Zucchini & Nut Pizza Wrap
The tortilla goes under the broiler, not into a pan. That changes everything about how this wrap pizza finishes. The edges crisp and curl while the tomato sauce caramelizes underneath.
Grilled zucchini slices lay across a homemade sauce built from tomato paste, garlic, and olive oil, thick, concentrated, and nothing like the watery base you get from canned pizza sauce. Mixed nuts scattered on top go warm and fragrant in the oven. Cold cottage cheese dolloped on after broiling brings the whole thing down to eating temperature and adds a tangy contrast to the charred edges.
625 calories, 43g of fat mostly from olive oil and nuts, and 20 minutes start to finish. One wrap, one person, no leftovers to store.
The tortilla goes under the broiler, not into a pan. That changes everything about how this wrap pizza finishes. The edges crisp and curl while the tomato sauce caramelizes underneath.
Grilled zucchini slices lay across a homemade sauce built from tomato paste, garlic, and olive oil, thick, concentrated, and nothing like the watery base you get from canned pizza sauce. Mixed nuts scattered on top go warm and fragrant in the oven. Cold cottage cheese dolloped on after broiling brings the whole thing down to eating temperature and adds a tangy contrast to the charred edges.
625 calories, 43g of fat mostly from olive oil and nuts, and 20 minutes start to finish. One wrap, one person, no leftovers to store.
Ingredients
- tomato 1
- garlic 1 clove
- red onion 0.5
- zucchini 0.5
- mixed nuts, unsalted 1 ounce
- olive oil 1.5 tablespoon
- tomato paste 1 tablespoon
- water 2 tablespoons
- tortilla wrap, whole wheat 1
- cottage cheese, 4% milkfat 2 ounces
Method
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Cut the tomato into small pieces. Mince the garlic. Dice the red onion. Cut the zucchini into thin slices. Roughly chop the mixed nuts.
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Heat half of the olive oil in a skillet over medium heat. Add the garlic and red onion, and sauté for about 2 minutes until softened.
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Add the tomato paste and water to the skillet. Stir well and let it simmer for 2 minutes to create a thick sauce. Remove from heat.
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Heat the remaining olive oil in a grill pan over medium-high heat. Grill the zucchini slices for about 2 minutes per side until they have nice grill marks.
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Place the tortilla wrap on a baking sheet. Spread the tomato sauce evenly over the wrap. Top with the grilled zucchini, chopped tomato, and mixed nuts.
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Place the wrap under the broiler for about 3-4 minutes, until the edges are crispy.
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Remove from the oven and top with dollops of cottage cheese.
Sauté the garlic and onion in the olive oil before adding the tomato paste. Research on allium vegetables and lycopene found that sulfur compounds in garlic catalyze a structural change in lycopene (from trans to Z-isomers), which the body absorbs more readily. Blooming the paste into that garlic-infused oil for the full 2 minutes builds both flavor and a more bioavailable sauce.
Tomato paste packs roughly 2.5 times the lycopene per gram compared to fresh tomatoes. This recipe uses both (fresh chopped tomato for texture and a tablespoon of paste for the sauce base) so the concentrated paste does the heavy lifting while the fresh tomato adds bite.
Why This Works
Behind this recipe
Can I use regular cheese instead of cottage cheese?
You can, but it changes the recipe. Mozzarella or cheddar would go on before broiling and melt into the toppings. Cottage cheese goes on cold after the wrap comes out of the oven, and the contrast between the hot, crispy wrap and the cool, tangy cheese is part of what makes this version work. Swapping to a melting cheese also shifts the fat and protein profile.
Why does this recipe use tomato paste instead of regular tomato sauce?
Tomato paste is concentrated. Most of the water has been cooked out during processing. That means more lycopene per gram than fresh tomatoes or canned sauce, and it creates a thick, clingy base that stays put on the wrap instead of soaking through. Mixed with a splash of water and sautéed garlic, it becomes a quick pizza sauce with more body than anything from a jar.
Is 18 grams of protein enough for a meal?
That depends on the rest of your day. 18 grams is moderate, roughly what you get from three eggs. If your other meals are protein-heavy, this wrap works well as a lighter lunch. If you want to bump it up, add a side of Greek yogurt or an extra ounce of cottage cheese without changing the core recipe.
