Last week Fully Loaded Pizza catered at a GMKIN (Greater Manchester Kidney Information Network) Digital Skills Social Café event. The event was aimed at supporting kidney patients who wanted to learn more about digital technologies such as social media. Many people, have no idea about the difficulties faced by patients with kidney disease and the complexities of what they can and cannot eat. Tomatoes for example are problematic as they contain too much potassium, which can potentially be very dangerous for some kidney patients on a renal diet.
I have worked with GMKIN before, as my web development company designed the current award winning GMKIN website. Once they found out about my new pizza venture, they were very keen for me to come and make renal friendly pizzas for them. Pizza is generally regarded as something many of them can no longer really eat. We love a challenge at Fully Loaded Pizza and relished the opportunity to bring fresh healthy renal friendly pizzas to the table. I did a lot of research beforehand to find out what they could and couldn’t have, but the reality is that they are all different. Below you will see a summary of my findings and what I decided to use to make the renal friendly pizzas.
Research
Garlic – good alternative to salt.
Olive Oil – a healthy source of fat and phosphorus free so a good option for people with kidney disease.
Bell Peppers – have an impressive amount of nutrients and are low in potassium. They’re also loaded with Vitamin C and A which is good for the immune system.
Onions – Sodium free way to flavour food. Cooking with garlic adds flavour without compromising kidney health. Onions also help to keep the digestive system healthy.
Pineapple – Good low potassium alternative to other tropical fruits.
Chicken – although limited protein intake is necessary for some people with kidney issues, some high quality protein is vital. Skinless chicken breast contains less phosphorus, potassium and sodium than skinned chicken.
Basil Leaves – add a burst of flavour without adding high amounts of potassium or phosphorus.
Balsamic – No positive effects on kidney but no negative ones either. Can be used as a flavouring to replace salt.
Cheese – Dairy products are typically high in phosphorus and sodium, however some cheeses are lower:-
Phosphorus Sodium
Brie Brie
Camembert Natural Sharp Cheddar
Cream Cheese Cream Cheese
Soft Goats Cheese Soft Goats Cheese
Feta Natural Swiss Cheese
Fontina Ricotta
Potassium in cheese is pretty low except when potassium chloride is added to low sodium cheeses.
I decided to make a roasted pepper and garlic base sauce to replace the high in potassium tomato base that we would normally use (recipe below)
Proposed Menu
Garlic Bread – Pizza base with roasted garlic and garlic olive oil with fresh basil
Garlic Brie Pizza – Pizza base with roasted garlic and garlic olive oil and a small amount of Brie, topped with fresh basil
Feta and Onion with Chilli Oil Pizza – Pizza base with onions cooked in chilli olive oil and crumbled Feta Cheese
Goats Cheese and onion pizza – Pizza base with a roasted red pepper base sauce, topped with onions which have been cooked off slightly in balsamic and a small amount of goats cheese, topped with fresh basil
Chicken, Camembert and Pineapple Pizza – Pizza base with a roasted red pepper base sauce, topped with Home roasted skinless chicken, pineapple and small amount of camembert, topped with fresh basil.
We also provided a selection of flavoured olive oils for people to try with their pizza
Normally when catering at a function, we would often serve the pizzas buffet style, but as everyone had such different dietary requirements we decided to make the pizzas individually to suit each person, and in fact some requested chorizo and pepperoni, as post transplant patients can go back to eating a more normal diet.
We thoroughly enjoyed the day, and everyone seemed to really enjoy the food, one of the attendees even had a go at making her own pizza!
@Sarahlouby1986 starting to make a #renalfriendlypizza with @FLpizzaUK, unfortunately there was an issue with the rest of the video, I did warn you I don’t do videos @GMKINet @HOPE_KPA @finnigr @p_ormandy @HollyMLoughton @cristinavas @UoS_HealthSoc #patientinvolvement pic.twitter.com/8qSWCTm4Px
— Brian Egerton (@bcegerton) May 23, 2019
Recipe for Roasted Pepper & Garlic Pizza sauce
Ingredients: 7 red bell peppers, around 10 garlic cloves peeled, olive oil.
Method: chop the peppers into quarters removing the stalk and the seeds inside. Once done, transfer to a baking tray with the garlic cloves and drizzle with olive oil. Roast in the oven at 200 degrees until the skins start to go black. Remove from the oven, and put the peppers in a plastic bag and cool. This will allow you to remove the skin easily from the peppers. Once you have removed the skin, put in a dish with the garlic and blend with a hand blender to produce a thick sauce. This can then be refrigerated or frozen for use later.
(NB, It is advised that you please run these ingredients by your renal dietician to confirm they are ok for you).
We had a great experience researching and catering at this event. We hope you found this post useful. Please get in touch if you have any questions about this, or would like to book us to cater at your next event.