GF Pizza Recipe

Keith loves this pizza. I’m not entirely sure if it’s a case of beggars not being able to be choosers, but it makes me feel kinda proud, so I’ll publish it here.

Equipment:
1 14-inch pizza pan
Quick Release aluminum foil
Bread Maker with a “dough” cycle.

I make pizza every Sunday, so I do the the kind of thing I’ve always insisted people never do, and that’s create a flour mix and keep it in a Tupperware container on top of the fridge. This is the pizza mix/French bread mix from Bette Hagman’s excellent book, The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread:

Flour Mix:
7 cups brown rice flour
5 cups tapioca starch
1/4 cup Xanthan gum
4 (7-gram) packets unflavored gelatin
1/4 cup egg replacer
1/2 cup sugar

Pizza Dough:
2 large egg whites
2 Tablespoons olive oil
3/4 teaspoons cider vinegar
1 scant cup hot water
1/4 cup powdered milk
3/4 teaspoon baking powder
3/4 teaspoon salt
2 1/3 cups flour mix
1 scant Tablespoon yeast

Tomato Base:
1 6-oz can plain tomato paste
3 oz water
1 glop garlic (probably 2 cloves) to taste
1 glop dried basil (probably 1 1/2 teaspoon) to taste
1 glop dried oregano (probably 1 1/2 teaspoon) to taste
1 sprinkle black pepper (probably 1/4 teaspoon) to taste
1 sprinkle salt (probably 1/2 teaspoon) to taste

Current Favorite Topping:
1 caramelized onion
1 1/2 lbs ground turkey
1 (4 oz) can sliced olives
1 (4 oz) can mild green chilies
1 glop garlic (a clove or two)
1 glop basil (probably 1 1/2 teaspoons)
1 sprinkle red pepper flakes (probably 1/2 teaspoon)
8 oz feta cheese
8 oz shredded mozzarella cheese

Instructions:

1. Put a good Tablespoon or two of olive oil in a skillet and add one diced onion. Put on low heat for a good hour, hour and a half, until brown and sweet.
   Why: The cheapo onions I can afford are pretty harsh, but cooking gas is cheap. Cooking very very slowly until brown will mellow the onion so it won’t overpower the pizza.
2. Meanwhile, mix the ingredients for the tomato base and set aside so the flavors can blend.
3. Have a drinkie and watch some bad TV while the onions cook. Let’s say 45 minutes. While you’re drinking, grate the Mozzarella and cover your pizza pan with the non-stick aluminum foil.
   Why: The pizza dough is impossibly sticky. If you don’t use non-stick aluminum foil, it will never release from your pizza pan. Never ever ever never ever. Parchment will work in a pinch, but the non-stick aluminum foil is like magic.
4. Now that you’re a little stumbly, and the floor’s getting pretty far away, get out your bread maker and add the wet ingredients, the dry ingredients, and the yeast. Set the bread maker to “dough” and let it mix for a half hour. Remember to scrape the bread maker down after the first 10 minutes so that all the flour gets completely incorporated.
   Why: The consistency of this dough is like spackle. Your bread machine has the right machinery to mix this without burning out.
5. Let the bread maker’s “dough” cycle continue from “mix” to “rise,” and let the dough rise for 15 minutes–you won’t need the entire length of the rise cycle though.
   Why: A short amount of rising will change the consistency from spackle to soft cookie dough,
   which you can spread onto the pizza pan with your spatula.
6. Meanwhile, once the onions are browned to your satisfaction, drain off the olive oil and add the turkey, the garlic, and the basil. Brown the ground turkey. Drain again.
7. Remove from heat. Add green chilies, sliced black olives, and crumbled feta. Toss together. This is all the rest of the topping except the mozzarella.
8. Once the dough is spreadable, spread it onto the foil-covered pizza pan. Let it rise there for another 15 minutes
   Why: It makes the crust a little puffier, which I like.
9. Preheat oven to 400 degrees F.
10. Once the dough has risen, spread the tomato base on the batter.
11. Add the topping.
12. Sprinkle the mozzarella on top.
13. Bake until the mozzarella is lightly brown. That’s 22 minutes in my oven if the topping went on hot, but 25 minutes if it cooled off.
14. Remove from oven, slide pizza off of foil onto a cutting board (it will slide off the non-stick aluminum foil like water off a duck’s back), cut and serve. If you used parchment, the pizza and parchment will slide off the pan together, but you can peel the parchment off the bottom of the individual slices easily enough after cutting.
    If you used neither non-stick aluminum foil nor parchment, you were warned, and God help you.

Naturally, you can use any topping you like. This is the topping that’s our favorite now. I’m from the Midwest, and heavily influenced by crusty pizza crusts and lots and lots of topping.

NOTE: If you want to use fresh vegetables, like bell peppers or mushrooms, you will want to at least sauté them quickly (“sweat” them) before baking so that they will give up some of their moisture. Otherwise, you will end up with a soggy pizza.

Keith coming home

Time until Keith gets back: 2 years, 0 months, 26 days, 4 hours, 50 minutes ago

Next Page »