Friday Recipe - Gluten Free Yeast Free Pizza

Thanks for all your patience! I actually made this pizza late Saturday night so I knew I wouldn't have pictures until now. And... I don't have a lot of pictures for you because my husband and his friend tore into it before I had a chance to get any! So, because of that, I decided to include a bonus recipe for those leftover pizza toppings (on another blog - this one's long enough!).

As with all my recipes, this is completely customizable to you - your tastes, what you have around the house, etc. After you've preheated the oven to about 400 degrees, get started on your crust.

The main thing with gluten-free crusts are: you have a LOT of flours from which to choose (low to high cost - less to most nutrition), you need a starch for part of the flour, and you should add xantham gum to replace the gluten. So, for a roughly foot-diameter pizza, you need two cups of flour. I like to mix it up, so here is the breakdown I usually use:

• 1/2 cup brown rice flour (an inexpensive choice)
• 1/2 cup buckwheat flour (less expensive)
• 1/2 cup almond flour (very expensive)
• 1/2 cup tapioca flour - also called tapioca starch (less expensive)
• This is what I use for my starch. Potato starch (NOT potato flour) is another great option. At least 1/4 but possibly even up to 1/2 of the crust can be starch. I prefer 1/4.
• 2 teaspoons Xantham Gum
• 2 teaspoons baking powder - aluminum free is best

OPTIONS OPTIONS. Again, you can play with this... maybe you want more brown rice flour or more almond. Amaranth flour, spelt flour, chickpea flour, sorghum flour. If you don't want to use xantham gum (I would like not to but as I consume so little of it - I only bake flour-foods once a month probably - I suck it up and use it), my best suggestion would be to find a commercial gluten-free flour mix that doesn't use xantham gum, maybe Bob's Red Mill All-Purpose. 
CAUTIONS. Maybe you like coconut flour. Now, my experience with coconut flour is it can make for a more crumbly crust so I would minimize the use of coconut flour. It is also a rather expensive flour. You can use some cornstarch if you like for the starch - I have personally not had much success with it. 

So, once you have whisked your flours, xantham gum and baking powder together, you need wet ingredients to bring it to doughy goodness. Traditionally, I have used a cup of water (add a little more at a time if the dough isn't very pliable - but careful not to let it get too wet) and a spoonful of olive oil. Last night I used 2 eggs and then added water a little at a time until it got to the right consistency. I really couldn't tell a difference with the eggs - so this is completely optional. Then, I add in a couple herbs like oregano and basil. I use a baking spatula (the ones with the wood handles and rubber ends) to mix all the wet and dry ingredients.

When you have a good dough made, get your baking sheet or pizza stone ready. I like to use a nonstick foil, but you can do the same as you would for any traditional pizza, except for placing it directly on the oven rack, of course!. Place the ball of dough on the sheet or stone and then use a spoon to slowly spread the dough out to final pizza crust form. I typically lube up the spoon with olive oil so it won't stick to the crust. Once it is smoothed out flat (in a circle or square), check that your oven is heated and slide it in there. It will need to bake between 15 and 20 minutes. Because there is no yeast, the bough isn't going to rise very much at all. If you used the flours I did, you can expect a dense, darker-colored dough (brown vs white rice - and buckwheat is darker in color). As long as it is cooked through - no mushiness here! - and not burned, you have a great pizza crust that is waiting to be smothered in goodness.

Glass jars are safer than cans

For the sauce, I mix a tomato paste with a tomato sauce. I mix it in a bowl with a spoon until it is fairly well blended and then I add more oregano and basil, a touch of salt (if there is no salt added in the ready-made paste/sauce), and sometimes, if I feel more indulgent than usual, a teaspoon of olive oil. Mix and spread over your dough. As much or as little as you want! Then I top this with some fresh grated (raw-milk) cheese. Our favorite is manchego! Oh, so delicious.

Sorry, used all the jalapenos!

As for toppings, we often use spinach, ground beef (pre-browned stove-top style), onions, bell peppers, jalapenos, mushrooms, and olives. Obviously, everyone has a favorite pizza, so top with whatever you like! Our toppings are easily twice as high as the crust (so that denser crust really comes in handy for us). Who cares if you need to eat it with a fork - if it's delicious!!


So, once your toppings are perfectly placed (or haphazardly thrown) on top of the crust, throw back into the oven for another 12-15 minutes. Until everything is warm and mouthwatering-ly melted. Let cool for a few minutes, slice and serve.

Now, as promised, watch tomorrow for a blog about what to do if you have any leftover toppings that you diced but simply didn't fit on top of that pizza.