Quinoa Crust Vegetable Pizza

My granddaughter and I made this quinoa crust vegetable pizza together. She had made this before and brought the recipe along as well as her tips and thoughts. It was fun to cook with her. She donned one of my aprons and the kitchen became a busy bustling place as we both did our separate jobs to bring it all together. You can add your choice of vegetables to this pizza and use your favorite cheese. I used a nacho type mix of cheese but feta would really be good too. This pizza tasted so good!

1 cup quinoa
Cold water
1/2 teaspoon minced garlic
1 teaspoon dried Italian seasoning
1/2 teaspoon salt
1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons water
2 tablespoons coconut oil
6 tablespoons pizza sauce
1/3 cup sliced mushrooms
1/3 cup sweet peppers (a mix of red and green), chopped finely
3/4 cup shredded cheese, I used a nacho mix, feel free to use your favorite
Basil leaves

Preheat oven to 450º F.
Place quinoa in a medium sized bowl, cover with enough water by at least 2 inches. Let stand at room temperature 8 hours. No need to cover the bowl.
After 8 hours drain quinoa in a fine sieve and rinse well.
Place quinoa, minced garlic, Italian seasoning, salt and 1/4 cup plus 3 tablespoons water in blender and puree until smooth. The batter should look like pancake batter, not too thin or thick but pourable.
Place a 10" cast iron frying pan in hot oven for 8 minutes.
Remove pan from oven (don't forget to use your oven mitts because the pan is really hot), add coconut oil and return to oven for another 3 minutes to melt the oil.
Pour batter in pan and spread evenly with a spoon.
Place back in oven and bake for 15 minutes until crust is golden in color. Remove from oven and flip crust over, return to oven and bake another 8 minutes.
Remove pan from oven, spread pizza sauce on crust and cover with toppings. Sprinkle cheese over the top and bake for another 7 minutes or until cheese is melted.
Sprinkle with basil leaves before serving.
Serves: 2 if you are serving a salad to go with it.