I love my ketogenic diet and my blood sugar is superbly controlled, but there are times when I really miss bread. Not just the flavor of bread, although the flavor of a really good sourdough bread is unbeatable. For that, there is no substitute. But there are times when what I really crave is the ease and convenience of bread, and the way it pads out a meal and pulls it together. In this case what I miss is not really the flavor of bread but its use as a “landing” for all kinds of other foods. I have a few ways to fill in without adding too many carbohydrates, and one of my favorites is zucchini flatbread.
In addition to a couple of good sized zucchini or about a foot of serpiente squash, you will need two eggs, a cup of grated mozzarella (the semi soft processed kind, not true fresh mozzarella for this purpose,) half a cup of grated Parmesan, seasoning of your choice, and about a half cup of low-carb baking mix. The best mix that I have found is the one from Trim Healthy Mama, which is extremely expensive but does work well.
First, grate the squash and mix in about a tablespoon of salt. Let it sit for half an hour. At this point, the shreds of squash will be swimming in liquid. Over the sink, wrap the squash in cheesecloth or a thin dishtowel and start squeezing out liquid. Keep squeezing and wringing, until you are left with about a cup of pulpy squash shreds. Put these in a bowl and beat in the two eggs with a fork. Mix in the shredded mozzarella and Parmesan. Add a half teaspoon of salt (most of the salt that you used for disgorging the squash disappeared with the excess water) and seasoning of your choice. I like some fresh thyme leaves and a pinch of granulated garlic. For some reason fresh garlic doesn’t work well in this recipe. Add in a half cup of low-carb baking mix and half a teaspoon of baking powder and beat until evenly incorporated.
Preheat the oven to 425. Now line a baking sheet with parchment paper, oil your hands with olive oil, and begin pressing out the mixture into a thin even oblong. Generally I aim for something a little less than a quarter inch thick, but if you plan to use it for breadsticks or a pizza crust you may want it a little bit thicker. Make sure that there are no holes. The dough is lumpy and you will have to keep patting it down with the flat of your hands.
Bake at 425 until done to the right degree for your purposes. It has to be baked enough to hold together well, but if you want to use it as a wrap, you will have patted it out pretty thin and should bake it only until it is cooked through and will come off the parchment paper in one piece but is still flexible. If you want to make sticks as shown above, it should be more crisp, and the same goes for a low-carb pizza crust.
Above, it’s just cooked through, browned on the bottom, and right for making wraps. To make the breadsticks shown above, once it is baked to the right degree, top with another half cup of shredded mozzarella and some chopped roasted garlic. Return to the oven and broil until the cheese is melted and a little bit browned. It is good dipped into your favorite pizza sauce, preferably the kind that you make yourself. Any kind of herb pesto or sour cream dip is also good.
To make an impromptu low-carb pizza, cook the flatbread until fairly crisp. Brush the top lightly with a thick flavorful pizza sauce, coat with shredded mozzarella, and top with pepperoni, sausage, or what you will. Return to a very hot oven and bake until the cheese melts.
It goes without saying that if you insist on the wonderful malt flavor of really good bread, you need to eat really good bread and there are no substitutes. But having a few options like this one means that you can save the great bread for very special treats and keep your carb intake down the rest of the time. This is also a good way to take in extra vegetable fiber, with all its health benefits.
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