Farmer Maggot pizza...

Anybody as big of a Lord of the Rings fan as me? That's my favorite novel, in the whole wide world, and, like the High elves who live halfway in the Undying Lands while they walk about in Middle-Earth, for many years, I was halfway walking around in a LOTR dream most of the time. I really love that book.

What does that have to do with cooking? Well - I think of LOTR every time I make these low carb versions of pizza - because of the mushrooms used as the crusts. Remember when Frodo, Sam, Merry, and Pippin were walking through the dark to try to get to Buckleberry Ferry, to cross into Buckland? The Black Riders weren't far behind, and they took refuge for a few hours and for supper at Farmer Maggot's homestead...Farmer Maggot, who grew amazingly delicious mushrooms! My mouth waters every time I read that part...

Jack is doing low carb most of the time, the Atkins diet which I don't like but hey, he's a grown man and can make up his own mind...but when we have my homemade pizza, which he loves, he was always left out. So I came up with this - and sometimes, if I know I've had my share of breads on a particular day, I'll do this version as well, just to cut back on carbs myself. It's really good, although occasionally, the 'skin' of the mushrooms is just a little bit tough. And I named it in honor of Farmer Maggot. Don't let the name turn you off, ROFL!

Farmer Maggot Pizza

Brush or rinse 4 portabello mushrooms and remove the stems - be careful not to tear through the cap. If rinsing, let them drain for a while, with the gills pointing down. Spray a baking pan with cooking spray, and place the mushroom caps gill side up in the pan. Spritz the mushrooms with just a little cooking spray or brush lightly with olive oil, to keep them from drying out, and bake them at 400 degrees for about 10 to 15 minutes, to soften them up a bit. Remove from oven and top with a couple of tablespoons of tomato sauce (or pizza sauce, if you prefer). You can sprinkle other seasonings on the tomato sauce too, like minced garlic, parsley, grated parmesan, etc. Top that with a light layer of torn spinach leaves. You could also sprinkle a little chopped onion or olives or whatever veggie on this too. Top the leaves with a little meat, if you desire - 3 or 4 pepperoni slices cover these nicely, or a sprinkle of cooked pork sausage. Top the meat with grated cheese, or if you're not using meat, put the cheese on the spinach. Place the pan in the oven and bake for about 25 minutes at 400 degrees. After removing from the pan, let them sit for 5 minutes and then transfer to plates. You probably could eat these with your hands, but they are kind of drippy (you know how watery mushrooms are) and so we use a knife and fork. Enjoy!