Prior to switching to Paleo, I was well-known as someone who could down a medium or large pizza with all the fixings in one sitting. I loved everything about pizza – the dough, the gooey cheese, the zesty sauce and the endless combination of toppings. When I started the Paleo Challenge of 2012, I missed pizza more than most things – even chocolate and coffee. For my entire life, pizza has been my ultimate comfort food, something that was going to be nearly impossible to replace.
Then, last week, I gave in and had a slice of pizza. It was everything I remembered it to be and I loved literally every second of eating it. What I didn’t love is what came next – I was sick for two days afterward. I felt as if monsters had climbed into my stomach and set up camp in my intestinal tract. I threw up twice. I experienced the worst energy peaks and crashes that I’ve had in recent memory. It was terrible. Long story short, pizza and I have broken up and are likely to never reunite.
I have been literally dying to try meatza ever since I switched over to Paleo. Why I didn’t try it until now is beyond me. I love meatza. In all it’s magical forms. While it may never replace my childhood love of traditional pizza, it comes pretty darn close and does more than necessary to curb my pizza hankerings (which are less frequent following last week’s sickness, but are bound to pop up every now and again). This version of meatza is adapted from Juli at PaleOMG, and only slightly so. It is lovely, though I’ll likely add in some red onions and roasted red bell peppers next time I make it. Don’t be scared by the amount of hot sauce that the recipe calls for! I found that the original recipe didn’t call for quite enough for my taste buds and had to up the amount by another 1/4 cup.
Buffalo Chicken Meatza
Ingredients:
2 lb. ground beef
1 lb. ground chicken
1 large sweet potato, diced
1/2 c. hot sauce
1 Tbsp. dried basil
1 Tbsp. dried oregano
2 tsp. garlic powder
Salt and pepper, to taste
2 Tbsp. coconut oil
Method:
1) Preheat your oven to 350 degrees.
2) Mix the ground beef with basil, oregano and salt and pepper. Place it in a 9×9 glass baking dish and press down so that it covers the entire bottom and sides of the dish. Bake for 12-15 minutes. Remove from oven and mop up any excess fat that has collected.
3) Meanwhile, heat a large skillet over medium heat. Add coconut oil; once the oil is heated, add the sweet potatoes and cover. Steam for about 5 minutes, or until they begin to soften.
4) Add ground chicken to the yams along with garlic powder and some salt and pepper. Break up the chicken and stir until chicken is cooked all the way through.
5) When chicken is done cooking, add hot sauce and mix to combine. Place chicken mixture on top of the beef and top with more hot sauce. Bake for 5-10 minutes, or until yams have softened almost completely.
Prep time: 15 minutes
Total time: 35 minutes
Serves: 4-6 people
