Pizza, the allergy free way

When I was growing up, Friday night was always pizza night. Not just takeout either, we regularly made amazing homemade pies at home. It was the highlight of the week! Until my sister and I discovered that neither of us could handle the cheese anymore because of our dairy sensitivities and hers to gluten. I was in denial for a few years, then would pick off the cheese when it was presented at parties, until I finally came to accept that I don't handle gluten well either. Most of the gluten free recipes out there which I have found for pizza crust have a ton of dairy in them (like 4 CUPS of cheese, what the heck?!). So for quite a while, I have suffered from pizza withdrawal.

Until Laure bought me a pizza crust from Sami's Bakery. Now I can have pizza anytime.

The crusts from Sami's do have traces of wheat, so if you are highly sensitive this may not be the solution for you.
Here are a few alternatives (disclaimer, I have only tried the Bob's Red Mill mix):
1. Bob's Red Mill Mix
2. Gluten Free Goddess (She has an AMAZING blog, check it out!)
3. King Arthur Flour Mix (which comes with some helpful tips)
4. Food Network Potato Pizza Crust
5. Faithfully Gluten Free

I would also like to take a moment to rant about store-bought pizza/pasta sauce. My mom has always made her own sauce, so any time I buy something from a jar, it is simply bland. Some are better than others, but I always end up adding spices to them. If you are buying sauce, I highly recommend adding oregano, thyme, and garlic, and adding basil right at the end.

Empty the Icebox Pizza
Whenever I make pizza, I try to load it up with as many vegetables as possible! Which ones I use depends on what we have in the fridge that week, but my three primary requirements are zucchini, bell peppers and sundried tomatoes. Getting the sundried tomatoes in the jar in oil is the key step here, the rich buttery flavor really makes up for the lack of cheese.

This time around, I used zucchini, bell peppers, sundried tomatoes, asparagus, summer squash, mushrooms, and brussel sprouts. Be creative with it, you can use whatever you have in the fridge! At times we have used kalamata olives, eggplant, pineapple, avocado, carrots, potatoes, sweet potatoes, butternut squash, and whatever else we could find. I also usually add some kind of meat depending on what is available.

Ingredients: 

1. 3-5 cups of vegetables cut into bite-sized pieces
2. 3 cloves garlic, chopped
3. 2 cups tomato sauce
4. Seasoning (oregano, basil, salt, pepper)
5. 1 pizza crust (see above)
6. 1-2 cups meat, cooked and cut into bite-sized pieces (optional)
7. 4-5 tsp olive oil

Instructions:

1. Set oven to 400 degrees
2. Prepare pizza crust (If it's Sami's, just take it out of the bag, if you have a recipe, prepare it as instructed) and place on a baking sheet
3. Spread sauce on pizza crust, add oregano and pepper
4. Heat 1tsp olive oil in a frying pan or wok on medium, then add garlic and saute for 2 minutes
5. Add vegetables, season to taste and add 2-3tsp olive oil, cover and cook until they are almost soft.
You may have to do this in stages, adding in the harder vegetables like brussels, carrots, peppers etc. first and allowing to cook for a while before adding softer vegetables like zucchini, summer squash, sundried tomatoes, mushrooms, etc. which only require a short cook time. Add more olive oil if needed, but keeping the cover on should produce sufficient moisture.
6. Use a slotted spoon to remove vegetables from pan and spread onto the pizza
7. If you chose to use meat, add it to the pizza now
8. Bake until crust is golden brown, around 13-15 minutes.
9. Serve and enjoy!

*We do not get any kickbacks from any of these brands for promoting their products, we are simply thoroughly impressed with their commitment to producing delicious gluten free products!*

Send me your favorite combinations, I'm always looking for new variations!
Dr. Chelsea