Best Gluten Free Pizza Ever - World Wide Pizza Party

When I discovered the Five Minutes a Day method for bread baking, I was ecstatic. I was a bread making wonder.  I made Artisanal style bread right out of my own plain-jane oven.  Everyday! I was successful.  I felt great!

Four months later (and probably a hundred loaves later), the bomb dropped.

No more gluten for me.

I discovered all the substitute gluten-free things, but pizza was really irreplacable with a GF sub.

I literally cried the first time my family ordered pizza.  Pizza is communal and I couldn't commune.  I tried several gluten-free variations from different sources.  Everytime, we all agreed...it's not like Real pizza. And eventually I gave up.  (I have since found out there is a Healthy Bread in Five Minutes a Day book with gluten free recipes which I have not read but will be buying soon.)

Since then my condition has improved and I can have gluten in moderation.   So I immediately went back to making bread like crazy from the original Artisanal Bread in Five Minutes a Day boule recipe.  I even made grilled pizza using that recipe.  It was awesome.  When I realized I was beyond moderation on the gluten, I decided to pull back.

At about the same time, I attended the Foodbuzz blogger Festival a couple of weeks ago.  Geeking out completely upon seeing Jeff Hertzberg, the co-creator with Zoe Francois of the Five Minutes a Day method, he asked if I would be interested in participating in the World Wide Pizza Party on November 15. Taking a millisecond to agree, he handed me their latest book, Artisan Pizza and Flatbread in Five Minutes a Day.

I read it cover to cover the next day and was overjoyed to see a Gluten Free Pizza Crust recipe and lots of ideas for using it beyond the basic pizza.

You see, the the Five Minutes a Day method makes it possible for even the busiest mom to make bread on the fly and with this recipe I was able to do the same with pizza. Gluten Free, even.  Upon tasting the "Barbecued Chicken Pizza" (pg. 124-125), it received the best review a gluten-free recipe can receive, my kids both agreed "This does not EVEN taste Gluten Free." That was Sunday night, but since lighting was bad, I decided to do the unthinkable.

I made HOMEMADE pizza for school lunches yesterday morning.  I made 3, count 'em, THREE, pizzas yesterday morning before my kids left for school at 7:30.

It was easy-peasy with the dough already hanging out in my fridge, ready to roll, literally.

Parchment paper on top and bottom with a sprinkle of rice flour tames the sticky nature of gluten free doughs.

Once it's rolled, you can top it right away, but I decided to parbake it first to keep the cheese from browning too much.

I do recommend having a pizza peel to roll it on and slide it into the extremely hot oven (550 degrees!!).

You can make your own sauce with this recipe or look for our favorite new pre-made BBQ sauce (J. Lee Roy's--ask for it.  NO HFCS!) Then we had cilantro and bell peppers from our CSA veggie box, along with a few shallots since we didn't have the red onions called for in the book.

I had a rotisserie chicken from the weekend so we shredded that up and then used a combination of smoke mozzarella and sharp cheddar.

My youngest son (who also practically drinks the sauce) had it for breakfast and lunch.

Next to use up some more of my veggie box, I made a sauteed kale, Kalamata olive and smoked mozzarella flatbread.  This wasn't in the book, but there were several flatbread recipes and white pizzas calling for spinach and other greens that inspired it.

The result was a slightly burnt edged kale with gooey cheese and sharp olives.  The combination of toppings was good, but the best part is the crust.  It is so great, it would stand alone as a very basic flatbread with nothing more than sea salt. It really was fantastic and the cornmeal in the crust gave it a nice chew.  See the finished flatbread at the top of the page.

Pizza's a great way to Cook What You've Got.  Use up those bits of cheese, veggies you're not sure what to do with even leftovers. (From the book...Chicken Pot Pie Pizza & Curried Sweet Potato, Lentil and Arugula Pizza.)

There are so many other recipes, that I expect to post many times out of this book.  Now pizza night on Friday is doable.  Get out there and get the book!!  Now.


Print Page Copyright 2011 Christi Flaherty, Cook What You've Got