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Delicious Gluten Free PizzaClick the picture for a quick overview on ABC-TV Here's the full instructional video - click the picture
I’m sure you are aware that GF pizza just doesn’t taste the same as regular flour pizza. My son likes one of the frozen pizza shells but not others. He’s tried Bobs GF pizza crust mix and did not like it. I know he knows food and is as fussy as I am, but food should also be a pleasure and not just eaten for survival. I have tried various GF pizza recipes and found them extremely disappointing. One even needed to be left for 24 hours as a raw dough before cooking and do any of us have that amount of time. Recently with regular flour recipes, some recipes have included baking powder with yeast so baking powder gives the rise but you still get yeast taste and different texture. So I decided to do that with my pizza dough. It still is not a perfect replica for regular pizza but it’s tasty. My husband who doesn’t need to eat GF, actually thinks it great and very ‘moreish’. Many other recipes use both xanthan gum as well as guar gum and gelatin plus several eggs. Most recipes also add onion or garlic powder, or dried onion, plus herbs to give flavor to a dough that would otherwise be tasteless. Gluten Free pizzaIt's topped with Stonewall Kitchen roasted onion and garlic jam, mozzarella burrata from Trader Joe's, prosciuto and fresh herbs.This is really good! My husband and I will finish one between us!
Method1. Turn oven on to 425°. Use a pizza stone or lined baking sheet. Place pizza stone on bottom shelf of the oven while oven is heating. Putting pizza stone on bottom shelf normally gives you a crispier crust, not soggy. Once oven has reached 425°, then give the stone about 30 minutes heating at 425° to give the crispy crust.2. Warm water and sugar to comfortable blood heat (98°F, 36°C) in a jug or mug, stir in yeast and leave to form a beer froth for about 10 minutes. If yeast mix does not form a beer froth then either yeast was too old and wouldn’t react or water was too hot and killed off yeast. Water should feel comfortably warm to touch not cold or tingling hot. 3. Stir GF flour mix, baking powder, parmesan cheese, salt and xanthan gum, together in a wide mixing bowl. Stir with a whisk to blend well and get rid of any little lumps from potato and tapioca. 4. Once yeast liquid has formed beer froth, pour mix into bowl together with olive oil and egg beaters or egg. Using electric hand mixer, beat to form a soft cake like batter, then beat for one minute. It will thicken a bit due to baking powder and xanthan gum. If you have measured either wet or dry ingredients meanly or generously, you might have to sprinkle in about 1 tablespoon more of GF flour mix or warm water to make a cake like batter, rather than a paste or a runny pancake batter. 5. I like to drizzle some olive oil or spray oil onto either a non stick sheet or aluminum foil that will fit onto pizza stone or baking sheet. Don’t be too generous with the oil or it will drip off the side of the stone onto the floor of the oven and start smoking. I put the non stick lining on a large chopping board to make it easier to move. Scrape batter onto sheet, and spread out with flexible spatula or back of a spoon. I spread batter into 10” (25 cm) circle. I literally get out a ruler and measure. Leave to rise for about 30 minutes. At end of 30 minutes, use a flexible spatula or knife to push edges of dough back to the 10” circle, the batter will have spread a bit and will cook into a very thin, very hard edge if you leave the edge thin, rather than same thickness (but still thin crust) as rest of pizza. 6. Open oven door and very carefully, carry chopping board with non stick lining and pizza base over to heated pizza stone in oven. Slide non stick lining onto heated pizza stone without letting chopping board, or your body, touch heated stone or baking sheet. Do not put chopping board into oven. Close oven door and bake for about 20 minutes until slightly risen, and turning light golden brown. It will have a cracked appearance on the top. 7. Top with pizza sauce and cheese and whatever toppings you want and bake for another 5 minutes, where the cheese is only just melted and has not turned brown or crispy cheesy brown around the edge. Cook a bit longer if crust is not crispy enough for you underneath. Depending on your oven, thickness of dough and stone/pan you are baking on, you will need to adjust your cooking time. Baked on a black non stick pan, dough will brown faster on the bottom, baked on Demarle/Silpat baking sheet with holes it goes crispy on bottom. Even a few minutes extra cooking will make the pizza crust too hard. So watch the oven carefully and don’t get distracted by the kids, the phone, etc. NotesI also found that a few extra minutes cooking time, made the difference between cooked crust and one that still tasted a bit ‘floury’. So for me, in my oven, my pizza needed 25 minutes in total. But also remember, yeast is a living organism and even in regular flour days, sometimes, it just didn’t work the way one wanted it to.I spread 1/4c 60ml) Stonewall kitchen roasted onion and garlic jam on baked crust, top with sliced Brie or crumbs of goat cheese and ham if you want. Then 5 minutes back in the oven. I've tried using Fig jam with blue cheese and prosciuto, very uninteresting. Mix leftover roast chicken with some BBQ sauce, spread on top with pizza cheese. I found that putting tomato/pizza sauce on top of baked crust and then cheese etc, made the crust soggier. And just sometimes, it didn't bake up as nicely inside while still having crispy crust. I've also spread totally cooked pizza with homemade version of Boursin or Alouette and topped with imported smoked salmon and some green of green onions. My gluten free pizza was devoured and preferred by regular flour eaters although I had done the same topping on baked wheat puff pastry. 
Oonagh Williams, proprietor of Royal Temptations, has a Culinary Arts degree, offers Catering services, teaches a variety of classes in International Cooking, makes regular appearances on WMUR ABC Channel 9's Cooks' Corner and has her own series on Merrimack TV. |