Gluten free pizza

I’ve been away. Um, not on a trip, I wish I had gone on a trip. Somewhere lush and green with figs, honey & halloumi… er, I’m craving figs and honey drizzled Cypriot halloumi.

I’ve missed everyone.

I’ve been on mummy duties and it has been non-stop. Well, it doesn’t ever stop, but I’ve not had the time to write. I have however, been cooking a lot.  I am often tired and the body has needed quite a bit of nurturing, in fact, my whole family has needed nurturing. I hurt an oblique muscle two weeks ago. I’m learning that my body is not as quick to recover, as it did, a year ago, perhaps. I drive a lot, and getting in and out of a car has been a challenge this last week, but I muddled through it.  Stretched, did yoga, bit my lip as I worked  through the stiffness and pain. I also ran – I am still looking to compete in a  5 or 10k – a small goal,  but, um, while  time is what I don’t have, I’m really hoping I get to it.

Onto more interesting things…

I love gluten-free pizza.

Gluten- free pizza can be a challenge. You want it to taste like regular pizza and it very rarely does because of the texture, combination of flours and consistency. I’ve been trawling the websites for a while, trying to come up with a recipe that would work for my family. As many of you know, my eldest is gluten-free and we all try to stick to a GF diet as much as we can, it is better for you anyway.

It is a joyous day in my house when I make pizza because we experiment a lot. I keep it simple. I am really focused on flavor. I use a homemade tomato sauce as my base or if that isn’t possible, a low sodium marinara sauce will work as well. I make a thyme and drunken goat cheese  pizza for my eldest with some arugula every now and then ( there is often some opposition to the green things in the pizza- but it is tasty). A cheese and olive tapenade for my youngest and thyme, goat cheese and egg-plant pizza for us( you can add anything you like, I stick to what’s in season) I am able to make three 8″ pizzas with the dough. It works out well. The pizza is not rubbery, it is flavorful, thin, slightly crispy and really good.

The recipe:

3 cups Gluten- Free flour –                                                                                                        I  use a mix from the Gluten- Free pantry – available at Whole Foods, Sprouts and sometimes Rainbow Grocery stores… here in the U.S

3 tsp baking powder

1/2 tsp salt or more if desired

1 pkt of yeast

1- 1 1/4  cups of warm water, if your bowl is cold, the water can be warmer than usual

1-3 Tbs olive oil

1-2 Tbs good quality honey

1 egg gently beaten

Proof the yeast in your mixer bowl with 1 cup of warm water, add the olive oil and honey, let it rest. Add the egg, then combine the flour, baking powder and salt and add the flour mixture into your bowl fitted with a dough hook. Begin on the lowest setting. You want it to be slightly sticky – but not too much. If it isn’t, you can add the remaining 1/4 cup of warm water into the mixture until you have the desired consistency. Make sure your hands are  wet, when you press the dough into your pizza pan. Gluten -free dough tends to be stickier than regular pizza dough.

Have fun with it, let me know how you go.