Back in November, I thought pizza was out of the picture forever. Would you believe I didn't even like pizza until I moved to Pennsylvania?? Before being transplanted from the city to the mountains, pizza selections consisted of Pizza Hut, Domino's and Papa John's. *gag* Greasy cheese sliding off the dough, metallic mushrooms and limp crust were the available options. Then came the Big Move and the night my husband introduced me to NEPA pizza under the guise of taking a drive to the lake (Lake Winola, about 10-15 min from where we live). That night began my hunt for the best pizzas in PA, from awesome thin crusts at Sabatini's and Pietro's to the many Old Forge-style white pizzas. My husband and I have even made a few mighty fine pizzas in our own kitchen, including white pizza (and here) and thin crust.
With gluten being out of the picture now, I've been somewhat relegated to box mixes and tweaking recipes to be close to the successful G-laden pizzas that have come out of our kitchen. Gluten Free Pantry and Bob's Red Mill produce good pizza flour mixes, but don't be tempted to add eggs. Have you ever seen a pizza dough made with eggs? This isn't a cake. The same elasticity and chewiness that comes from gluten can be replicated with guar gum and milk powder.
Make sure you have the right tools. Invest in a decent pizza peel (I have a composite board peel from Williams-Sonoma and a huge industrial metal peel from Maine Source). Buy an oven stone or a crisper (still working on an idea for using the stone with GF dough). If you're new to making pizza, or having trouble with GF pizza, buy an electric pizza oven. They're great for controlling heat dispersal; I still use one from time to time.
I recently picked up this crisper pan from Aldi that works fabulously with GF pizza "dough"
Cruuuuunnch!
Bottle of Woodchuck never hurts...
Definitely not Pizza Hut
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