Gluten-Free, Vegan Sourdough Pizza Crust
Homemade gluten-free, vegan pizza crust. This is something I've long entertained but never had the tenacity to figure out on my own until I got a gluten free sourdough starter. This crust has quite a few steps, including leaving the dough to rise for about four hours, but it's a natural ferment so it's yeast-free and has a great nutty, slightly sour flavor due to the mixture of flours and the sourdough used. I also made the sauce used on this pizza crust from scratch, and you can read more about how to make that here.
This recipe is what I made on Christmas day. There's something about being allergic to gluten and dairy that makes the idea of pizza extra fascinating. It's such a staple of the average American diet. I've complicated many a gathering when someone pulls the 'Let's just order pizza, that's the easiest" and I have to explain that it is my kryptonite and we'll have to go the 'not easy' route instead.
I've been playing around with bread recipes for a long time, and finally happened on a few tricks that make it possible, courtesy of a few web sites I was able to learn from, including the super informative Baking Magique. The binding for this crust is actually psyllium husk (known in this super mature household as 'poop powder') which provides a light, chewy texture to the various flours utilized. If you don't have all the flours below lying around, it will feel expensive when you buy them all at once, but given that you're only using a 1/3 of a cup at a time, you'll get a lot of pizza crusts out of those packages! I also have a bread recipe coming soon that uses the same flour blend, so consider investing!
What You Need:
For the Sourdough Crust:
1/2 cup of fed sourdough (Gluten-Free!)
1/3 cup each of the following flours:
Sorghum
Oat
Buckwheat
Tapioca (Flour or starch--same thing!)
Potato Starch
1/4 cup psyllium husk mixed with 1/4 cup water to make a paste/gel
2 tablespoons Honey/agave
2 tablespoons Olive Oil
1 1/2 cups of warm water
What You Need to Do:
This is some time intensive stuff but hey, it's a fancy dinner. And it's mostly sitting and waiting!
Step One: Combine your psyllium husk and water and mix. Put this to one side. It will make a thick gel. It's like a fiber magic trick.
Step Two: Mix all of your dry ingredients (flours, salt) in advance.
Step Three: Combine all of your wet ingredients EXCEPT water (sourdough, honey/agave, olive oil)
Step Four: Now combine your dry ingredients and wet ingredients, except water. CAVEAT: I use my bread makers 'dough' setting but you could also use a stand up mixer or electric mixer. Mixing by hand would be possible, but tough.
Step Five: Slowly add the warm water until everything is fully mixed. This isn't going to be a firm ball of dough, it's more of a paste. BUT it will turn into a dough.
Step Six: Transfer this mixture to a bowl. NOW for the part where you just need to trust me: You're going to put the entire bowl in a plastic shopping bag, and tuck the opening underneath the bowl until the bowl is fully covered. Put this in a warm non-drafty space and leave it to rise for at least four hours.
Step Seven: Fast forward four hours later! Preheat your oven to 475 degrees. Yes, that is very hot.
Step Eight: Grease a cookie sheet with a little bit of olive oil and then sprinkle with one of the following: buckwheat flour, cornmeal, or one of your other flours. I can only vouch for the first two!
Step Nine: Pour your dough onto the pan. Get a bowl of water and with wet hands, slowly massage the dough with your fingertips until it covers the entire surface. You want the dough to be relaxed and free of tension before it goes in the oven. It's had a long day. (Picture below of what this should look like).
Step Ten: (Yes, we are still going). Put your dough in the oven for 15-20 minutes. It may rise a little, and that's fine!
Step Eleven: After 15-20 minutes, pull this from the oven. Put your toppings on, then put it back in the oven for another 15-20 minutes. TIP: Precook your veggies and drain them. This is a delicate crust so you don't want any extra moisture making it soggy.
Step Twelve: Okay now we're done. Eat! My finished product with a TON of toppings. But what sauce did I use? Click here...
