This is a REALLY Delicious Wheat Free Pizza (also Grain Free/Gluten Free)
I encourage you to try this recipe – I found a recipe on Mark’s Daily Apple site a while back, which was originally a Paleo-based website because I was looking for some easier recipes.
One of the guys on his site offered a recipe similar to this, and I added my own touches – which is primarily to add some sweetener and spice and herbs into the crust, and then… the big secret: To roll the dough between 2 pieces of Parchment Paper, and then to BAKE it on the Parchment Paper.
Then, if I don’t care how it looks, I’ll just put the toppings on the entire rolled out dough; but, I have found that using pot lids as a type of “cookie cutter” makes the pizzas more like a personal sized pie – and then I can put the remainder of the dough away for the next day or so.
These pizzas turn out to be really delicious with a nice crispy crust, which is what makes a pizza….well, a pizza. I want to also try one of those pizza stones, but I haven’t yet. I found some reviews and they seem like they’re worth trying. You can see more reviews if you just do a search yourself.
Over the last year or so, I have pretty much given up wheat and grains in my daily diet (I’m not celiac or anything, I just decided to go more wheat-free when it was practical.). I do allow myself my treats on occasion, but for the most part, wheat isn’t part of my daily life anymore.
As I mentioned in the intro, I was initially inspired by one of the guys at Mark’s Daily Apple site that wrote about gluten free pizza, and modified it to my tastes.
I use a bottled sauce versus making my own – when I was searching around, I really just wanted help with the crust recipe, and NOTHING I found worked to my liking.
I have tried the “cauliflower crust” recipe – which took forever (or at least it seemed that way), and honestly, I just didn’t like the flavor.
I’ve also tried some that were recommended by Maria Emmerich, a fairly well-regarded author in the grain-free world, but she adds psyllium husk powder to hers, and well… that just didn’t work for us.
Also, it seemed like it was over-complicating things.
Look, I just want to have something I can throw together for lunch when I have a hankering for pizza, and don’t want wheat.
Wheat Free Pizza
Ingredients
- 2 Cups Fine Almond Flour
- 2 Eggs
- 2 Teaspoons Olive Oil
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1 Teaspoon Xylitol (or other sweetener if you like a little sweetness)
- 1/4 Teaspoon Garlic Powder
- 1/2 Teaspoon Crushed Dried Basil
- 1/2 Teaspoon Crushed Dried Oregeno
- Pizza Sauce of Your Choice (a cup ought to do it)
- Shredded Cheese and Toppings of Your Choice
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 325 - you can always raise it a bit to 350 if make the dough thicker than I do.Combine the Almond Flour, Eggs, Olive Oil, Salt, and Spices.Once thoroughly combined, form into a ball and place on a piece of parchment paper (large enough to fit the bottom of your pizza pan).Cover the dough with a second piece of parchment paper, and roll thin - until about the thickness of a cracker. The key will be to make it even, and with a slight "lip" around the edges if you can.Optional: Use a pot cover to cut the dough into smaller, individualized pizzas.If cutting individual pizzas, transfer each to a clean piece of parchment in the pizza pan. You can save any leftover dough in a covered container if you intend to use it in a day or so.Place crust into preheated oven for 10-15 minutes - Keep watch on it, you want it browned, but certainly not burned. See my video below for a look at how mine come out.While crust is baking, prepare your toppings.When crust comes out, layer it with your sauce, cheese, and any other toppings (If you are using sausage or ground beef or other meats, be sure to cook them ahead of time).Put pizza back into the oven for another 10-15 minutes (depending how many toppings you have added), or until the cheese has melted and the toppings are hot.Remove and enjoy!
There is a lot of chatter about benefits of going wheat free…
It was when I initially read Dr. William Davis’ “Wheat Belly” book that I found information about today’s wheat crop.
In his book, he discusses that modern day wheat does not even remotely resemble our grandmothers’ wheat – and that the plant was modified in the 1960s in an attempt to create a strain of wheat that could help feed the world.
I’m not here to give a book review on “Wheat Belly,” but it was a very interesting book, and the data Dr. Davis presented was enough to convince me that wheat is not all it’s cracked up to be. (Did that sound like a pun? Hmmm… Unintentional!)
I did buy his cookbook, but some of his recipes sound pretty contrived and almost like they weren’t really tested as well as they could have been. For example, his Ranch Dressing sounded good, but it was way too “gloopy” for my tastes. Since then, I have created a truly yummy Ranch Dressing that I know he would approve of.
If You Can’t Find the Ingredients at Your Local Store…
You can almost always find them on Amazon!
I’m a frequent Amazon shopper. Not only do I live in an area where I don’t have as many shopping choices as I’d like, but I also find that – almost without fail – I can find it cheaper on Amazon.
I like to support local business as much as the next person, but let’s face it… when using alternative types of ingredients, it can sometimes be a little pricier than the mainstream ingredients.