Gluten-Free Pizza!

Gluten Free Pizzas-2

[dropcap style=”font-size: 60px; color: #9b9b9b;”] O[/dropcap]nce there was a girl and her name was Jules. One day she convinced her Irish husband to try going gluten-free.

Thank heavens potatoes don’t contain any gluten, otherwise the girl wouldn’t have stood a chance.

The one thing they were really going to miss was their regular Friday night pizza date.

Luckily the girl loves a challenge so she set out to find a gluten-free pizza base that would pass some incredibly high standards.

To keep a long story short, there were many failed attempts.

Many.

But finally the girl found something that they both enjoyed, even if it wasn’t exactly as good as regular pizza. It was close.

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Gluten Free Pizzas

Gluten-Free Pizza Bases

One of the best things about these pizza bases is you can make a big batch and freeze the par-baked based ready for quick meals. If you don’t already have xanthan gum in the pantry, just leave it out.. The texture will be less chewy but still delicious! Adapted from a recipe by Melbourne chef Karen Martini.

makes 6
takes about an hour
500g (1lb) chickpea or other gluten-free flour
2 teaspoons baking powder
2 teaspoons salt
1 teaspoon xantham gum (optional)
3 tablespoons olive oil
750 ml (3 cups) water

1. Preheat your oven to 180C (350F).

2. Place flour, baking powder, xanthan gum (if using) in a large mixing bowl. Add oil and water and whisk to make a smooth batter. It’s more like a runny cake batter than a dough as such.

3. Line a baking tray with baking paper. Weigh out 200g (7oz) of the batter. Top with another sheet of baking paper. Use your hands to push the batter into a pizza shape about 20cm (8in) diameter or slightly larger.

4. Bake with both sheets of paper for 10-15 minutes or until the base feels firm and the top layer of baking paper peels away easily.

5. Place pizza base on a wire rack to cool while you bake the remaining batter. When cool remove the bottom layer of paper.

6. To serve, crank your oven to its highest setting. Top cooled bases with your favourite pizza toppings and bake for 5-10 minutes or until the toppings are cooked and the base is crisp.

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Variations

do ahead? – absolutely! The cooked bases will keep in the fridge for 1-2 weeks and in the freezer for months.

no xanthan gum – just skip it. The texture will be slightly less chewy but still good.

no chickpea flour – Chickpea flour goes by many different names including besan, gram flour and garbanzo bean flour. I like it because it’s much cheaper than commercial GF flours and has more fiber and less carbs. But you can use any commercial gluten-free flour mix. I wouldn’t use straight rice or potato flour as the protein content will be too low.

low carb – I find if I stick to two slices it’s fine for my blood sugar. But chickpea flour is still about 60% carbs so while it’s better than wheat flour at about 75% carbs it’s not what I would consider low carb. Chickpea flour does have more fiber as well so it’s a better alternative to wheat. I have been working on a recipe using cauliflower and almond meal as a pizza base so watch this space!

crisper base – use a pizza stone preheated in your oven and dust the bases with a little more flour before baking.

pizza topping ideas – in the photo above I’ve used a tomato based sauce with cheese and fresh chilli with fresh basil. Other favourites include Kale & Onion, Salami & Ricotta, Potato & Rosemary, and for the adventurous the ‘Tiger Pizza‘ using Vegemite.

gluten lovers! – looking for a traditional wheat based pizza dough? Head over here for my favourite.

Big love,
Jules x

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ps. What are your favourite pizza toppings?

I’d love to hear about them in the comments below!

29 Comments

  • Hi Jules, you say you stick to 2 slices. 2 slices out of …?
    Also, I would love a coconut flour base pizza. Just putting it out there : )
    Thank you

    • 2 slices out of 6 Annita… Good question! Hadn’t thought to try coconut flour in a pizza.. Imagine the flavour would be a challenge

  • Some time ago I did make a pizza dough using cauliflower. Don’t remember if it had almond flour. It was delicious but you had to eat it with a knife and fork. Waiting with bated breath for your recipe and in the meantime I’ll try this one. Thanks Jules

  • Fav toppings are carmelized onions, baby bella mushrooms and black olives with tomato sauce or garlic sauce.

  • Wow! This looks amazing!! I’m a low carb-er so tend to do cauliflower bases which I have an amazing recipe for – will email you if you want to give it a go. It’s a bit of work, but worth it.

    Might try this soon though – the texture is what I miss.

  • My favorite toppings include a white sauce, chicken, asparagus, goat cheese, caramelized onion, feta cheese – and the list goes on. Definitely prefer a white sauce to tomato sauce for pizza.

  • Iv been using a simular batter for my pizza this last year or so. Gram flour + water + digestive spices+ oregano. I pan fry the base first though using a spoon to encourage the pizza shape, then top it up and pop it in a very hot oven. Sometimes i have two pans on the hop depending on how many mouths im feeding. I might try the baking powder and olive oil next time.

  • Sweet potato (mashed), caramelized balsamic onion, sopressata, oregano and mozzarella. For a gluten free crust I used tapioca flour with cheese and eggs (similar to the ingredients for Brazilian cheese bread.

  • I’ve so been looking forward to this! I’m curious to know your thoughts on the safety of xantham gum. Clearly you use it as do I, and many other food writers who’s work I respect use it as well. However, there are several who don’t claiming it’s dangerous. I appreciate your sharing of knowledge! Thanks.

    • Great question Samantha! To be honest I haven’t researched xanthan gum that much… Then only thing I’ve been using it in is these pizza bases so since it’s not something I’m eating a lot of I haven’t been too concerned. But now you’ve asked I need to research more! Thx

  • I made these last night (without the xanthan gum as I couldn’t find any) and they are great!!

  • Hi Jules,

    I just wanted to share my favorite gluten-free crust.

    I used to make outstanding home pizzas. However, 10 years ago my wife was diagnosed as celiac and I had to learn how to make GF pizza. After a certain amount of bad experiences I finally began to produce great pizza again. I now consider my pizza a success if I and others who eat it judge it better than any other pizza that can be found locally, GF or otherwise. And there are many good pizza restaurants here in New Jersey!

    After years of using a variety of cooking methods (including placing dough directly on an outside grill grate or on a pizza stone) and using a variety of different flours, I find my favorite approach is also one of the easiest.

    My crust is based upon Pão de Queijo (Brazilian cheese bread) which uses tapioca flour, cheese and olive oil. Although I have bought and used pure tapioca flour, I find it both more convenient and cost effective to use Chebe Pizza Mix which is just tapioca flour with some herbs and spices. (I buy an 8-pack of 7.5 ounce boxes. Each box makes two 12-inch thin crust pizzas or more smaller pizzas/flat breads).

    My cooking method changed within the past year ago when I purchased amazing oven/broiler-safe non-stick pans.

    Recently a celiac friend asked for my recipe and, consequently, I created a Flickr album with lots of photos and descriptive comments. The directions on the Chebe box are simpler – but my pizza is better.

    The Flickr album can be found here:

    https://www.flickr.com/photos/bourbaki/39987939373/in/album-72157689319251283/

    Regards,

    Murray

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