Saturday, May 3, 2008

Pizza!

Bazbeaux makes the best pizza in Indianapolis. They are also my sentimental favorite. They came to Mass. Ave. (my social center) early in its rebirth and helped establish it as a fun arts district.


Plus, I used to grow basil for them when I had my gourmet farm business. They liked my basil best and called it (and me) Kay Basil. I figured out I could reap the most pounds of basil leaves out of each square foot of ground by growing Mammoth Basil. I harvested just the leaves, and left the plant intact. I even washed it for them. So as not to damage the leaves, I would pick them and put the bags in the refrigerator for a few hours. Then wash, then refrigerate again before cooler-packed delivery. So they had big bags of clean basil leaves they could use as-is. I loved making that delivery because the restaurant smelled heavenly!



My Mammoth basils are just babies right now.

My favorite pizza on their menu is the Quattro Fromaggio. It has bacon, mushrooms and dallops of creamy ricotto. It also has a variety of grated aged cheeses. This was a good combination to create gluten free. I've avoided sausage and pepperoni because of forbidden ingredients, but I love Oscar Mayer Natural bacon with no nitrites or nitrates. The upscale food service pizza sauce I use at work happens to fit my requirements - no corn syrup or questionable ingredients. I didn't have any ricotta on hand, so I used little blobs of goat cheese. I shredded mozzarella, provolone and a little white cheddar to top it with. Sometimes I add fresh basil or spinach and sun dried tomatoes.


I found a crust recipe on somebody's blog. My apologies to the person who created it. When I was first searching for recipes I was quite desperate. I printed them out without noting their sources. So if this is your recipe, thanks a million! It saved me from a pizza-free life.







Oops! I almost ate it all before I remembered
to take a picture!
Pizza Crust

1 T dry yeast
2/3 C brown rice flour
1/2 C tapioca flour
2 T dry milk powder (you can sub tapioca flour or sweet rice flour)
1/2 T salt
2 t unflavored gelatin
2/3 C warm water (105 degrees)
1/2 t honey
1 t olive oil
1 t cider vinegar
*2 t xanthan gum (optional, I don't add any)


Preheat oven to 425 degrees F.


In the bowl of my stand mixer, I mix all the dry ingredients. I mix all the liquids in a measuring cup and add them. Then I beat it for about five minutes.


I grease AND FLOUR two foil-lined pie pans. I use the rice flour for this. Tapioca flour doesn't work as well. Then I oil my hands split the dough into two blobs, and work it gently into the pans.


I bake the crust for about 10 minutes. I leave the second one in the oven when I pull the first one out to add toppings. Then I top the second one and put them back in the oven for 20 to 25 more minutes, just until they start to brown. Voila! Pizza! Two pizzas!




Daddy Cat says, "I'm sorry I jumped on the counter
and ate that cheese when your back was turned. How about some bacon?"



Milo says, "Cheese? There was cheese?"

2 comments:

Sondra said...

OHH, thank you so much for stopping by and giving me this wonderful pizza crust recipie! I am happy that it is egg free too. I will try this tomorrow.

Rachel said...

Your cats exhibit so much personality! I don't have a gluten-free pizza crust recipe yet that we like so maybe I'll try this sometime. Stop by and check out my gluten-free recipe blog and get some other recipes in return, if you like:

http://wheat-free-meat-free.blogspot.com

-Rachel