please excuse the slightly hyperbolic title, but this pizza dough is really good. and therefore, essential! i've been working on a pared down version for most of the summer, one with fewer, and easy-to-source ingredients. i grew up eating really good traditional pizza - new york was good for that. almost every sunday as a kid my dad would bust out his pizza peel and stone, whip up a batch of his mother's tomato sauce, and make 2 pizza pies for dinner. the sauce was chunky and slightly sweet, and the cheese was a mix of mozzarella and muenster cheese (he maintained that mozzarella would burn too quickly, and the muenster prevented that from happening). and when i was a little older, and my dad worked in downtown brooklyn, he would pick up a couple of pizza pies from grimaldi's that we would literally inhale as soon as he got home. suffice to say, i love pizza.
so it's a total bummer (most of the time) when i order a gluten-free pizza from a restaurant. they're never made in-house, always super gummy - it just seems like there's no heart and soul that goes into making one of those pies. so unless we're out and about, i usually make my own dough. i developed one for my cookbook a couple years back that uses chickpea flour along with a few other whole grain flours. and while i've gotten great feedback about it, there's always one constant hiccup for people: the amount of ingredients. and i totally get it. if you don't already have a stacked pantry, why buy 4 bags of flours just for pizza dough. PROBLEM SOLVED, because this dough uses about 4 core ingredients, and that's it!
let's break it all down a bit:
i call for fine brown rice flour (i use this brand), because that's what i prefer. if all you have is regular brown rice flour that will work as well. why fine brown rice flour? simply because it has a finer grain, and therefore is a bit more smooth.
arrowroot powder/flour. many gluten-free recipes call for potato or tapioca starch, however, i prefer not to use them because they're not as easily digested as arrowroot is.
psyllium husk powder. i know, if you've never heard of it, it sounds a bit foreign, but we use it to bind the dough. it is similar to xantham gum in that way, but is more friendly to your digestive tract, and is actually good for you. you can find it at whole foods, in health food stores, and online. this is the one i use, but bigger brands like bob's red mill is now producing it.
i use instant yeast packets for this dough, mixed with water, and a teeny bit of sugar to activate it. then there's some olive oil added as well, and that's it! easy-peasy :) as for toppings, i generally stay pretty traditional.
for the red pizza:
tomato, shallot, and garlic confit (from this book and this book)
for cheese i'm either using this vegan mozzarella or this buffalo burrata
homemade spinach-basil pesto with pine nuts
extra basil for topping
for the green pizza:
homemade spinach-basil pesto with pine nuts
baby arugula
fresh herbs: thyme, oregano, basil
ok, so there it is! everything you need to get started on your gluten-free pizza-making journey! i sincerely hope you love this recipe!
big hugs!
The Best Gluten-Free Pizza Dough Recipe | v
for all recipe notes, see above
| makes 2 large pizza doughs- roughly 8 slices each |
1 1/2 cups water, warmed to 110°-115°F
1 teaspoon cane sugar
1 packet instant yeast (roughly 2 1/4 teaspoons)
2 cups fine brown rice flour, plus more for sprinkling
1 cup arrowroot flour/powder
1 tablespoon pysillium husk powder
1 1/2 teaspoons salt
3 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil
method
prepare the dough
preheat your oven to its lowest temperature. as soon as it's preheated turn it off.
in a wide, shallow bowl, stir the warmed water with the sugar until it dissolves. sprinkle the yeast over top, let it sit and bloom. yeast should activate and puff up after a few minutes (if does not, start the process over). whisk in the psyllium husk powder. whisk every minute or so, until the mixture is a bit gel-like.
prepare the dry ingredients. in a large mixing bowl, whisk together the brown rice flour, arrowroot, and salt. make a well in the center of the flour mixture, and add the proofed yeast mixture. use a rubber spatula to mix until a dough forms. dust your counter with flour, and turn dough out onto it. knead the dough until smooth and springy, about 2-3 minutes. grease a large bowl with olive oil. place dough inside and flip it over to get it coated in the oil. cover the bowl with a clean dish towel. at this point your oven should be warm, if it feels too hot, vent it a bit, opening the oven door for a few minutes. place the covered dough in the warm oven for 1-2 hours, until it has puffed up and nearly doubled in size.
portion the dough into 2 even pieces (if not using both, wrap one in plastic wrap and store in your fridge or freezer).
shape the dough. cut a large piece of parchment paper and place it on your countertop. place the dough in the center, and sprinkle with some brown rice flour. starting from the center, use your fingertips to spread the dough out into a large 10-11-inch circle or oval, about 1/4-inch thick (the edges may crack a bit, and that's ok, just pinch the dough back together). use your dishtowel, and place it on top of the dough, letting it rise again, for roughly 30 minutes.
cook your pizza!
trim the parchment paper below your pizza dough, and discard. (if there's too much overhang it can quickly burn, we just need enough for the dough to sit on.)
place a pizza stone in the bottom third of your oven (if you don't own a pizza stone, turn a baking sheet upside down and place in the bottom third of your oven). preheat the oven and stone to 500°F.
while your oven is preheating, prepare your toppings (see toppings notes above).
once your oven is preheated, par-bake your dough. use a pizza peel (or cookie sheet) to carefully slide your pizza dough (along with the' parchment it’s sitting on) onto the pizza stone. cook for 7-9 minutes, until lightly browned and puffy.
remove from the oven, and top with your toppings. place back in the oven until toppings are cooked through, and bubbling. remove from the oven and let cool for a minute or 2, then slice into 8 pieces.
*refrigerated and frozen dough: let refrigerated or frozen dough come to room temperature before shaping and cooking. then continue on to step 5 of "preparing your dough"above.
