Deep Dish Pizza - recipe

Yesterday's deep dish pizza attempt was a huge success, even with the non GF people in attendance at the foodie party.

So what exactly did I come up with?

Deep Dish Pizza Crust.

5 Tablespoons good olive oil
1 1/2 Cup warm water
2 packets of quick rise active yeast (I used 4.5 teaspoons SAF)
1/2 teaspoons salt
1 1/2 teaspoon sugar
3 1/4 Cup GF All Purpose Flour (I used King Arthur because that was what was available at the store)

Grease a 9 or 10 inch deep dish pizza pan with 2 Tablespoons of the Olive Oil. You can also use a springform or cake pan.

• Combine the flour, yeast, salt and sugar in a bowl. Mix well.
• In the bowl of a stand mixer, combine the warm water with the yeast and add 1/2 cup of the flour mixture.
• Mix well and let sit until it is bubbly and smells yeasty. About 15-30 minutes.
• Add the remaining ingredients to the mixer bowl and beat on medium speed for 2 minutes. Spread the batter into the pan, pressing the dough up the edges. 
• Let rise for an hour.

Meanwhile, preheat the oven to 375F.

Before adding toppings, bake until light golden brown, about 30 minutes, but watch it since all ovens cook differently.


After the pizza dough is cooked, let cool for 5-10 minutes, or longer if needed.  This is great because you can make the pizza crust ahead of time and reheat later.

Since the dough is baked beforehand, your toppings should be precooked if you wouldn't want to eat them raw or mostly raw.

Our first GF Deep Dish Pizza - Roasted Garlic Mashed Potatoes, Bacon and Cheddar cheese - was inspired by Pizzeria Uno's pizza skins.

Spread cooked mashed potatoes on Pizza dough, cover with cheddar cheese and cooked, homemade bacon bits. Bake at 350-375F until the potatoes are warmed through and the cheese is melted and browned.

Enjoy!

Day 28 - Gluten Free

So far this whole gluten free challenge has been fairly easy.  Aside from reading labels our lives haven't changed much.  We just make different choices now. Day 28 without any cravings. That is still the biggest benefit I have noticed, on top of the weight loss. But day 28 arrives with a new challenge.  We've been invited to a foodie party. A pizza party. A deep dish pizza party. WE LOVE PIZZA!

The party throwers know that Mike and I are gluten free for this challenge, but invited us anyway and we are thrilled to be invited.  We have a history of being social hermits that we are trying to break free from.  But of course we would not expect them to make a special meal just for the 2 of us so when we accepted the invite we also confirmed that we would bring our own pie and dessert.

As you know, if you've read our past posts or even just browsed the titles, we've been experimenting with pizza, but they have all been thin crust pizzas.  Deep dish is a new challenge. A totally different process. And admittedly, until this morning I had missed the Chicago theme of the foodie event so I am completely unprepared.  Thankfully I am creative and fearless in the kitchen.

On the menu for today, GF deep dish pizza (or thin crust if the deep dish doesn't work out) and flourless chocolate cupcakes with a vanilla sauce.  If the recipes turn out well I will share them later. Can't share them now as I haven't made them up yet.