Learning that you can no longer eat gluten can be upsetting and overwhelming, especially when starting a mandatory gluten-free diet for medical reasons — like the 3 million Americans with celiac disease or the 18 to 21 million Americans with non-celiac gluten sensitivity. But one thing is true for all of us who are gluten-intolerant: at one time, we were all beginners.
My beginner days were long ago, but I still vividly remember my struggle to recreate the foods I loved in my own kitchen — without gluten, the protein culprit in wheat, barley, and rye. Those struggles led me to write a gluten-free cookbook called Gluten-Free 101 to help other beginners get started with this new lifestyle. Apparently, there are many beginners. According to Nutrition Business Journal, the market for gluten-free foods rose to $8 billion in 2012, an increase of 20% over 2011. More and more Americans are being diagnosed with gluten intolerance, and gluten-free food is the only treatment.
At first, gluten-free baking perplexed me because it required new ingredients and unfamiliar techniques. I, like many other beginners, especially missed pizza. Back then, if you wanted pizza you had to make it yourself.
Eventually, after much trial and error, I learned how to make the crust with a blend of gluten-free flours (brown rice flour, potato starch, and tapioca flour) and some creative techniques that work well with these new and different flours, each of which has its own unique traits. For example, brown rice flour provides protein for good structure in the crust, potato starch makes it lighter and airier, and tapioca flour gives it that toothsome “chew” we expect in a pizza crust. And this pizza crust — fresh and yeasty — beats any crust you might buy in a store.
You may notice several things about this pizza crust that distinguish it from a gluten version:
❶ The dough seems impossibly soft, but that extra moisture creates steam that makes the crust rise nicely.
❷ This exceptionally soft, sticky dough requires unique handling. I’ve tried every manner of handling it and find that sprinkling it with brown rice flour makes it easier to press onto the pan.
❸ There is no rising time; the ingredients are formulated to make the crust rise quickly. But if you prefer a more deep-dish version, let it rise in a warm place for 30 minutes or so before baking.
❹ Unlike traditional pizza crust, this crust requires par-baking to firm it up, keep it crisp, and prevent the toppings from soaking in too fast and making it soggy.
Gluten-Free Pizza
Used with permission from Gluten-Free 101: The Essential Beginner’s Guide to Easy Gluten-Free Cooking by Carol Fenster (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, 2014)
Pizza is one of the top foods that beginners crave on a gluten-free diet. Gluten-free pizza dough is very soft and sticky—without the elasticity of wheat flour dough—so it is patted into the pan rather than rolled or stretched and it adheres to the pan better when it is greased with shortening rather than cooking spray. You can use store-bought pizza sauce, but try mine— it is thicker so it won’t make the crust soggy. I used bell peppers, tomatoes, onion, and olives to top this veggie pizza, but you can use any toppings you like, including pepperoni, sausage, ham, or bacon for a non-veggie version.
Ingredients
PIZZA SAUCE (Makes 1 cup)
- •One 237 ml (8-ounce) can tomato sauce
- •7.2 ml (1 1/2 teaspoons) dried Italian seasoning
- •2.5 ml (1/2 teaspoon) fennel seeds (optional)
- •1.2 ml (1/4 teaspoon) garlic powder or 1 garlic clove, minced
- •5 ml (1 teaspoon) sugar
- •1.2 ml (1/4 teaspoon) salt
CRUST (Makes a 12-inch crust)
- •15 ml (1 tablespoon) active dry yeast
- •5 ml (1 teaspoon) sugar
- •177 ml (3/4 cup) milk of choice, warmed to 43 degrees C (110 degrees F)
- •156 ml (2/3 cup) brown rice flour, plus more for sprinkling
- •59 ml (1/4 cup) potato starch
- •59 ml (1/4 cup) tapioca flour
- •5 ml (1 teaspoon) xanthan gum
- •5 ml (1 teaspoon) dried Italian seasoning
- •2.5 ml (1/2 teaspoon) salt
- •10 ml (2 teaspoons) olive oil
- •10 ml (2 teaspoons) cider vinegar
TOPPINGS
- •15 ml (1 tablespoon) olive oil (for cooking vegetables), plus more for brushing the crust (optional)
- •473 ml (2 cups) vegetables, such as the following:
- •Uncooked vegetables
- •• Artichoke hearts (marinated), thinly sliced
- •• Olives, sliced or halved
- •• Fresh plum tomatoes, thinly sliced or diced
- •• Fresh cherry or grape tomatoes, halved
- •• Sun-dried tomatoes, chopped
- •Vegetables to Precook Until Just Tender
- •• Asparagus, chopped
- •• Bell peppers, (green, red, yellow) thinly sliced
- •• Broccoli, thinly sliced
- •• Red or white onion, thinly sliced
- •• Zucchini, thinly sliced
- •170 grams (1 1/2 cups/6 ounces) shredded mozzarella cheese or cheese alternative, such as Daiya
Preparation
[1] Make the pizza sauce: In a small, heavy saucepan, combine all of the sauce ingredients and simmer, uncovered and stirring occasionally, for 15 minutes. Set aside.
[2] Make the crust: Arrange oven racks in the bottom and middle positions of the oven. Preheat the oven to 204°C (400°F). Grease (use shortening or butter, not oil or cooking spray) a 31 cm (12-inch) nonstick pizza pan (gray, not black). Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the warm milk for 5 minutes.
[3] In a food processor, blend all of the crust ingredients, including the yeast mixture, until the dough forms a ball. The dough will be very, very soft. (Or blend in a medium bowl, using an electric mixer on low speed, until well blended.) Put the dough in the center of the pizza pan. Liberally sprinkle rice flour onto the dough; then press the dough into the pan with your hands, continuing to dust the dough with flour to prevent it from sticking to your hands. At first, it will seem as though there is not enough dough to cover the pan, but don’t worry — it is just the right amount. Make the edges thicker to contain the toppings, taking care to make the dough as smooth as possible. The smoother you can shape the dough, especially around the edges, the prettier the crust will be. Bake the pizza crust for 10 minutes on the bottom rack.
[4] While the crust bakes, make the toppings. Heat the oil in a large skillet over medium heat. Add the vegetables and cook, stirring frequently, until slightly softened, 3 to 5 minutes.
[5] Remove the pizza crust from the oven and brush the top with the pizza sauce. Sprinkle with the cheese and arrange the vegetables on top. Return the pizza to the oven and bake on the middle rack until nicely browned, 15 to 20 minutes. Remove the pizza from the oven and cool on a wire rack for 5 minutes. You may brush the crust edges with a little olive oil, if you like, for a shinier look. Cut it into 6 slices and serve warm.
