Polenta Pizza with Pesto, Gorgonzola, Pear and Chives

I have always loved pizza, and now that I am mostly gluten free, I really miss it. As my taste buds have changed, I don’t miss the crust as much, but appreciate it for being a great vehicle for cheese, sauce and veggies! I tried experimenting with different bases and my favorite turned out to be polenta. It is definitely a "fork and knife" pizza, as it does not become rigid enough to pick up and eat. The creaminess of the polenta, along with my favorite toppings, work out to be pretty fantastic together.

I always use pesto as the sauce for my pizza instead of tomato. You can find my recipe for pesto here. I make it in the summer with basil from the garden and freeze it for later use. (Store-bought pesto can be used for this as well). And I do love the pear and Gorgonzola combo! I think anyone will enjoy these flavors, and those with Celiac Disease and/or gluten or wheat sensitivities will especially appreciate this recipe.

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INGREDIENTS

• 1 cup polenta
• 2¼ cups water, chicken stock or vegetable stock
• 1/4 cup grated Parmesan
• 1/3 cup pesto (or to taste)
• 1 pear, sliced or diced (or to taste)
• 1/3 cup crumbled Gorgonzola (or to taste)
• tablespoon chopped chives (or to taste)
• extra virgin olive oil for drizzling
• sea salt and black pepper (about ½ teaspoon each)

DIRECTIONS

I use a well-seasoned cast iron pan for this recipe, but if you are using a baking dish, make sure it is oiled.

Heat oven to 400° F. Make the pesto.

In a saucepan, bring 2¼ cups water or stock to a boil. Slowly add the polenta, whisking constantly. Reduce heat to low and cook, stirring, until the polenta starts to pull away from the side of the pan. This should take 4-5 minutes. Then, stir in the Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper.

When the polenta is done, scoop it into your prepared dish and smooth it over the bottom and up the sides. Place in the oven and bake for 10 minutes.

Remove carefully and spread the top with the pesto. Spread pears and crumbled Gorgonzola on top of the pesto layer. Bake until the polenta is crisp around the edges, 15 to 20 minutes.

Drizzle with olive oil and sprinkle with chives and more freshly ground pepper.

I had leftover polenta so I made mini pizzas. I think these would be great for a dinner party as an appetizer!

Five Spice Banana Cream

A few weeks ago, I received the following email from Dana G:

"Stacy, please help. I have just found that I am allergic to gluten, nuts, eggs, chocolate, corn, avocado and dairy. I feel like I can't eat anything and I miss dessert! Can you give me a quick and easy recipe for a treat?"

I was happy to help, although I couldn't use my favorite dessert, a chocolate mousse that is made the raw/vegan way with avocados. A great contender though, is K's favorite healthy dessert, which we call Five Spice Banana Cream. It was hard to come up with a name for it--it is a cross between soft ice cream and pudding. This dessert is delicious, nutritious and ridiculously simple to make. The Chinese Five Spice I use is a powdered mixture of cinnamon, star anise, ginger, fennel and cloves. It is delicious and the nutritional benefits are too numerous to count, but I will say this combination is great for digestion and blood sugar management. If you don't have Chinese Five Spice Powder on hand, you can substitute cinnamon, nutmeg or any of your favorite spices.

Bananas are one of the best sources of potassium, an essential mineral that helps maintain normal blood pressure and heart function. Just one banana a day may help to prevent high blood pressure and protect against heart disease.The potassium also improves your body's ability to absorb calcium, making bananas great for your bones. Bananas have also been known to prevent and heal stomach ulcers. Although bananas are mostly protected by their peel, I encourage you to buy organic bananas. This will benefit your health, and also the health of the farmer that allowed you to enjoy it.


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INGREDIENTS:

• 4 bananas sliced
• 1 teaspoon Chinese Five Spice Powder
• optional: 2 tablespoons almond butter

DIRECTIONS:

Place banana slices on a plate and freeze for 2-3 hours. Place bananas in a food processor along with the spice powder. Blend. In the beginning, the bananas will look like finely diced banana flakes but eventually they will come together and look like ice cream. If your bananas do not come together, it just means they are too frozen. Let them sit in the food processor for five minutes and then try again. If you want to add almond butter (not Dana or anyone allergic to nuts!) you can at this point and it will give it a mousse like consistency. Continue to blend until it looks like ice cream and enjoy!