After 2 months of raw food, I got a craving for a pizza. We eat cooked food every few days so cooking a pizza was no problem, but the gluten/wheat that usually goes into a crust was. (We found out that we are allergic to gluten recently. We cut out wheat for 2 months and then we tried a wheat-based waffle. The allergic reaction was unmistakable.) Anyway, back to the crust:
I wondered how I could make gluten-free crust and I thought of the delicious cornmeal-based pizzas I used to eat at Cafe Viva in NYC. So I called the Cafe and asked them what is in their crust. They said: “pretty much cornmeal, wheat flour, and salt.”
So, in the spirit of the Open-Source Kitchen, I set to work. I decided to substitute Viva’s flour with brown rice flour. I used my Vita Mix blender to pulverize the rice, and I mixed it with equal parts cornmeal. I threw in a couple tablespoons of olive oil, and then I added water slowly until I could work the dough into a ball, pressed into a pan, baked for 30 minutes @ 350 degrees. Took it out, added sauce, portobello mushrooms, red onions, artichokes, and some soy “mozzarella” cheese. Here’s the result. It was delicious! I can honestly say it was the best crust I have ever had.
My proposed improvements next time: See how the crust is thick in the picture? It was a bit much after 2 1/2 slices. I suggest making it half as thick or else add twice as many toppings for a Super-Hacked Pizza.
The “recipe”:
1 cup brown rice flour (but use any you like, of course)
1 cup cornmeal
1-2 T. olive oil
1/2 t. salt
Water
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