No!!!

Yes, (evil laughter), another Mommy Blog (more evil laughter)!!! Life is a story, mine at the moment just happens to occur mostly at home, which means no sword fights or dragons, but plenty of peril, misadventure, and food. Like all good stories we will skip the boring parts (like laundry). So gird up your loins and let us commence with some real domestic adventures; don't forget your sense of humor.

Tuesday, December 31, 2019

Real Stuffed Crust Pizza: Gluten Free Edition

My son's favorite meal is stuffed crust pizza (pizza crust with a ring of melty cheese running through it) and with his wheat sensitivity, I thought he could never eat it again.  I'm rather partial to pizza myself and have spent a year looking for a good gluten free crust recipe, while I've found some edible variants, they just aren't pizza!  I had perfected the stuffed crust pizza with a wheat based crust, but my gluten free attempts were more cake or biscuit like than pizza crust.  Light, chewy, crisp, body...that's a pizza crust.  The gluten free variant minded me of the baking powder crusts my mother used to make: more biscuit than yeast bread and I didn't want that, not in the least.  Then I rediscovered bread and wondered if I could use it as my pizza crust recipe?  The result was amazing, I couldn't tell the difference from a wheat crust!  My picky, wheat loving husband thought it was spot on too!  It is a little putzy, but worth the effort.  It also works well for thin or pan crust if you don't want to mess with the cheesy ring.  You will need either a pizza pan with a tall rim or a cast iron pan for the magic to work (even with a wheat crust).  You could try a jelly roll pan or cake pan if it can stand 450F.

Follow the recipe link above and the day you want pizza, take your dough out of the fridge.  Add a little corn starch or tapioca if it sticks.  Work it until it is silky and smooth but not crumbly (wet your hands if it starts to fall apart).  Roll into the size of crust you would like, if doing a stuffed crust, add an extra inch or two to the diameter.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 450F with a pan of water on the lowest oven rack.  For thin crust, preheat the pan too.

For thin crust, place the rolled crust onto the heated pan and place back in the oven for a minute or two until bubbly and beginning to brown.  Flip, poke with a fork to disperse air pockets, and bake another couple minutes until cooked through and splotched with brown spots.  Remove from oven and allow to cool for a few minutes, then top as desired (go light on the sauce, or it might become soggy).  Return to oven and broil until cheese is golden and sizzling.

For pan crust, if you are using a cast iron frying pan, heat on the stove top until pan is warm and the crust just begins to bubble before placing in the oven (un-topped) and baking until lightly golden brown and cooked through.  Top and broil.  If using a cookie sheet or pizza pan, try preheating the pan and transferring the crust to the preheated pan as for thin crust.

For stuffed crust, place rolled dough evenly into pan with extra crust draped up the sides.  Place cut cheese (1 cm x 1 cm x 6 cm) strips along edge of pan and fold extra crust over top, sealing the seam and evening out the crust.  Heat on stovetop until pan is warm and crust begins to bubble slightly and transfer to oven.  Bake until golden and cooked through.  Top and broil.  You will get some cheese leakage, but even with a wheat crust, it happens every time.  Enjoy!

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