Gluten-Free Baking

When I first started this blog, one of the very first recipes was a recipe for a pizza crust made with quinoa flour - now; over a year later I still make the same pizza crust because it is still my absolute favourite. I thought that I would make another post with it, this time with step by step pictures.

The one thing I maybe love the most about this recipe is the use of yeast; it gives you that nice fermented taste which at least I always associate with pizza. Sometimes when the crust is rolled very, very thin and I have topped the pizza with a thin layer of cheese, some Parma ham, fresh juicy tomatoes and some black oily olives, I close my eyes and feel the same joy of eating I had when I ate the best pizza on this earth.

It happened during a hot summer day in London, I was out with a friend, shopping, when we decided to stop at some tiny Italian restaurant in Soho; it was so refreshing to get out of the heat into a clean cool restaurant. I looked at the menu and then asked my friend to order for me, since she is and was the expert on Italian food; I just sat back and enjoyed the red wine they had just brought to our table. She ordered us some bruschetta with a thick black olive paste and then some pizza.

I really did not know what kind of a pizza I was going to get, I knew it was probably going to be delicious, but not so delicious that I would remember it for the rest of my life.

When the pizza finally arrived, the first thing I noticed was how crisp and thin the crust was, the second thing I noticed was the layers of Parma ham on top of it and then finally the juicy bright red tomatoes and the plump looking black olives.

I took one bite of that pizza and just closed my eyes; it was so good, I was in my own world for a while with that pizza, just really enjoying each piece - it was such perfection.

Sometimes I make a pizza with a thin fermented quinoa crust, the same toppings, I have some red wine and close my eyes - the experience is never the same as with that one perfect pizza on that particular summer day, but I will always be trying to make something that comes close to that moment of utter food bliss I once had.

A Gluten-Free Pizza Crust With Quinoa Flour

I usually use some powdered psyllium seed husks with this pizza crust - you can buy them on amazon for a very good price. Using eggs as a binder is also one option - I have not tried it - but you could always try adding one egg for each cup of flour and then using a little less water. Xanthan gum is also an option; I personally have great dislike for it, but some seem to tolerate it.

In these pictures my boyfriend is making his pizza and therefore it is very thick, if you want a very thin crust -I always prefer a thin crust - you can place the dough,  with flour so that it does not stick, between two sheets of baking paper and then use a rolling pin to flatten it. If you make your pizza crust thick, you might want to pre-bake it a for maybe 20-30 minutes (or more) before adding the toppings.

Pizza Crust Recipe

-50 grams fresh yeast

-5 dl or 2 cups quinoa flour

-1-2 tsp salt

-3 dl or 1 and 1/4 cups of water

-3 tbls olive oil

-3 tbls psyllium husk powder

Start by warming your water, add your yeast and your salt, mix everything together, and then add your psyllium husk into the mixture, and leave everything to sit for about ten minutes.

After that take your flour and mix it with the wet mixture, start kneading your dough and do it for about 2 minutes, then add your oil, knead again for a little while until you have formed a ball out of it, after that put your dough into a warm and dark place to rise.

When it has doubled in size spread it onto your pizza tray, you can spread it by hand or with a rolling pin, whatever works for you, pat it a little bit after you have stretched it and start applying your toppings.

The dough will look like this after it has risen.

Press it, so that the air comes out of it.

Add some flour on top of it and flatten it with your hands.

When it is the shape and thickness you want, place it on top of a pizza stone (highly recommended) or a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Add the tomato sauce and the toppings you like, I often add some balsamic vinegar, salt and black pepper to the tomato paste. I also like to add a small layer of parmesan on top of the tomato paste.

Some tomatoes and some wild boar salami.

Finally the pizza is topped with some mozzarella and black pepper.

Bake the pizza at 200 C/400 F for 20-40 minutes, the time differs so much because it depends on the thickness of the crust and on your oven. Keep an eye on the pizza while it is baking.

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This is another simple and delicious idea for dessert; nice for these cold winter weekends. Eating ice cream might seem strange during the winter time, but I think it goes especially well with almond cookies and some peanut butter - which are both warming.

I have had this very strong yearning for ice cream cookies and I thought that I might try using these almond cookies -which still remain as my favourite cookies - with them. The result is very delicious with the chewy cookies, creamy ice cream and the salty peanut butter, but I did think that this cake base might be good too; I will have to try the marzipan base some other weekend.

The cookies are easy to make and very versatile, I usually make them with dried fruit, but in this case having them plain with a hint of cinnamon felt like a better idea. Try not to bake them for too long, otherwise they will end up too hard.

Gluten-Free Ice Cream Cookies

- 1 cup or 2,5 dl ground almonds (almond meal)

- 1,7 ounces or 50 grams melted butter (use dairy-free margarine as a substitute for butter)

-1/4 cup or 0,6 dl superfine sugar (regular is fine too)

- 1 egg

-a pinch of salt if you are using unsalted butter

-1/2 tsp cinnamon

-1/2 tsp vanilla extract

Preheat an oven to 170 C / 340 F.

Whisk the egg a little bit, then add the sugar, vanilla extract and cinnamon, mix these together making a paste. Add the almond meal and then the butter, let the mixture set for a couple of minutes.

Take a baking tray and line it with some baking paper.

Take one heaping teaspoon of batter at a time and place on to the baking tray.

Bake for 15-20 minutes until they are done. Take them out of the oven when the sides start to brown.

The filling

-1 tbls peanut butter for each ice cream cookie

-1 small scoop of vanilla ice cream

Place the ice cream on top of the cookie, add the peanut butter and then place one cookie on top. Press them together a bit and eat.

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