Recipe: Grilled Pizza

I am so, so excited I can hardly stand it!

I have been experimenting with making gluten-free pizza ever since being diagnosed. And to tell the truth, the first pizzas I made … well, we ate them … because I did not know what gf pizza was supposed to be like. I do think, as Celiacs, we initially lower our expectations about food. There is a lot of really bad processed gluten-free food. And if we don’t push the boundaries for what we really want, we will be stuck with what I call “cardboard” food. I grew up in a household of really good flour-y foods, and everything always tasted fantastic! So I guess I’m just not willing to lose flavour for flour.

Hence the reason for my blog. Yes I want to share my experiences with you all, but I have found that, more than anything else, this blog has pushed me to be better! It has raised my expectations and I guess there really is no going back.

Case in point: I was at the Celiac Market here in Calgary a couple of weeks ago. And, frankly, I was disappointed to see all that “cardboard” food out there for the newbies! I really wanted to scream, “Don’t buy those cardboard cookies! You should want better than that!”

In fact, I bought a chocolate cupcake from one vendor and, to tell the truth, I had one bite and I threw the rest away. It had no taste – nothing! And the icing – oh my goodness! Awful! Now, of course, I disguised my reaction, but to me it was sad what some Celiacs here in Calgary settle for.

So. Back to pizza. Today, while at Chinook Mall, I stepped into the wonderful world of Williams-Sonoma. I love that store. Kitchen things just make me smile! While cruising the displays, I spotted a new cookbook called Grilled Pizzas and Piadinas (Priebe & Jacob). Inspired, I decided that grilled pizza was on the menu tonight and set forth to try out a new recipe.
WELL I DID!

(Pick up the book Gluten-Free Italian by Jacqueline Mallorca – just for the pizza recipe alone [below].)

Quick rice flour pizza dough
1/3 cup brown rice flour
1/3 cup white rice flour
½ cup tapioca starch
1 Tbsp dried milk powder (not instant)
1 tsp sea salt
1 tsp baking powder
1 tsp xanthan gum
1 cup water
1 Tbsp olive oil
1 tsp cider vinegar

Preheat oven to 425F degrees.

Combine the brown rice flour, white rice flour, tapioca starch, milk powder, salt, baking powder, and xanthan gum in a large bowl. In another bowl, whisk together water, vinegar, olive oil.

Pour the liquid ingredients into the dry ingredients and stir briefly to make a smooth batter.

Yields 2 individual pizza crusts.

Here’s where I went rogue:

I used aluminum pie plates for my individual pizzas (I planned to put the par-cooked pizzas on the barbeque). Pour 1 Tbsp olive oil on each pie plate.

Transfer half the batter into each pie plate and, with greased fingers, pat down the dough.

Place pie plates into the oven and bake for 9 minutes.

I then removed the pie plates and had everyone top their own pizzas.

Place each pie plate onto the barbeque grill, starting on low heat. (My barbeque is getting old and the temperature is a little wacky. So I ended up having to raise the heat to get the pizzas to cook.) Cooking time will vary depending on your barbeque. (Mine took around 10 more minutes for the toppings to cook and the cheese to melt.)

Oh my goodness! Doesn’t that gloriously grilled crust look magnificent!