6.10.2014

A Healthy Pizza Alternative



Pizza might be my favorite food out there. Cheese...carbs...yummy toppings and sauce. What's not to love? The might is only because that is a pretty large commitment to say/make for someone who loves food as much as I do!

If it were up to Billy, we would have pizza night every single Friday and while that sounds just peachy and all, the bod just doesn't agree. Enter these zucchini pizza boats

I've found that sometimes my pizza cravings are due to wanting the cheese and sauce (the bread usually makes me feel like crap after anyways), and these give you exactly that without all the extra carbs/calories!

Honestly, our house smelled so good when cooking these in the oven and they're great because just like a regular pizza you can customize them with whatever toppings float your (zucchini) boat....


Ingredients:
+2 zucchini's (this is for 2 people-do 4 if you're not making other sides to go with these, or if you think your man would want more than one)
+1 tbsp olive oil
+1 clove garlic, finely minced
+salt and freshly ground black pepper
+1 cup marinara sauce (I used Classico Spicy Tomato & Basil)
+1 1/2 cups shredded mozzarella cheese
+1/3 cup finely shredded parmesan cheese
+1/2 cup pepperoni slices
+2 Tbsp chopped fresh oregano
+any other toppings you'd like! 

Directions:

Preheat oven to 375 degrees.
Line a large rimmed baking sheet with parchment paper and set aside.
Cut each zucchini into halves through the length (if they don't lye flat trim a thin portion from bottoms so that they will lye mostly flat) Pat insides dry with paper towels. Take a spoon and "carve" out the seeds so that your sauce can sit in the zucchini a bit.
Align them on prepared baking sheet.
In a bowl, stir together olive oil and garlic then brush lightly over tops of zucchini. Sprinkle with salt and pepper to taste then spoon a slightly heaping of marinara sauce over each zucchini, leaving a small rim near edges uncoated.
Sprinkle tops evenly with mozzarella cheese then with parmesan cheese.
Top with pepperoni slices and any other toppings, placing them more near centers so they don't fall off in the oven.

Bake in preheated oven 12 - 16 minutes. Cook longer if you want them a little bit more crispy.
Remove from oven and sprinkle with chopped fresh oregano.

ENJOY! A guilt free way to enjoy "pizza" ;)
 
(See my recipe for a mexican variation of zucchini boats here-also delish!)


15 comments

  1. Looks so yummy! We will definitely be trying this!

    Loving The Littles

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  2. I made these once before but I think where I went wrong was scooping out the middle of the zucchini's - I'm going to have to try it your way!

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  3. I just saw these on pinterest yesterday and have them in my meal plan rotation for next week!

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  4. YUM! I can't wait to try these. I've made the Mexican version several times and I love those too.
    Pizza is definitely one of my favorite foods but I can't eat it very often unless it's gluten-free!!
    - Leslie

    www.withloveleslie.com

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  5. YUM! We're big pizza eaters in our house too! I might have to convince Jake to try this out! :)

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  6. I'm definitely going to have to try these! And SOON!

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  7. Since we are going to be training for a half marathon soon and we both are obsessed with pizza, Husband and I have been looking for some good alternatives to our favorite food and this is perfect! Thank you so much!!

    xoxo Allison over at Allison's Eye

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  8. I looove all the varieties of zucchini boats, and pizza-style is one of our faves! :)

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  9. Love this! I make the Mexican version of these that you posted all the time, can't wait to try these out! :)

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  10. Love this! I'm always looking for an awesome alternative to pizza, other than gluten-free crust pizza. Thanks for sharing!

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  11. I recently discovered the zucchini taco boats form Skinny Taste but, this is such a great idea as well! Love the idea of doing pizzas!! I know you don't do meats but, you could even brown a 1/2 pound of Italian seasoned ground turkey to add in if you wanted too! Thanks for sharing this yummy recipe!!

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  12. Ohhh I've made 'zucchini boats' before but not pizza style! This looks delicious! :)

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  13. I made these last night! I prefer these to regular pizza, I'm not a huge bread person.

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  14. healthy pizza recipes
    http://healthy-foodrecipes.com/healthy-pizza-recipe-high-protein-pizza/

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