stir in coconut milk, lemon juice and bacon. Let cook for another 5-minutes.
7. Taste and add additional salt/seasoning if needed.
Hi! I’m Jennifer …
My mission is to help women heal their gut, lose weight and feel great through simple and delicious smoothies, whole food nutrition & healthy lifestyle habits.
