Girls Night In – Pizza Night!

This one is not from girls night, only because I was having too much fun with the girls to bust out the camera and act like a total nerd. This is a Tara/Keith pizza from a few weeks ago.

Tonight I’m hosting girls night in.  There could be 2 of us, or 8 of us.  I’m not really sure at this point.  But, what I am sure about is that it’s Gluten Free Pizza Night!  I’m making the crusts and it’s BYOB and BYOT (bring your own toppings).  I’ll probably triple the recipe and make 6 small crusts.  If we don’t use them all I will wrap them up and freeze them.  They freeze very nicely.  I figured its time for me to post the recipe!

Gluten Free Pizza Crust (Adapted from Carol Fenster’s Gluten Free Quick and Easy)

• 1/2 c. warm milk (110 degrees)
• 1 tbs. dry active yeast
• 1/3 c. Carol’s Flour Blend
• 2/3 c. potato starch
• 1/2 tbs. sugar
• 1 tbs. italian seasoning
• 1/2 tbs. dried minced onion
• 2 tbs. parmesan cheese (grated or shreaded)
• 1/2 tsp. xanthan gum
• 1/4 tsp. guar gum
• pinch of salt
• 1 tbs. EVOO
• 1 tsp. cider vinegar
• extra EVOO (for the pizza pan)
• extra GF flour (for spreading dough on pan)

DO NOT PREHEAT OVEN.  Disolve the yeast in the milk, let stand for 5 min, while you get the rest of the ingredients ready.  Place rest of the ingredients (minus the last 2) in a heavy duty stand mixer or food processor, process just till mixed.  Add the yeast/milk mixture, process until well mixed.  The dough will be soft and sticky.  Liberally grease your pizza pan with EVOO.  Using a rubber spatula, place the dough in the middle of the pan.  Using floured hands, spread the dough out on the pizza pan, using care not to tear the dough.  Place the pizza pan  on the middle rack of your oven.  NOW turn the oven on to 375.   Let the dough bake for 10-12 minutes (this is including the time it takes for your oven to preheat, mine is about 6 minutes, you may need to adjust this time if your’s takes longer).  Top with your favorite sauce and toppings and bake for another 15 minutes, or until cheese is nice and bubbly.  The crust should be a nice golden brown around the edges.

I know, it seems like a LOT of ingredients.  I make a yeast bread mix that I found in one of Carol Fenster’s books, that has the flours, gums, sugar, and salt in it, so that all I have to add is the wet ingredients, parm, spices, and yeast.  I use this mix for a lot of things, but I broke it down above for people who do not use her wonderful flour mixes.  I keep telling myself that I’ll make a pizza mix to keep in my pantry so that all I have to do is add the wet ingredients, but it hasn’t happened yet.  I have one for cookies and one for muffins that work fabulously.

Here are a couple of my FAVORITE pizzas:

Carrot Top Pesto

• a couple scoops of carrot top pesto for sauce
• sliced fresh mozzarella
• whole pitted black olives
• cherry or grape tomatoes, sliced in half
• sliced spring onions
• salt and pepper

Margarita

• EVOO and chopped fresh garlic for sauce
• sliced fresh mozzerella
• sliced roma tomatoes
• salt and pepper
• add chopped fresh basil AFTER the pizza is cooked

Greek

• Thin layer of tomato sauce
• pitted kalamata olivessun dried tomatoes
• fresh spinach
• feta cheese
• sun dried tomatoes

Lox

• thin layer of alfredo sauce
• smoked salmon, de-boned and broken into small chunks
• sliced spring onions
• shredded mozzarella and cheddar.

Our Version of Meat Lovers

• EVOO, pesto and chopped garlic for sauce
• pepperoni
• prosciutto
• sliced fresh mozzarella
• sliced black olives

The Old Standby

• Thin layer of tomato sauce
• pepperoni
• jalapenoes
• black olives
• mozzarella

Enjoy!!

~T.