Gluten Free Pizza
So you’re on a diet, like me. Every day it’s the same thing. Salad, salad and more salad. As my dad would call it, “rabbit food.” Sure, there are ways to make a salad exciting, but at some point, your soul craves something more. Stay relatively on track by visiting BAM! Healthy Cuisine in North Canton’s Washington Square.While the prices are a little steep, the product is worth it.
On a recent stop, I had to try one of the gluten-free pizzas. Most of the gluten-free pizza crust I have had in the past tastes like cardboard, and while the toppings can help, nothing can quite erase a terrible crust. BAM!’s is different. Made with rice flour and a few different starches (potato, tapioca, corn), this crust has a light texture and sweet taste. For the first time, I felt like I could eat a pizza crust without the toppings.
In an effort to be as healthy as possible, I opted for a specialty pizza called Shrimp O’Licious. The toppings were interesting. On top of an olive oil and herb sauce was provolone and feta cheese, sundried tomatoes, spinach, shrimp and walnuts. I know — walnuts? On pizza?
One of my favorite experiments in the world is to order the strangest-sounding item on the menu, and this one was up there. Well, it was delicious.The sun dried tomato added a bit of tart, the walnuts some crunch and the feta, a creamy zing. Together, it made for a gourmet pizza experience that made me forget it was actually pretty healthy.
The gluten-free crust only comes in one size, an eight-slice pie, which I shared with a friend and it satisfied us both. The price tag was a cool $16.99, but since we split it, it worked out to about $10 each. Not terrible.
MAKE IT AT HOME
BAM! lists their ingredients on the menu, so I tried to make it at home. The cooking time and ingredient measurements for gluten free bread are tricky. They tend to burn quickly, which is what happened to me. So, to be safe, I will give you someone else’s recipe.
EPICURIOUS’ GUTEN-FREE PIZZA CRUST
This recipe makes two 10-inch pies
Ingredients
3⁄4 cup tapioca flour
1⁄2 cup white rice flour
1/3 cup chickpea flour
1⁄3 cup sorghum flour
1 teaspoon xanthum gum
1 teaspoon fine sea salt
1⁄2 cup whole milk
2 1⁄4 teaspoons active dry yeast, from 1 (1⁄4-ounce) package
2 teaspoons sugar
2 large egg whites, lightly beaten
3 tablespoons plus 1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil
In bowl of electric mixer, whisk together tapioca flour, white rice flour, chickpea flour, sorghum flour, xanthum gum, and salt.
In small saucepan over moderate heat, stir together milk and 1⁄4 cup water and heat until warm but not hot to the touch, about 1 minute (the mixture should register between 105 and 115 degrees on candy thermometer). Stir in yeast and sugar. Add milk–yeast mixture, egg whites, and 2 tablespoons oil to dry ingredients and, using paddle attachment, beat at medium speed, scraping bowl occasionally, until dough is very smooth and very thick, about 5 minutes.
Remove racks from oven, set pizza stone or heavy upturned baking sheet on bottom of oven, and preheat to 400 degrees. (Preheat at least 45 minutes if using pizza stone or 20 minutes if using baking sheet.)
Have ready two 12-inch squares parchment paper. Scrape half of dough onto each square and form each half into a ball. Coat each ball with 2 teaspoons oil, then use oiled fingertips to pat and stretch each ball into 9-inch-diameter round, 1⁄4 inch thick, with a 1⁄2-inch-thick border. Loosely cover rounds with plastic wrap and let rise in warm draft-free place until each pizza is about 10 inches in diameter, about 20 minutes.
Using baking peel, transfer 1 crust with parchment to preheated pizza stone and bake until top is puffed and firm and underside is crisp, 5 to 10 minutes. Using baking peel and discarding parchment paper, transfer baked crust to rack to cool. Bake second crust in same manner. (Baked crusts can be made ahead and frozen, wrapped in plastic wrap, up to 1 month. Thaw in 350 degree oven until hot, 4 to 5 minutes, before topping and broiling.)
Source: The Healthy Eater: BAM! offers a tasty gluten-free pizza – Lifestyle – The CantonRep – Canton, OH.