The good news is, thanks to science, gastronomic innovation, and Gwyneth Paltrow's newfound calling as a gluten-free lifestyle guru, there are scads of gluten-free flours, pizza crust mixes and pre-made crusts available at just about every grocery store.
I've been relatively silent about it for a while, but I'm still trying pretty hard to stay gluten free (update to come). That means modifying my cooking experiments accordingly – even homemade pizza. At random, I picked up a bag of Bob's Red Mill gluten-free pizza crust mix (also can be used for cinnamon rolls) at King Soopers.
A few notes about this product:
- Pros: Only takes 20 minutes to rise, yeast is included, nice focaccia-ey taste.
- Cons: Not exactly like traditional pizza crust, very sticky.
And I mean very sticky. My husband, who's worked in pizza restaurant before, was utterly done with the dough after about 30 seconds. But don't worry! It'll all be okay in the end, so don't go panicking and adding flour (because that would be dumb and defeat the purpose ... gluten-free, remember?). Just make sure your hands are plenty greased up with olive oil before handling the risen dough. Then it'll be a cinch to roll it, pat it and mark it with a GF for gluten free – or Gooey Fail if you're Owen.
After par-baking the crust (very important step), you're going to have to assemble your ingredients. Go wild with this. Seriously. It's your pizza. Do what you want to do. Classic toppings – tomato sauce, cheese, pepperoni – all work just fine on the crust, but for this post, we're going to get a little crazy. Stay with me here.
Roasted pesto chickenAllow me to break this down: 1. Oven @ 400F 2. Pan lined with aluminum foil, coated with oil 3. 2-3 chicken breasts removed from package, placed in pan 4. Bake 30-40 minutes until not raw. You're adults, I don't have to tell you what raw looks like. If you're color blind, use a thermometer. You don't want salmonella ruining your pizza night; besides, food poisoning after Labor Day is so gauche. 5. Remove from oven, salt and pepper to taste, and toss in a spoonful of pesto – which is green, so that's your veggie for the day. | roasted cauliflowerSame song, second verse, guys. To simplify pizza night even more, cook the cauliflower the same way and at the same heat as the chicken. Cut into small pieces, coat with olive oil – you know the drill. If you're not on a first date – or if you're married – go ahead and throw in some whole garlic cloves. They'll soften up and add a pungent kick to the dish When they're tender, yet caramelized and crisp, remove from oven, add s&p. Done. |
Now to the pizza construction. Here's how it's done.
We've established you're all adults, so simply follow the package directions, and bake that pizza.
Go do something – like edit two dozen pictures of uncooked pizza dough you just took – and the pizza will be done in no time.
Dig in, and enjoy! Because it's gluten-free. Which means it's totally healthy.
xoxo
Maggie