I had a hankering for pizza and no matter what I tried, tasted, or meditated on it would not go away. I tried frozen gluten free pizzas, many of which are made with rice flour, but they are NOT the same. I want a yeasty, bubbly, doughy pizza crust. After days of searching I found it…here is how it came about:
Day 1: I called every pizza parlor listed in the county hoping, even praying, that one of them had gluten free pizza. My vision of grabbing a pizza was quickly replaced with visions of human Maters taking over (you know that tow truck from the movie Cars). After asking, “Do you have gluten free pizza?” The usual response was much like Mater’s very confused, “You hurt your what?”
Day 2: I researched gluten pizza recipes and crust options. Scoured the web for a few possible options.
Day 3: I set out to try several possible pizza recipes. I even tried taking regular recipes and converting them. None were bubbly and all took hours to fail. Then, on the last attempt, I opened the oven to find a yeasty, bubbly, doughy pizza crust in my oven. Tears literally filled my eyes. I quickly took it from the oven and tore into it (luckily, the recipe makes two). The second crust I took the time to top with my pizza favorites.
Now, do not be fooled. It still is not a perfect replica of gluten filled pizza, but wow it does come close. Many of my gluten eating friends/family never knew the difference. Plus, nothing can beat the ease of this recipe. It was actually faster than calling a pizza joint and having it delivered.
A few notes: It did not ball up as much as I thought it would, but WELL oiled hands made the roll out very easy. I did use my own sauce and toppings and have substituted the chickpea flour for an all-purpose gluten free flour when my chickpea supply was low.
Thank you, thank you Zoe Singer & Epicurious.com for taming my hankering!
Here is the pizza crust recipe (for the full pizza recipe please visit www.epicurious.com):
ingredients
3/4 cup tapioca flour
1/2 cup white rice flour*
1/3 cup chickpea flour
1/3 cup sorghum flour
1 teaspoon xanthum gum
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1/2 cup whole milk
2 1/4 teaspoons active dry yeast, from 1 (1/4-ounce) package
2 teaspoons sugar
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
preparation
In bowl of electric mixer, whisk together tapioca flour, white rice flour, chickpea flour, sorghum flour, xanthum gum, and salt.
In small saucepan over moderate heat, stir together milk and 1/4 cup water and heat until warm but not hot to the touch, about 1 minute (the mixture should register between 105°F and 115° F on candy thermometer). Stir in yeast and sugar. Add milk–yeast mixture, egg whites, and 2 tablespoons oil to dry ingredients and, using paddle attachment, beat at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until dough is very smooth and very thick, about 5 minutes.
Remove racks from oven, set pizza stone or heavy upturned baking sheet on bottom of oven, and preheat to 400°F. (Preheat at least 45 minutes if using pizza stone or 20 minutes if using baking sheet.)
Have ready two 12-inch squares parchment paper. Scrape half of dough onto each square and form each half into a ball. Coat each ball with 2 teaspoons oil, then use oiled fingertips to pat and stretch each ball into 9-inch-diameter round, 1/4 inch thick, with a 1/2-inch-thick border. Loosely cover rounds with plastic wrap and let rise in warm draft-free place until each pizza is about 10 inches in diameter, about 20 minutes.
Using baking peel, transfer 1 crust with parchment to preheated pizza stone and bake until top is puffed and firm and underside is crisp, 5 to 10 minutes. Using baking peel and discarding parchment paper, transfer baked crust to rack to cool. Bake second crust in same manner. (Baked crusts can be made ahead and frozen, wrapped in plastic wrap, up to 1 month. Thaw in 350°F oven until hot, 4 to 5 minutes, before topping and broiling.)
*Be sure to use white rice flour; brown will result in gritty pizza dough.
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