Pizza Heaven!

It's been so long since I've blogged but I have been recently inspired by a pizza crust that I concocted this evening so had to write about it.

Now that I am a new mom free time is something of the past, but because of all my food issues I still have to make my own meals.  Being gluten, dairy and now sugar and yeast intolerant it has been getting more and more difficult to find things to eat other than meat and vegetables.  Oh how I've missed sinking my teeth into a nice chewy and crispy pizza crust topped with oozing cheese and sauce.  But how does one go about making a pizza "sans" some essential ingredients like flour and yeast?  You find replacements.  I found a pizza mix recipe in my favorite bread book called "The Gluten Free Gourmet Bakes Bread".  It's a must have for anyone who can't eat gluten but still longs for the "gluteny" texture of a good loaf of bread.  Of course I changed the recipe a bit to make it less starchy and more wholesome (better on the ol' glycemic index). Below is the mix then use that in my crust recipe:

Nancy's Pizza/Bread Mix:
2 1/2 cups Garbanzo Bean Flour
1 cup Brown Rice Flour
2 1/2 cups Tapioca Flour
2 Tblspns Xanthan Gum
2 packets Plain Gelatin

This should be mixed well. It makes a total of 6 cups so you will only need a portion of it for my pizza crust recipe.

Nancy's Gluten and Yeast Free Pizza Crust:
1 1/4 cups of the Pizza/Bread Mix
3 Tblspns Almond Meal
1/2 Teaspn Salt
1/2 Teaspn Baking Powder
1 Tblspn Psyllium Husk (for fiber)
1/2 Tblspn Flax Meal
1 Tblspn sesame seeds (optional)
1-2 Tblspns hulled sunflower seeds (optional)
2 Eggs
1/2 Teaspn Vinegar
1 1/2 Tblspns Vegetable Oil
2/3 Cup Warm Water

Combine all the dry ingredients in one bowl mixing well.  Combine all the wet ingredients in another bowl and mix well.  Then combine the wet to the dry ingredients and mix well until you have a mushy glop.

Grease a cookie sheet and dust with sweet rice flour or corn flour.  Then pour the dough onto the cookie sheet and spread it with a rubber spatula (you may have to dip the spatula in water so it isn't too sticky) so that the dough is about 1/4 of an inch thick or slightly thinner depending on how you like your crust.  Don't worry if the dough doesn't fill the entire cookie sheet.

Set the cookie sheet aside and cover while you preheat the oven to 425.  Once the oven is ready place the cookie sheet on the middle rack and bake for 10 minutes or until you see the edges of the dough start to turn slightly brown.  Once it's done you can now add your pizza fixings.  Here's what I like to put on my pizza:

Nancy's Pizza Toppings:
2-3 cups Baby Spinach
4-6 cloves of Garlic, minced
Chopped Basil
Olive Oil
Pepperoni
Tomato Sauce
Fake Cheese (Daiya is my favorite brand)

Add the spinach, garlic, basil and about 1-2 tablespoons of olive oil in a bowl and mix together. Spread a thin layer of tomato sauce onto the dough.  Then add the spinach mixture on top.  Sprinkle your fake cheese and add the pepperoni and voila, you've got yourself a pizza.  Put it back in the oven at 425 for another 10 minutes and soon you will be in pizza heaven!