Gluten Free, Yeast Free Pizza Crust

Necessity is the mother of invention -Unknown

Ah, pizza. I must admit, I never really cared for pizza even before I was gluten/soy/dairy/everything free. Some of my friends tease that I have a tomato phobia- which may be true. I cannot stand tomato sauce. Nope. Not at all. Not spaghetti, lasagna, pizza, or ketchup. And definitely not raw tomatoes ((shudder)). Pesto sauce, alfredo sauce, or just plain ol' olive oil and garlic- mmm, now we're talking.

So, I was never really a pizza fan. However, my new found love for pizza started when I discovered Pizza Fusion. If you have a Pizza Fusion where you live, it is definitely worth checking out! It is a chain that started in Florida and has franchised up the East coast. They have an eco-friendly business philosophy (very cool). They also offer gluten-free and/or vegan pizzas. And real ingredients. Nothing frozen or from a can. They have regular pizza too, so it's a great place to go with friends, and everyone can get what they need or like. (and they offer an option for olive oil or pesto instead of tomato sauce, yay!)

Pizza Fusion's gluten-free pizza crust is delicious. But their GF crust (gluten, corn and soy-free!) uses canola oil and, of course, yeast- and those two ingredients make me pretty sick. I still eat it every once in a while- if I'm out running errands and absolutely starving- or if I'm just TOO exhausted to make a darn thing at home- but as much as I love it at that very moment, I pay for that choice for a couple of days afterwards.

So, I decided to figure out my own pizza crust.

The biggest challenge in pizza crust is not the gluten, it's the yeast. Fortunately, pizza crust doesn't have to rise too much; it's almost like a flatbread. The recipe below is what I've currently come up with to mimic the Pizza Fusion thin, crispy crust. It uses seltzer water in place of yeast for bubbles and rise. I think it's pretty good. I tried making it with and without a rolled edge, and I like the flat edge better; it produces a thin cracker/flatbread style crust.

And- it is easier to make than a yeasted crust!

*This recipe submitted to Wellness Weekend

Gluten Free, Yeast Free Pizza Crust
Makes two, 11" pizza crusts

Ingredients
2 cups gluten free flour mix
2 tsp guar gum
2 tsp corn-free baking powder
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp organic raw cane sugar (you could probably use agave, or omit)
3 Tbsp olive oil
2/3- 1 cup seltzer water

Method
Preheat oven to 400 degrees F
Combine dry ingredients in food processor fitted with the "S" blade.
With food processor running (I use the "dough" setting on mine), add the olive oil.
Slowly add the seltzer water until the dough becomes a ball. Stop processing when you get a ball.
Divide dough ball in half.
Place half of the dough ball on a non-stick work surface. I use a large, countertop SilPat for this. You can also flour your surface with a GF flour, but in my humble opinion, GF flour is too expensive to go spreading around on countertops ;)
Roll pizza dough into a large, flat circle.

Put dough on pizza pan or baking sheet, brush top with olive oil.
Bake at 400 degrees for 10 minutes.
Remove:

Add sauce, cheese, and toppings, and return to oven:

Bake for another 12 minutes:

this is the flat edge I liked better

My toppings (use what you like/tolerate): I brush the crust (again) with olive oil and garlic, then added shredded mozzarella. Important: Buy a brick of cheese and shred it yourself- not only is this less expensive than buying pre-shredded cheese, but allergy note: pre-shredded cheese is coated with starch (corn, potato, or tapioca) to prevent it from clumping together in the bag.

For a vegan option, you could use soy/Daiya/nut/seed cheese, or no cheese at all.

I like kalamata olives and organic red onion on top. I don't often eat dairy, but it is the least of my reactions (symptoms are merely annoying rather than debilitating), so every once in a while (say, 3 or 4 times a year) I will, for something like this (sometimes a girl just gets hungry, y'know?!?)

I learned it is very difficult to take a good photo of pizza : ) 

Note: Since this makes two pizzas, I am curious if it might work to freeze the 2nd pizza crust after baking for the first 10 minutes, to use later. I did freeze pizza slices after they were made, and that worked great. But I didn't try freezing the "naked" dough, before adding the cheese and toppings. If you try that, I'd love to hear how it turns out.

Another idea would be to make smaller crusts for individual-size pizzas, since those would be easier to store in the freezer. Then on pizza night, everyone could make pizzas with their own toppings (great for allergies AND personal preferences :)

Gluten free flour tortillas

If you are like me, the art of making flour tortillas will take some practice. But don't give up, after a few tries you will get the hang of it, and having this staple on hand is very helpful.

Gluten free flour tortillas

Ingredients

• 2 c. gluten free flour mix
• 1 1/2 tsp. guar gum
• 1 tsp. pure cane sugar
• 1 tsp. fine ground sea salt
• 1 tsp. corn free baking powder
• 2 Tbsp extra light olive oil
• 1/2- 1 c. warm water* Important: add water slowly until dough is right consistency. Too much water will result in dough that is very sticky. Too little water and your dough won't hold together. Use just enough water to make your dough hold together.

Method

• Add the dry ingredients to a large mixing bowl and whisk together.
• Add the warm water to the bowl (slowly!) and mix into the dry ingredients until a dough forms. I just do this with a big spoon, or my hands. You can also mix this recipe in the food processor, but I find for this dough, it is easier to mix with your hands so you can feel when you have the right amount of water.
• Separate the dough into approximately 10-12 pieces and roll each piece into a ball. Place all but one of the dough balls back into the bowl and cover top of bowl with a towel until you need more dough.
• Sprinkle your work surface with rice flour, or roll dough out on parchment paper or a Silpat. Flatten a dough ball into a roughly circular shape with your hand, then use a rolling pin to roll flat. Try to roll it as thin as you can. It's ok if it doesn't look like a circle, just focus on the thickness and technique first. Later, you can practice making perfect circles. I still can't roll perfect circles, I just cheat and trim the edges with a knife. Tip: small tortillas are much more manageable to roll out, and flip, than large tortillas.
• Set tortilla aside, and repeat with remaining dough balls, placing a slightly damp towel or parchment paper in between rolled tortillas so they don't stick together. People who are really good at rolling tortillas can roll one tortilla while another tortilla is cooking on the griddle. I'm not that fast yet, so I roll all of them first, then cook.
• Place a tortilla onto a hot griddle and let it cook approximately 10-30 seconds – until it starts puffing up and the bottom side starts getting those trademark brown spots. Use a spatula to flip the tortilla and cook the other side approximately 10-30 seconds. It does not take long at all. If you cook them too long, the tortillas will be crispy rather than soft.

Set the cooked tortilla aside and repeat until you’ve cooked all tortillas.

Enjoy!

*See this post to learn how to use a tortilla press- also good for flatbreads!