The real test: Pizza

My husband is a real meat and potatoes midwesterner, and one of my biggest concerns about starting this allergen-free diet was how I'd be able to feed him in addition to myself.

One of our favorite meals is homemade pizza. He likes pepperoni on his half, and I've always had ham and pineapple on mine. Of course, pineapple is on my no-list for the next month, so I decided to go with a classic margherita for my half instead.

One of the most frustrating thing about my particular allergy profile is that all the wheat dough substitutes seem to be made from potato or rice, both of which are also off-limits for now. But I was able to find this recipe for a quinoa-based crust from the blog A Gluten Free Day.

Pizza Crust Recipe - From A Gluten Free Day

-50 grams fresh yeast
-5 dl or 2 cups quinoa flour
-1-2 tsp salt
-3 dl or 1 and 1/4 cups of water
-3 tbls olive oil
-3 tbls psyllium husk powder

Start by warming your water, add your yeast and your salt, mix everything together, and then add your psyllium husk into the mixture, and leave everything to sit for about ten minutes.

After that take your flour and mix it with the wet mixture, start kneading your dough and do it for about 2 minutes, then add your oil, knead again for a little while until you have formed a ball out of it, after that put your dough into a warm and dark place to rise.

When it has doubled in size spread it onto your pizza tray, you can spread it by hand or with a rolling pin, whatever works for you, pat it a little bit after you have stretched it and start applying your toppings.

I was a bit skeptical as I worked the dough together. In its 10 minutes of sitting, the psyllium husks and water had taken on an almost gel-like consistency. I was also substituting active dry yeast for fresh, and although I have a lot of pizza crust making experience, this was out of my comfort zone. There was no gluten to develop, so I wasn't sure how much kneading was really necessary, and I focused mostly on getting the dough to come together somehow. And it did.

I gave it two hour-long rises, which is what I typically do with wheat pizza dough. My hope was that letting the yeast do its thing for a bit longer would create a sourness in the dough--similar to sourdough bread--and hopefully help tone down the nuttiness of the quinoa.

My dough never became as smooth and dough-like Emilia's did in the photos. But it did roll out successfully onto the bed of corn meal I laid out for it on our pizza peel. We topped it up with safe tomato sauce, parmesan, and then my beautiful farmers market tomatoes, basil, and mozzarella (and some turkey pepperoni for the husband).

Into the well-heated oven for about 12 minutes at 450 it went (we use a pizza stone).

And out came this...



It was delicious. Crisp and nutty and filled with protein and fiber. Husband went back for seconds.

I can work with this.