Chewy Pizza Dough w/ Salad Topping

1 0.25-oz pkg of active dry yeast
1 TBSP honey
1 cup potato starch (health food store in flour aisle)
1/2 cup brown rice flour
1/2 cup teff flour
2 tsp guar gum or xanthan gum
1 tsp pure salt
1/2 tsp garlic powder
1/2 tsp onion powder
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil, plus more for coating pan

• Combine yeast, honey & 1 & 1/2 cups warm water in measuring cup.
• Let stand 10 to 15 mins, or until liquid is cloudy & bubbly.
• Whisk together potato starch, brown rice flour, teff flour, guar gum, salt, garlic powder, & onion powder in large bowl.
• Stir in yeast mixture.
• Stir in oil.
• Cover & let rise in warm place 20 mins.
• Brush or rub pizza pan w/ oil.
• Scoop dough onto pizza pan & press dough flat to cover pan.

SALAD TOPPING (egg free, gluten free)

for vinaigrette:

2 TBSP balsamic vinegar (or vinegar of choice)
2 tsp honey
1 tsp dijon mustard
1 small clove garlic, minced (about 1/2 tsp)
3 TBSP extra virgin olive oil
pure salt & freshly ground black pepper to taste

3 TBSP grated parmesan cheese
3 cups mixed salad greens of choice (I used a mix of arugula, & green & red romaine)
1/2 cup thinly sliced red onion
1/2 cup thinly sliced fresh fennel (we skipped this & threw on some black olives) (not that olives have anything to do w/ fennel!)
shaved parmesan for garnish (optional)

• Whisk together vinegar, honey, mustard & garlic.
• Whisk in oil & season w/ salt & pepper if desired.
• Let rest 30 mins (or not).
• Sprinkle raw pizza dough with grated parmesan.
• Place pizza in oven on middle rack, and begin to preheat the oven to 350 (do not pre-heat ahead of time).
• Once oven reaches 350, bake about 25 mins longer (until it looks good).
• Remove from oven & adjust setting to broil.
• Brush crust with about 3 TBSP of the vinaigrette.
• Toss together salad greens, onions, olives & remaining vinaigrette.
• Top pizza w/ salad mixture & place under broiler anywhere from 1 to 3 mins – just until greens wilt (I usually take mine out after 1 minute).
• Serve garnished w/ parmesan curls if using.

SIDE NOTES:

~ From Vegetarian Times magazine.

~ Very yummy! I have been making a lot of different pizzas lately. Of course, you can use a regular wheat pizza dough with this salad topping, but for those who are gluten sensitive, this dough is awesome & not too much of a big deal to make. The only big deal is having to have so many different types of flour on hand. All of these combined give it the right texture & taste. What I like to do when making this crust, is to mix together all the flours into the right proportions separately for several pizzas & put them in individual ziplock baggies in the freezer. This way, for the next few times I want to make a pizza, all the flour is already mixed together & ready to go.

~ There are 2 kinds of yeast – active dry or rapid rise. So, don’t just put “yeast” down on your shopping list like I did the first time and then stand there staring at the 2 kinds dumbfounded. It’s the active dry you want!

~  UPDATE:  I’m not a big fan of guar gum and/or xanthan gum anymore.  In general, I don’t recommend them. 

Tweet