Gluten Free Wednesday: Vegan GF Pizza!

Happy Gluten Free Wednesday!  As you know, Wednesdays are my days at work to cook for our department.  One of my coworkers, who works that day is gluten free, so I am always trying to think of creative things to make for us.  I remembered she said the day before that she was craving pizza.  There is a 99 cent pizza place a block away from our work and a lot of the employees go there to get lunch.  It's sucky walking by it and knowing you can't eat anything there because it's full of cheese, but it's even suckier not to be able to have it because you can't eat the dough.  She's really not able to walk into any old pizza place and order a slice because it has to be both vegan and gluten free, which is not really all that prevalent yet.  So, I was thinking I would find a recipe for the dough and just make in on Wednesday.  She warned me that doughs are generally pretty tough to make gf, but I have been experimenting with gf breads lately and was inspired by the challenge. 

I checked into one of my favorite gf blogs and found a recipe for pizza dough, and true to what my coworker said, it was very complicated and time consuming, so I found a recipe for flatbread and just followed that.  Honestly, the recipe freaked me out for a number of reasons and I was 50% convinced that it wouldn't work.  The recipe didn't contain xanthan gum, and every gf thing I have ever made has contained xanthan gum, even when it has yeast in it.  But, the recipe worked and worked quite well.  We each had two large slices and were very happy with it.  I'm thinking we will definitely be making it again soon!

Gluten Free Pizza:



Cooked Pizza with Melty Cheese

Makes 1 large pizza

Dough:
1 cup millet flour
1 cup sorghum flour
1/2 cup tapioca starch
1/2 cup potato starch
1 1/2 teaspoons sea salt
1 tablespoon onion powder
2 teaspoons garlic powder
1/4 teaspoon black pepper
1/4 teaspoon crushed rosemary
2 1/2 teaspoons yeast
1/3 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon agave
1/4 teaspoon apple cider vinegar
1 1/4 cup warm water.

Toppings:
pizza sauce
daiya
chopped onions
chopped green peppers
sliced kalamata olives
1 tomato, thickly sliced

1.  Preheat oven to 350 degrees.
3.  Prepare the crust: in a large bowl, mix together the dry ingredients: millet flour, sorghum flour, potato starch, tapioca starch, sea salt, onion powder, garlic powder, black pepper, crushed rosemary and yeast.  Whisk until all ingredients are combined. 
3.  In the center of the dry ingredients, add the wet ingredients: olive oil, agave, vinegar and warm water.  Stir together using a spatula until just combined.
4.  Oil a pizza pan and press out the dough (you can sprinkle the pan with a little bit of cornmeal if desired.) until even all the way around, creating an edge crust if desired.  The dough will feel really funny and pull apart if you stretch it, but once the yeast is given a chance to grow, it will feel like a regular dough. 



This is what the dough looks like before it raises or bakes.

 5.  Cover the pan with the dough on it with a towel and place in a warm place.  Allow the dough to rise for 30-40 minutes.  Bake for about 5-7 minutes or until the dough feels slightly firm.
6.  Remove from the oven and spread the pizza sauce evenly over top.  Sprinkle the daiya on top and spread the toppings over the cheese as desired.  Return to oven and bake for about 20 minutes, or until the dough is baked all the way through, the daiya is melted and the vegetables look slightly cooked.



Pizza with all the toppings on the partially baked crust.

 7.  Allow to cool for a few minutes, sprinkle with your desired toppings (lots of red pepper flakes please!) and eat.  This is best eaten the same day, as the dough does not stay fresh for more than a day.

Enjoy!

-K