Paleo Pizza (with lots of cheese)

I have finally found a paleo-friendly pizza crust recipe (albeit full of cheese, but most of them are).  This crust is strong enough to hold in your hand like a regular pizza, and virtually carb-free.

Okay, stay with me on this one - this is going to be a stretch - but the crust is basically made out of mozzarella, cream cheese, eggs and ground up pork rinds.

Yes.  Pork rinds.

I have never eaten a pork rind before.  I was determined to try one before making this crust, but when I opened the bag, the smell was just too...vile.  I couldn't do it.  Luckily, there isn't much pork rind flavor in the final product.  This pizza was delicious.

I tried putting the pork rinds in the food processor and I also tried just crushing them by hand.  They started to clump up in the food processor, but since that creates a finer grain, that would be my final suggestion.  Start out by mixing up eggs, cream cheese, mozzarella and spices.

Add the pork rinds last.  The mixture gets thick and creamy.  Spread it out over a very well-greased pan (I used liberal amounts of bacon grease).

Bake the crust for 20 minutes at 425*.

While that's in the oven, chop up your pizza toppings.

The more the merrier!  After the crust comes out of the oven, top with pizza sauce (beware of store-bought pizza sauces, which are full of sugar).  Then add meat and veggies.

And of course, more cheese never hurt anyone.  Plus it helps hold the toppings together.

Bake for 10-12 minutes until the cheese is bubbly, then let it stand for a few minutes before consuming.

Pork Rind Pizza Crust (I followed the recipe here pretty closely)

Ingredients:

• 8 oz cream cheese, softened
• 4 eggs
• 2 cups mozzarella cheese, shredded
• 1 tbs dried oregano
• 1 tbs dried basil
• 1/2 tbs ground garlic
• 1 c. ground up pork rinds (about half a 1.75 oz bag)

Instructions:

1.  Preheat the oven to 425*F. 

2.  Mix up the cheeses, eggs, and spices.  Add the ground pork rinds.

3.  Heavily grease a 9x13 pan.  Spread the dough out in the pan.  Bake at 425 for 20 minutes, then remove from oven and let stand for a few minutes.

4.  Top with pizza toppings of your choice.  Bake for 10-12 more minutes until cheese is bubbly.  Let stand for a few minutes before serving.

The crust is surprisingly airy but strong enough to hold in your hand like a "normal" pizza.  I am happy enough with this recipe to call it my go-to paleo pizza recipe.  It has a ton of cheese in it, but it's definitely the best alternative I've tried so far.  (previous attempts: Paleo Cauliflower Pizza Crust, "meatza" - made with a flattened chicken breast as the "crust."  Apparently I never actually blogged about that one.)

Anyway, try this one out. Let me know if you like it.  It's gluten-free, nut-free, coconut-free, etc, which makes it pretty friendly to a lot of different sensitivities.