This is a true silver linings recipe for me: had my daughter not been diagnosed coeliac, I would probably still be making pizza dough out of wheat flour, and missing out on the tasty combination of these nutritious flours. The resulting pizza base is crispy, golden & delicious, and so much better for my family. The bases also freeze well – I keep a stash of small ones in the freezer, waiting to be turned into school lunches.
This is just the dough recipe, so feel free to load up your pizza with whatever toppings you fancy. If you’re inspired by my green goodness above, I’ve spread the bases with a green herb spread, then added wilted spinach, fried mushrooms, little chunks of aged cashew cheddar, olives, basil & a sprinkling of vegan parm.
Just so we’re clear, this doesn’t produce a stretchy throw-it-in-the-air base like traditional wheat dough (gluten is responsible for that elasticity!) It’s not kneadable, but it bakes to perfection & I promise it tastes great. This has been my go-to recipe for years – and it’s taken me years to write it up! I do hope you enjoy it.
1 tsp sugar (I use coconut sugar)
1 cup warm water
1 tsp dry active yeast
½ cup milk of choice (room temperature or warm is better than chilled)
1 Tbsp apple cider vinegar
½ cup sorghum flour (or buckwheat flour)
½ cup tapioca flour or arrowroot
½ cup brown rice flour
¼ cup chickpea flour
2 Tbsp psyllium
2 tsp salt
Start by blooming the yeast: dissolve the sugar in the warm water in a large bowl, then sprinkle the active yeast on top (don’t use hot water, it can kill off the yeast) Set aside for 10-15 minutes.
Add the vinegar to the milk, stir, then put aside to curdle slightly.
Check on the yeast – it should have blossomed & puffed up nicely over the surface of the sweetened water. Add all ingredients to the bowl and mix well, making sure you ease out any lumps of tapioca or chickpea flour in particular. Remember to add the vinegared milk too, mixing thoroughly.
Pop a clean tea-towel over the bowl and set aside for at least an hour, preferably somewhere warm. It might not puff and bubble as much as gluten dough, but you should notice some rising & expansion.
Now we’re going to form bases and prebake them. Heat the oven to around 180C and get out a baking tray. I usually grease the tray with a little oil, because I like the slight crispiness it gives to the edges of the finished pizza – as well as stopping it sticking!
Using clean damp hands, scoop out handfuls of dough onto the oiled tray and create bases of your desired shape & size. Pat them flat, aiming for the thickness you enjoy.
Bake for about 10 minutes.
At this stage, you can freeze the bases – pop a piece of baking paper between each one to keep them separate in the freezer.
If you’re carrying on creating pizza, take the pre-baked bases out of the oven, crank up the heat and start playing with toppings. Bake until delicious!
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