Polenta Pizza

I'm been craving pizza a lot since last weekend. I have resisted making pizza for myself because I live alone. So, having a whole pizza in the house with no one to share it with is just asking for trouble. But on Tuesday, my boyfriend invited me over for home made pizza. He had made the dough from a sourdough starter. I arrived promptly at 6pm and got to watch him put several layers of toppings on it. It was equal parts absolutely decadent and delicious, and I heaped several slices on my plate. But I ate too much, as I usually do with pizza. I notice that whenever I eat breads I tend to have trouble controlling my portions, and pizza is no exception. White flour acts a lot like sugar in the body, and since I'm sugar sensitive, and sugar causes me strong cravings, then my lack of control around breads just makes sense. But I don't plan to make the leap to no wheat any time soon because it is in so many things, and I'm just not ready for that. For now, I'm trying to eat less of it.

Last night, I was starting to formulate my grocery list, a I do at the beginning of each weekend. I took out a few cookbooks, to get inspired for my meal planning. I brought down three vegetarian cookbooks, hoping to find healthier versions of some of the comfort foods I like. So, I was perusing one of my favorite cookbooks, Cynthia Lair's Feeding the Whole Family, and found a recipe on Polenta Pizza. In this recipe, she prepares the polenta, spreads it into a pan, sprinkling a little parmesan cheese on top, and bakes it in the oven until it develops into a "crust," crispy on the outside, creamy on the inside; and then spreads the toppings on and bakes it again. She put a ton of vegetables on it: zucchini, eggplant, squash, peppers, etc., and very little cheese. But I wanted more traditional pizza fare. I decided on a simple mushroom and cheese pizza. I could also throw in some pine nuts next time, for added crunch. The result? It tasted really good! I liked the polenta texture, though I added a bit too much water and it came out a little too creamy to slice up. But I am told that if I use less water next time, I could cut it into bars and eat it. It wasn't the same chewy texture as a wheat crust, but it held its own and it is much less time consuming that preparing home made pizza dough. The bonus was that I baked it in one of my baking ramekins. So, I was able to make my own personal sized pizza, with no leftovers.



So, here is the question of the week. What is the best pizza topping combo you've ever discovered? Your answer might give me inspiration for my next polenta pizza adventure.