Gluten Free Pizza Anyone?

by Faydra on April 14, 2010

in gluten free recipes,Gluten Free Restaurants

We Love Pizza!!

Godfather's Gluten Free Pizza Delivery Don’t you?  Love it, love it, love it…After learning gluten was making us sick, we began making pizza at home.  It became a challenge to make the best pizza ever & that led to so many experiments over the years.  You know…thin, crispy crust (my hubby’s fav), thick, deep dish (our eldest daughter’s fav) & everything in between.  I love them all. I’ve heard of many pizza joints adding gluten free pizza to their menus.  Yippee!  Being in the boonies, I don’t get out much.  However, we did get out a while back & tried some Godfather’s Gluten Free Pizza.  Have you tried it yet?  We were on a trip & decided to have it delivered to our hotel room.  I was going to take pics of the pizza too, but everyone gobbled it up quick!  Our honest opinion is that it is OK, just OK.  Not horrible, but definitely not great.  (I think we’re spoiled to the really fresh ingredients we use in our pizza at home.)  That said, I’m glad Godfather’s & other pizza joints are taking initiative & adding GF pizza to their menus.  Thanks, Godfather’s!

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That brings me to what we had for lunch today.  Just take a wild guess…yep, pizza.  I think we need a gluten free pizza ballad to insert here, cuz’ this one doesn’t quite cut it…

Our gluten free pizza we made for lunch today was turkey pepperoni with jalapeno & a tossed salad with a balsamic vinaigrette.  It was absolutely delish!

We used one of our favorite gluten free pizza crust recipes.  This is just one of several we use & is esp. good for a medium to thin, crispy crust.  However, I’m sure this would be yummy made in a deep dish pan too.

Our tweaks & preferences:

First, quadruple it.  We have 6 hungry folks in our house & IF there is any leftover pizza, it’s gobbled up the next day.

I use 2 pans  that are 12.5 x 18″ & grease the dickens out of ‘em.  This crust will stick & you’ll end up with crustless pizza if you don’t use olive oil generously.  (That’s what I use.)  Also, after oiling you can sprinkle a bit of corn meal for extra texture & additional insurance for the “sticking” issue.

Since I don’t use powdered milk, I warm fresh milk on the stove & add to the warm water.  I use the same water measurement, but it ends up being about half milk & half water instead.  The milk isn’t necessary, but helps add color & browning to the crust.  Also, we prefer our crust plain, without the suggested additional herbs.

After spreading this dough (with wet hands – I think that works better than flour) on the pan, I pre-bake the crust for about 10 minutes.

Then comes my easy, peasy sauce!

Open a can of tomato paste & spread very thinly over the pre-baked crust.

Then, sprinkle your favorite Italian style herbs over the top of the paste.  We usually use basil, oregano & garlic.  This is so simple & so good.  Years ago, I would make a “special” sauce & cook it on the stove with herbs.  One time, in a time pinch, I tried the paste with herbs.  It was so good, I never saw the use in taking the time to make that “special” one again.  If you have access to fresh herbs out of your garden, be sure to grab those!

Add your favorite toppings.  We like to use gluten free turkey pepperoni, browned grassfed & finished ground beef & lots of veggies, esp. jalapenos.  Are jalapenos a fruit or a veggie?  I’m not sure, but we add lots of ‘em to our gluten free pizza pies.

Then we top it with lots of mozzarella cheese or sometimes a mixture of mozzarella & a hard, Italian cheese like Parmesan.  I always freshly shred my own cheese, as the pre-shredded cheese has made me sick on numerous occasions.  Besides, the best cheeses are NEVER pre-shredded.  :-)   Also, I try to put the mozzarella in the freezer about 20 minutes ahead of time, as it makes it easier to shred, esp. in the food processor.

Sometimes we put the cheese on first, then the other toppings…we try to live dangerously around here…

Place those beauties in the oven & bake for another 10-15 minutes, until the crust has browned & the cheese is bubbly.  Yummy!!

P.S.  I like to use several baking stones for our pizza…However, right now a lot of our stuff is packed away while we’re living in a temporary house, so I just use my baking sheets as I mentioned before.  The pizza is delicious either way.

Viola!

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