This is a recipe based off cloud pizza. Cloud pizza is made with an egg white crust. I took the same crust and turned it into a calzone. I’ve also made cloud ravioli out of the egg white crust. My goal with this recipe was to make something super low calorie. I decided to use chicken breast and reverse sear it with a minimal amount of oil to keep calories down. I kept the calzone down to about 400 calories. You could pair it with a low calorie marinara sauce, such as a keto marinara sauce, to keep the calories down as well. Remember, if you don’t use ricotta cheese and put marinara sauce in the calzone, it’s a stuffed pizza, not a calzone. Stuffed pizza is good too, but it’s not a calzone.
A carnivore version of this calzone could be made by using just meat and no herbs. In addition to only being 400 calories, this recipe has about 50 grams of protein and only 16 grams of fat. For the chicken I use the reverse sear method, which is a great way to get a juicy chicken breast. It involves baking it low and slow and then finishing it by searing it in a skillet. This can also be done on a grill with one part of the grill at a low temperature and the other at a high temperature.
In order to use the smallest amount of oil possible I used Algae Cooking Club algae oil. Due to its super high smoke point, you can use a small amount of it without it erupting into smoke. If using something like avocado oil, you might have to use more oil, which will raise the calories. Algae oil works amazingly well with stainless steel cookware. You can still use non-stick, though, I just stick to stainless steel and cast iron.
This recipe is both keto and gluten-free.
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Ingredients:
Chicken:
Filling:
Crust:
Instructions
Begin The Chicken: Mix the lemon zest, salt, black pepper, garlic powder, onion powder, and dried oregano together. Coat the chicken with the spice blend. Bake or air fry the chicken at 275 degrees for 25 minutes, or until the internal temperature reaches at least 145 degrees.
Chop and Cook the Vegetables: While the chicken is baking, put some oil in a pan and saute the mushrooms, onions, and bell peppers until they brown and soften some. Don’t overcook them since they’re going to bake later.
Finish and Slice the Chicken: When the chicken is done baking, put some oil in a frying pan, and sear the chicken on both sides. Check the internal temperature in multiple places with a thermometer. When the coolest part of the chicken reaches 160 degrees, take it off and let it rest for 5-10 minutes. The chicken will continue to cook while it’s resting. (Note: because the chicken is slow cooked it could still appear slightly pink even if the internal temperature reached 160, this is especially true if you’re using pasture-raised or free-range chicken. It’s nothing to be alarmed about. As long as the thermometer read 160 in the coolest part, and it rested for 5-10 minutes before you cut into it then it’s safe to eat. If it’s fully cooked, you’ll be able to tell by how it tastes).
Make the Crust: Season the egg whites and beat them to the soft peaks stage. Line a sheet pan with parchment paper. Grease the parchment paper slightly. Spread the egg whites across the parchment paper forming an oval shape. Bake or air-fry at 400 degrees for 5 minutes, or until the egg whites turn a tan color.
Assemble: Place a layer of ricotta cheese on one half of the egg white crust. Top with the chicken. Put the mozzarella on top of the chicken. Top the chicken with the cooked vegetables. Grate some parmesan cheese on top of the vegetables. Put some fresh grated black pepper on top of the parmesan cheese. Egg wash the edge of the egg white crust. Fold the crust over and crimp with a fork. The lighter colored bottom of the crust should be on the outside. If desired, egg wash the top and top with Italian herbs and garlic.
Bake and Serve: Bake or air fry the calzone at 350 degrees for 20 minutes. Serve the calzone with a bowl of warm marinara sauce for dipping.