This dish from Just BE Kitchen is exactly what it sounds like – a pizza that appeals to those on gluten-free or paleo diets. The main ingredient is a beautifully browned, hearty sausage crust – hence the name.
“One of our main objectives was to make something that you could hold like a real pizza,” says founder/CEO Jennifer Peters. “The easiest thing to have done would have been to make a flour crust. But frankly, you can get gluten-free pizza almost anywhere. We didn’t do it because that’s what everyone else is doing. And we wanted to put our own spin on it.”
The meatzza is the brain-child of several kitchen experts. “We tried almost 15 different versions of of this dish,” says Peters with a chuckle. “We spent many hours and evenings in Carrie’s kitchen. We even tried a pretty terrible jalapeño and pesto version.”
The test kitchen for the meatzza belonged to Carrie Baird, Just BE’s culinary director. She had seen different iterations of the plate pop up in the paleo world throughout the past few years. But she wanted something that put it over the top.
Then the team hired Britt Morris as sous chef. On her very first day, she solved the meatzza problem.
“Chef and I were going back and forth about what people like to put on pizza. And I thought about using pineapple in a subtle way. It cools it down and keeps an otherwise heavy dish light,” says Morris.
But she didn’t simply suggest pineapple. She decided to make a bacon pineapple jam that would top the pizza. And it does exactly what they wanted – puts it over the top.
Besides the pasture-raised, grass-fed pork sausage, the crust contains eggs, thyme, parsley garlic, onion powder and salt. The mixture is formed into 6-ounce patties that are then grilled directly on the flat top, creating a nice crispy finish.
The team spreads sugar-free, house-made tomato sauce on the patty and adds generous dollops of the bacon jam. Last, they fry fresh kale in tallow and top the pizza with that and nutritional yeast for a cheesy flavor.
“This really is everything you want from a pizza, but in a much healthier way,” explains Morris. “People will sometimes ask for it without bacon, but I tell them to keep an open mind. They try it and change their minds. Everyone loves it.”
Get the meatzza at Just BE Kitchen seven days a week, from 7 a.m. until 3 p.m.