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  #1   ^
Old Sun, Apr-29-18, 10:59
Meetow Kim Meetow Kim is offline
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Plan: Atkins Concept
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Default Lavash bread pizza two layer method

I had not found any methods/recipes using a double Lavash layer method for pizza, so I thought I would share the concept.

As I looked for Lavash pizza recipes (which are really more methods than recipes), so many of them referred to it as a "cracker crust" and "if you really like thin pizza crust" and "careful not to use wet toppings".

I wanted to experiment with getting as close to regular pizza as possible and my wife has never been a fan of cracker crust type pizzas. Me?...there is no such thing as an awful pizza for me, even a bad attempt at pizza is still pretty good!

So, it hit me...double layer! Yes, but what about that "wet ingredients" thing? I wanted a tomato sauce (I actually get the 5-7 gram net carbs per serving pasta sauces and use them for almost everything in that range of food).

The solution was to pre-bake the top layer. I pre-heated the oven to 400° and put a single Lavash sheet on a baking sheet and in the oven. You have to watch this carefully, I took my eyes off the first one and made a large cracker out of it! Which was actually very good, I sprinkled some Cajun season on it, then broke it up in to pieces and it was even dip-able in a spreadable cheese.

Back to pizza...so I watched the second try and before it actually got brown I checked it and it was firm, but not cracker fragile. This was the perfect point of doneness for my theory. Here's where it gets really good...I took another sheet of Lavash and laid it on the baking sheet, then covered that with a mozzarella/provolone shredded cheese layer, then laid the par-baked firm sheet on top of that...then spread pasta sauce and topped with the rest...mozzarella cheese, pepperoni, onions, pickled jalapenos, black olives and extra seasonings like thyme, oregano, black pepper and I even like a bit of MSG (that stuff has gotten a bad rap, it's NOT the poison so many people think it is).

I baked it until desired doneness and let the sheet pan rest on a wire rack until significantly cooled off (I learned not to rush cutting in to any pizza years ago) then cut with a regular pizza cutter.

The slices were manageable by hand like any regular pizza and absolutely fantastic. The layer of cheese between the two Lavash bread layers and par-baking the top Lavash layer was a big success.

I dont cook pizza by time. Sometimes I will set a timer just to make sure I dont forget and over-bake them, but usually a pizza will tell you its getting done by the smell from the oven. I have learned to stay nearby and just keep an eye on pizza for the last several minutes of cooking...it pays off with a lot less over cooked pizza!

Carbs? Yep, not exactly induction friendly, but I'm in phase 2-ish of Atkins-ish so I'm eating anywhere between 15 and 30 grams a day, and some low carb splurges now, like this usually on the weekends may push me up to a 40 gram day here and there, even with that and drinking some liquor I'm still slowly losing weight.

The Lavash bread like this:

https://www.amazon.com/Josephs-Lava...d/dp/B0079OUVF4

Is 10 grams net carbs each full sheet, so my wife and I splitting the pizza (there is no way to NOT eat this all between two people for dinner, its so good and not really that much) gave us 10 grams carbs net in the crust, then the toppings. I'm not weighing and calculating pizza toppings, I just stuck with certain good carb things and using the 5-7 gram net per 1/2 cup sauce keeps the carb impact down. My guess is, we took in maybe 15 grams each, I seriously doubt it was as high as 20. FAR less than a real pizza crust of course.

This is NOT an every day meal, its a splurge, but still a low carb splurge.

The reason I did this is I found the Lavash bread at Walmart for...I want to think it was $3 or less...somewhere in that range. It, like all low carb breads are highway robbery in cost online or in any health food store and even more upscale groceries. I was overjoyed to get a reasonable bread alternative for a reasonable price. We've been eating the low carb tortillas for a while now but something different is nice.

I plan to try some other pizza crust recipes like Buttoni's, but this was a no-brainer to try, seeing the low price at Walmart. I'm glad I did, its a keeper!

I've done the ground cooked chicken and cheese crust method too. It was good, but simply not like real pizza and it could not be eaten by hand unless it was cold...and with the chicken, cheese, etc. actually pretty expensive. With this Lavash so inexpensive at Walmart, and the fact that I'm way past induction level carb restriction, this may become a once a week thing or at least once every two weeks.

Last edited by Meetow Kim : Sun, Apr-29-18 at 11:11.
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  #2   ^
Old Sun, Apr-29-18, 11:21
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Meme#1 Meme#1 is offline
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Plan: Atkins DANDR
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Butonni has some great recipes and she has a new book just published too!

I have wondered about that Lavish bread and you're right that they are so expensive to order on-line.

Thanks for the description on how to do pizza with it!
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  #3   ^
Old Mon, Apr-30-18, 07:44
helper2 helper2 is offline
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Meetow Kim--I like your post very much. I use Lavash for crackers but had not even thought of it for pizza crust. Yes, Walmart is a good price. I buy sev at a time and freeze them. keep them flat or they will break into pieces.
Thanks again, Kim
helper2
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  #4   ^
Old Sat, May-05-18, 09:56
Meetow Kim Meetow Kim is offline
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Plan: Atkins Concept
Stats: 225/190/175 Male 70.5"
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Location: Central Virginia
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I have been playing with some of Buttoni's recipes, with mixed results. Her cheddar biscuits are a keeper for sure. I'm now using them for small hamburger buns...it beats nothing and a lot less expensive than the highway robbery $8 for 6 rolls nutrition sites sell low carb buns for.

Walmart's web site wont even admit they have the Lavash bread in the store. It's basically like a rectangular wrap, very thin but a good flavor Their web site is horrible in relation to their store stock and some other issues. If they just got their system working well they could complete with Amazon easily.

Walmart has an organic marinara sauce I cant get at my local Walmart, but they'll ship them to my store free. Problem is, they aren't smart enough to know how to pack them so 3 out of 4 I have ordered were damaged! The box had plenty of packing in it, but they put the jars on the bottom and all the packing on top! Some people are just not very smart.

Anyway, it $2 a jar and only 6 grams net carbs per half cup...almost as low as the lowest carb, much more expensive sauces being sold out there and the flavor is very good. I use sauces like this for almost everything from pizza, to meatball cheese bakes and on low carb pasta alternatives (homemade, the stuff they sell is way too expensive).

I made this pizza again last night. It's a keeper. My wife and I devour it almost constantly saying how good it is while we eat. This one came out a little more soft and wet/oily, but after allowing to cool to just a little above room temp the slices could still be handheld, although a little messy. I use a LOT of pepperoni and cheese, so a lot of oils get released.

I think next time I will bake at 450° or maybe even par-bake the bottom Lavash layer a bit to. This really allows you to load it up with toppings

Helper2,

I will try the crackers thing. My mistake/over-bake one was pretty tasty. I'll bet a lower bake temp and pre-cutting the Lavash in to squares, brush with a little olive oil and sprinkle some seasonings on it would be very good.
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  #5   ^
Old Tue, May-08-18, 13:04
Meetow Kim Meetow Kim is offline
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Plan: Atkins Concept
Stats: 225/190/175 Male 70.5"
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Progress: 70%
Location: Central Virginia
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Thanks for the cracker idea/reminder Helper2,

That's a game changer. I've been working on the technique. I use a squirt bottle (I keep olive oils in both regular and squirt bottles) to apply some to the surface evenly, then using my hand rub it in more evenly all across the surface, then flip and do the other side. Then sprinkle some seasoning on and using a pizza cutter, cut in to the desired size.

Then move those pre-cut pieces to a baking sheet on foil, and in to a 300° oven and check on them frequently, flipping each piece once or twice and begin removing any that are to desired doneness. I find at 300° it takes around 10-12 minutes. They come out crispy enough to be used as a chip yet still stable enough to use as a cracker with a topping and take bites with out them crumbling.

Even people who are not low carbing ate them like any other cracker or chip and liked them! I had a low carb wrap with chicken salad today for lunch and was able to have a few chips with a wrap for the first time in 4 months!
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  #6   ^
Old Mon, May-14-18, 09:44
Meetow Kim Meetow Kim is offline
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Plan: Atkins Concept
Stats: 225/190/175 Male 70.5"
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Default Pictures!

Pics of Lavash bread pizza

This was my first one, it came out beautiful and delicious. You can see the pepperoni is visible on top, that was something I did differently on the second one and by having the pepperoni buried within the cheese topping may have trapped that oil and contributed to the fact that my second try was either more moist or more oily...but still good!



Here is that second pizza. Still delicious, but as I wrote, a little more limp. I may have also used more sauce on this one, I think it was the last of what was in a jar and I just wanted to use it up rather than leave just a little in the jar




I have another one on the menu in the coming days. I'm going to try par baking the bottom layer a bit too. Maybe not quite as firm as the top layer, but just to see if it firms the whole pizza up even more.

By the way, the price at Walmart for these same Lavash breads as you see for 6-8 dollars on web sites is $2.30. Although Netrition is more reasonable at $3.19, but you have to order $99 of stuff to get free shipping. My wife did a saavy shopper move, found that a bunch of these packages were a day away from best by date and got the Walmart manager to mark them down to half price! She got 8 of them for $1.15 each!

Also what Helper2 said about freezing is true, they do keep well frozen. My wife in another stroke of brilliance suggested I lay the breads on a sheet pan in the freezer. This made them freeze flat plus I just left the pan under the to keep them stable so they dont get broken

Last edited by Meetow Kim : Mon, May-14-18 at 09:56. Reason: Add title and add to content
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  #7   ^
Old Mon, May-14-18, 18:10
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Buttoni Buttoni is offline
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I'm going to have to try your Lavash method, Meetow Kim. I had actually thought about trying that approach (but with the cheese on the top layer). My single layer try was awash with my wet ingredients and required a fork and knife to eat. But having tried some quesadillas with the Lavash, cheese and chicken in the middle with great results, I thought about trying it for a pizza crust. P_re-baking the top layer is pure genius! To brought a light bulb idea to full fruition and now I'm going to definitely TRY your method. I'm certain it will be a success.
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  #8   ^
Old Tue, May-15-18, 15:48
Meetow Kim Meetow Kim is offline
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Plan: Atkins Concept
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With your skills Buttoni, I'm sure you will even come up with a tweak improvement!

Be sure to allow the pizza to rest/cool for a good period of time, it begins to stiffen up better for hand eating closer to a real slice. Slightly above room temp is probably best...if you can wait that long! I actually rest the sheet pan with the pizza on a wire rack for cooling. Lifting the pizza out by the foil liner (if using) and placing directly on the wire rack would even be better, then back on to a proper surface for cutting. Careful though...we dont want to distress that work of art too much while handling it!

I'm finding some of these LC recipes need to be either cooled or warmed in order to make them their best. Like with your cheddar biscuits, warming them in the toaster oven before using them as a small hamburger bun for instance makes a big difference, whereas with your blueberry pancake recipe, if you take a bite when they are fresh and hot off the griddle, they are almost liquidy on the inside, but a few minutes to cool closer to room temp and they set up nicely and taste as close to a regular pancake as anything I can imagine for diet food!

Last edited by Meetow Kim : Tue, May-15-18 at 15:53.
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  #9   ^
Old Wed, May-16-18, 13:28
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Buttoni Buttoni is offline
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I, too, have found cooling down or reheating of other things improves flavor or texture. One of my bread recipes is defo better on day two and I don't care for it much hot out of the oven. Can't figure out why, but these wacko ingredients are just so........well......wacko, I think that's the only thing that explains their quirkiness for me. LOL Thanks again for the lavash crust recipe. DO plan to try it soon.
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  #10   ^
Old Mon, May-28-18, 08:38
Meetow Kim Meetow Kim is offline
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Plan: Atkins Concept
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Another lavash bread pizza success here recently. The method really does work pretty good. Cooling it is the key to making it hand eatable. Not cold, but just warm. the good news it you wont burn your mouth that way! But it does take patience and planning ahead for the cooling time.

Buttoni,

Have you tried your focaccia as a pizza crust? That's my next thing. I have made your recipe a few times now and its really good. I made one yesterday to have along with a pulled chicken salad. I switched the jack cheese with cheddar and added bacon bits and some other seasonings like garlic and onion granules red pepper flakes and oregano and everyone, even those not doing strict low carb thought it was really good...and I even forgot to put the flax meal in!

It seems like the focaccia would do well for a pizza. I've been using an Italian blend shredded cheese instead of the jack cheese anyway in the past and I think that seasoning mix I just described, minus the bacon bits would be good. I'm thinking baking it on the lower rack a few less minutes than the regular recipe so the bottom gets done and the top still a little soft, then let cool a bit and flip that over so the top is now the new bottom and the pizza toppings go on what was the more well done bottom which is now the top!

It seems like the focaccia would also be good made as a sweeter thing, with some sugar alcohol added and maybe bits of apple with cinnamon and vanilla too. Using a more benign cheese like the Jack would probably be best like your original recipe...and maybe some chia or poppy seeds.

Have you tried any fruit in the fococcia like that?

I didn't see a comments section on your web site, so I have to ask stuff here. Might as well let others learn rather than do it in PM's.

Thanks to you and your cheddar "biscuits" recipe, we will be having hamburgers WITH buns this memorial day. That recipe is a keeper for sure, they just need to be warm when serving.

I also did your pancakes again this weekend with good success. I used frozen raspberries and they turned out pretty good. Some sugar free maple flavor syrup melted with a little sugar free raspberry jelly poured over them made a great sweet-ish treat...with bacon.

Last edited by Meetow Kim : Mon, May-28-18 at 08:44.
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  #11   ^
Old Tue, May-29-18, 06:54
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Buttoni Buttoni is offline
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Location: Temple, Texas
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Yes, and it made a delicious pizza provided you follow the instructions closely about removing the parchment and letting air holes vent and brown the crust underneath. https://buttoni.wordpress.com/2013/...ee-pizza-crust/

I also have another focaccia recipe here: https://buttoni.wordpress.com/2011/10/07/focaccia/ but have not yet tried that one as pizza. I'm not all that crazy about pizza actually. We only have it about once a month, if that often. But I believe this particular bread recipe would also make a delicious pizza crust.

They tell me the famed Fathead bread dough and Jenifer Eloff's Miracle Dough, which is very similar to the Fathead recipe, both make a super pizza crust, but again, haven't gone down that road yet........but plan to next pizza I make.

I tend to use my sliced bread recipe for sweet applications: https://buttoni.wordpress.com/2018/...sliced-bread-3/. Here are some sweet Danish versions on that recipe: https://buttoni.wordpress.com/2016/...quick-danish-3/

BTW, Kim, anytime you want to comment on a recipe over on my blog site, just click the little conversation balloon in the upper right hand corner and it will pop up a "Leave a Comment" entry box below. You can also leave general comments or questions on the "About" page (tab at the top) any time and I'll see it there. I do get comment notifications.

Last edited by Buttoni : Tue, May-29-18 at 07:03.
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  #12   ^
Old Thu, Jun-07-18, 12:47
Meetow Kim Meetow Kim is offline
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Plan: Atkins Concept
Stats: 225/190/175 Male 70.5"
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Thanks Buttoni. I look forward to reading the info in all those links.

I am making the focaccia even more often now. What a treat and so low carb. I made a pepper jack version of it last night and wrapped a piece around a brat. First sausage on a "roll" I've had since January 1 this year at least. It still kind of broke like a fold but stayed together well enough to eat nearly the entire brat holding it within it. I think forming pieces in to a sort of hot dog bun shape before its cool may be the trick. I tried re-baking and that didn't work. My wife had a good idea that a bump in the microwave with moist paper towels might make it more pliable too.

I dont get back here a lot, life had been crazy for me lately. But I wanted to see if you had replied. When making the focaccia last night I was using a fresh print of the recipe that also had your narrative...where you answered my question! I was working with a condensed print of it before and have made my notes refining my method.

I make the Jennifer Eloff's baking mix for your cheddar biscuits, but haven't found anything else to use it in. I haven't read everything out there obviously but where the recipe is, doesn't seem to offer any recipes to use it in...but I may have totally missed it. Any other success stories/recipes to share?
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  #13   ^
Old Fri, Jun-08-18, 18:40
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Buttoni Buttoni is offline
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Default Jennifer's Bake Mix

Frankly, I've never used Jen's Bake Mix 100% in a recipe after I discovered products with it 100% were a little "grainy" for my taste. In her narrative for her mix recipes she tells you how to sub them into recipes that traditionally use regular flour recipes. I think she subs them in 1 for 1 for Bisquick recipes. In my recipes, I always use half Jen's mix and half Carbquik (or half my own bake mix if I'm out of CQ). The resulting products have better crumb/texture, look a bit more like traditional baked goods and just taste better to me. Plus you get a little more fiber deduction when CQ is in the picture. I have lots of recipes now that use the 50:50 mixture of the two mixes. Just type Jennifer Eloff's Gluten-Free Bake Mix in the search box on my blog and it will bring up a lot of them for you.
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  #14   ^
Old Sat, Jun-09-18, 11:14
Meetow Kim Meetow Kim is offline
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Plan: Atkins Concept
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You have been a big help Peggy. BTW, my real name is Ken. "Meetow Kim" is what Vietnamese customers used to call me many years ago, and it just stuck. I use it humorously, remembering those days affectionately.

Obviously this thread has veered way off of Lavash bread pizza, but all of this is a learning roadtrip.

I need to re-stock on pork rinds now after discovering your fried chicken coating. I tried again last night to make a good coating for fried okra and failed trying to pre-flour with almond flour, then in egg wash, then coated in oat fiber. Not a good texture at all. I hoped to get lucky like I did using the oat fiber for chicken wings (did that last night too), the oat fiber gives a great light coating that grabs the buffalo sauce and makes you want to gnaw every nook and cranny of the wings (well, it does me...my wife is still much more lady-like than me eating wings!).

Have you tried your chicken coating on stuff like vegetables? I would love to make something like zucchini fries or, deep fried mushrooms or something like that. It's been over 5 months on this diet and I'm jonesing for french fries...and there appears to be no low carb substitute. Such a coating could also be used for mozzarella sticks, etc.

Your pancake batter is so thick, I've thought about trying to deep fry that both in a sweet version and a savory take on it. I haven't tried it yet. I know you dont like to deep fry so I'm sure you haven't tried it. I've kept deep fryers and cast iron skillets as well as a range top in my garage for years to keep that cooking out of the house-proper, and as a man who has welded all my adult life...burns are just a fact of life to me!

When you refer to "Parmesan cheese" in your recipe, are you referring to the canister type stuff my wife and I call "shaker cheese"? I always have real parm wedge on hand for fresh grating over plates and bowls of food, but also keep the shaker stuff on hand. I use the shaker parm usually in the recipes you indicate parm, but thought to ask specifically.

Last edited by Meetow Kim : Sat, Jun-09-18 at 11:19.
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  #15   ^
Old Fri, Jun-15-18, 05:34
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Buttoni Buttoni is offline
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Ken, in my recipes, if I say Parmesan, I usually mean the canister/shaker type. I'll say shredded Parm if I mean the block/fresh type.

No, I have not tried my chicken coating on veggies yet. I've had great luck using my Oven-Fried Fish coating for veggies and it provides such a nice crunch to them. It worked well with summer squash slices, okra, eggplant. I imagine the chicken coating would work OK on veggies though. Just hadn't thought to try that yet, added to the fact I am cooking my veggies and meats much more simply nowadays. Funny how our cooking style changes over the years.
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