Perfect Gluten Free Pizza With or Without Sauce

Could that be? Perfect pizza without sauce and gluten free? YES! Take a look.

Like most everyone else, we love pizza. For a long time, after we went gluten free, it just wasn't the same. My kids would ask for pizza and I didn't want to make it because all the gluten free recipes just weren't that good. When we did have gluten, our favorite was to make our pizza on top off homemade focaccia bread. Oh it was sooooo good! That is the perfect gluten pizza. This is slightly similar to focaccia bread if you use a sour dough starter like I did and make a thicker crust. I've finally came up with a recipe that we like the taste of and I feel good about the ingredients. No extra sugars and starches and gums. Just real food that doesn't require a factory.

If you want to use a sour dough starter instead of yeast (I highly recommend), then you'll need to make your starter ahead of time. All you need to do is mix 1 cup of gluten free flour, or 1/2 cup oat flour and 1/2  with about 1 1/2 cups of water and 1/2tsp of sugar (sucanat or honey works great). I mix mine right in a quart jar. It should be runnier than batter but thicker than syrup. I don't measure mine anymore. I just put some flour in then add some water and about 1/2tsp of sugar. Your not going to mess it up. It won't hurt it if it is slightly wetter just make sure it isn't dough-like. Now just cover it with cheese cloth or a cloth napkin and let it sit on your counter. There is yeast in the air. What you are doing is giving it an environment to grow in and something to eat. The yeast will be happy to come and eat the banquet you have prepared for them and ferment away. I usually leave mine out from about 4 days to a week. Then I put it in the fridge until I'm ready to use it. I probably make at least three times this much at once so that I can have it when ever I want it. I don't use store bought yeast so I like having this on hand. It keeps in the fridge for a long time. I've never had it go bad. This could be an entire post on itself. I could go into feeding it and aerating it.... But you can still make a yummy pizza dough with the simple sour dough starter that I stated above. I do recommend that you don't use all your starter in your recipe. You have to save some for your next batch of starter. all you need is a couple of table spoons. simply added in the mix when you make you next batch. This sour dough starter doesn't get as bubbly as starters with yeast added to them but it still adds great flavor.

Little side note-store bought yeast can be grown on gmo crops. I have talked to Red Star brand and they said they did not use gmo crops (like sugar beets for example) to grow their yeast on. That was a few years a go so you might want to double check that nothing has changed. I did recently find some organic yeast. It worked well. It did seem to have a stronger smell but it didn't make a big difference once it was cooked. I would use 1 packet for this recipe (I left a link below with the spices). The addition of yeast does aid the souring process. We like sour dough so we decided that that is what we are going to use.

I hope that all that sour dough starter didn't detour you. It really is easy and very worth it. And now that you have your starter everything else is really simple.

Gluten Free Pizza Crust

• 3 cups oat flour
• 6 cups rice flour (brown or white is fine)
• 6 tsp ground psyllium husk (you can find this in a health food store or on Amazon. It is the seed husk of the herb Plantago ovata. We use this instead of xanthum gum because it is not grown on potentially genetically modified crops like xanthum gum. Just the seed husk of an herb. It also adds both soluble and insoluble fiber to your foods. It works as a binder.)
• 4 1/2 tsp salt
• 3 tbsp sugar (Sucanat is cane sugar but so much better for you than white sugar. Make sure whichever kind you use that it is non-gmo. Sugar beets are genetically modified and there is now genetically modified sugar cane too. Wholesome Sweeteners is organic, fair trade, and gmo free. They carry all types of sugar and sucanat.)
• 5 1/2 -6 cup milk or water or any combination of the two
• 4 tbsp oil
• 1 - 1 1/2 cups sour dough starter if using. It's good but optional. If you don't, you will probably want to add somewhere around 1 cup more of liquid.
  
• You can make this recipe with out any yeast and without any sour dough starter. IT is just denser. Ifyou want to use yeast I would suggest 1 /12 -2 Tbsps.
  

This is a big recipe. It will make about 3 10in pizzas and 3 12in pizzas. I thought about splitting it in half for you but the pizza makes such good leftovers for lunch. Or try freezing it. You can even just par bake the crust then cool it and put it in a zip-lock bag and freeze it that way. You will have a head start the next time you want pizza.  Best of all you won't be eating that store bought stuff that has all kind of unhealthy fillers and unless it is organic, there is about a 99.6% chance it has GMOs in it. You will feel so good pulling those pizza crusts out of the freezer.

To tell you the truth, I double this recipe. Yep! Last time it made 5 12in pizzas, 3 10in pizzas, and 3 8in pizzas. It just depends on how thick you want the crust. For these pizzas I made a thinner crust on most of them and then a thicker, focaccia like crust on the rest. No, we did not eat all the pizza in one night. We are a big family but not that big. We just had plenty of leftovers for everyone to have a nice lunch.

Back to the recipe.

First, turn your oven on to 400 degree F. and get it all warmed up for that pizza crust.

While your oven is warming up, mix all the dry ingredients until they are combined. That carmel colored stuff on top is the sucanat. Yummy.

Now add all the wet ingredients and mix thoroughly. It is more like a thick batter than bread dough. It should be sticky. Think something like brownie batter.  After a bit the psyllium husk will soak up some of the moisture.

If you have one, use a stand mixer. If not than you can use a hand mixer. I hope you have a good one because this is a lot of batter. I have mixed it by hand so don't be afraid to do it the old fashioned way if need be. It is worth it..

Remember we are looking for brownie like batter. If it is to dry add more water or milk. If it seems too wet then wait and make sure the psyllium husk doesn't kick in and take care of things. I make mine exactly like the recipe but maybe it is more humid where you live, maybe it is dryer, maybe your sourdough starter was runnier? Who knows. Anyhow, it shouldn't be much of a concern if it is a little off. Just add a little water or milk like I said. I wouldn't add any flour unless it is really wet. It is OK if it is a little wetter, it will just take a little longer to cook the crust. It will spread out on the pan easier that way too.

Now oil your pan and spoon some batter on. Then simply spread it across the pan using a rubber spatula or the back of your spoon.  If you want focaccia like crust then I would make it about 1/2 in thick. Or you can go deep dish. Is that what they call it? I don't know. Lately we have been cooking our pizza in cast iron skillets. If you want to try this than warm your oven to 450 degrees F. and put you pans in the oven so they warm up at the same time. You want the cast iron to be nice and hot when you put the batter in.

Once I've spread the batter around I like to sprinkle it with salt, garlic and basil. Oh so tasty!

Put the crust in the oven and bake for 15- 20 minutes. If you like it to have a nice crust on the bottom then I suggest cooking them in the cast iron. For a more traditional pizza use a regular pizza pan or a cookie sheet. I use them all.

Topping time!
You can make fantastic pizza without any sauce. It is so easy and my favorite way when we have fresh tomatoes in the summer and fall. Slice your tomatoes about 1/8-1/4 in thick and spread them over your pizza. Next sprinkle them with basil, thyme, oregano, salt, garlic and pepper. Now add your desired toppings and cheese and back to the oven it goes. Cook for another 15-20 minutes or if you can't wait turn your oven to broil and watch closely.  Pull out your pizza once your cheese is melted to your hearts desire. The crust is done and so you just need to melt the cheese and heat up your toppings.

In the summer our favorite toppings are sliced zucchini and fresh basil. In the winter it is all about mushrooms and homemade  Italian sausage.

This is a super easy and quick way to make sausage. There is no curing involved so don't fret. This is waaaay healthier for you than any sausage that you can buy in the store.

Here goes: Italian Sausage
For every pound of meat (beef), mix in these spices and herbs.
1 tsp salt
1/2 tsp basil
1/2 tsp oregano
1/2 tsp thyme
1/4 tsp garlic
1/4 tsp paprika
a few shakes of red pepper flakes

I like to start with this amount then once it cooks, add if needed. We butcher our own meat (not what we sell) and do not weigh out any package so they vary slightly in size. I usually add more but everyone is different.

My favorite place to get seasonings is Spicely Organics. They are Organic, Gluten free, Non-GMO and Kosher! The spices have such a robust and fresh flavor. I usually buy them buy the pound and save a lot of money. We go through a lot of spice and it is just easier to get in bulk when it isn't available anywhere around here.

You can mix all the seasoning in before you cook it or you can save that mess and do it right in the pan like me. Splash some olive oil in the pan, add the meat, add all the seasonings, then cut it in with a spatula. Just keep mixing as it cooks.

Now here is the key to making it so flavorful. You have to brown the meat. Once the meat is cooked add some more oil and keep cooking it. Stir it occasionally but not constantly or it will take forever to brown and you will get bored. Maybe that only happens to me. Now add some more oil and let it brown some more. Add oil as needed. Don't feel bad about adding the oil. You used lean meat right? And olive oil is good fat. Especially if you are using first pressed, extra virgin oil. Your body needs good fats. Just skip the hydrogenated fats found in processed food. One more reason to smile when you are pulling out those extra, homemade pizza crusts from the freezer.

Here is what the sausage should look like. OK, sorry, you can't see it very well in the picture but there should some pieces that are darker. You can kind of see it in the top of the spoon.
Sprinkle over your pizza and enjoy! It is also great in spaghetti.

What are you going to try? Cast iron skillet? Focaccia style? Sauce free? Homemade sausage? So many options I left you with. Here are a few more picture to help you make all those decisions.

Cast iron skillet, sauce, sausage, and mushrooms.

Cast iron skillet, no sauce, sliced tomatoes, and zucchini.

Regular pizza pan, no sauce, sliced tomatoes, zucchini, and fresh basil.

Happy, healthy eating!

P.S. I think spelled focaccia differently every single time I typed it. The computer doesn't know how to spell it either. But I can now say that it is spelled focaccia. And that's from memory! This no good speller is learning!

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