Potato Cauliflower Pizza Crust & Great American GF Pizza Challenge

Who doesn’t love pizza? I know I love it. For a lot of reasons. It’s an easy and inexpensive meal for the family. It tastes good. It’s fun to meet with friends over pizza and a beer. Let’s face it—eating pizza is a beloved American pastime.

So, I will not give up on pizza simply because I can’t eat it in it’s original form. A great GF pizza is out there somewhere and I’ll find it. Some of you may already have already found yours. (And, if so, please share! See the GF Pizza Challenge below.) I am still searching.

My search has yielded some interesting finds. There’s a non-GF pizza that avoids yeast by using beer or club soda. And, then there’s one from Rustico Cooking who brings us a classic recipe from southern Italy. It’s not the least bit like our American pizza but it’s perfectly perfect because the main ingredient is potato and the recipe uses very little flour. Check it out: Pizza di Patate Pugilese (Tomato and Cheese Topped Potato Pizza). Finally, I came across a fascinating cauliflower pizza created for low-carb living.

As usual I played around with all these recipes and a few more. The idea of using potato and cauliflower intrigued me. It sounded like it would be good, healthy, and tasty. It seemed like it would be a fun kitchen challenge. And, it is and it was.

The result is a nice alternative to traditional pizza. Although it isn’t as stiff as a regular pizza it can be picked up and eaten with your hands if you like. The pizza shells can be frozen after the first baking to top and finish cooking at a later time. If you don’t have or want to use cauliflower you can always substitute another cup of potato and it will work just fine.

Potato Cauliflower Pizza Crust

2 cups potatoes, boiled and riced
1 cup cauliflower, roasted and chopped
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon extra-virgin olive oil, plus extra for the baking pan
1/2 cup gluten free flour (see below), plus extra for the counter
1 tablespoon freshly grated Parmigiano Reggiano (optional)
1/2 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 tablespoon dried basil
½ teaspoon salt
3 tablespoons water

Topping Options
2/3 cups tomato sauce
1/4 cup freshly grated Parmigiana Reggiano
1/2 cup roasted broccoli florets, coarsely chopped
3 tablespoons kalamata olives, coarsely chopped
2 tablespoons sundried tomatoes, chopped
1/4 cup shredded mozzarella

Preheat the oven to 350℉. Convection Roast works great for those of you with this oven setting.

Place the potatoes (about 3 large) in a pot. Add cool water enough to cover by an inch or two. Bring to a boil, reduce to a medium heat and cook about 30 minutes until tender when pierced with a knife. Drain, peel and pass through a ricer. Let cool to room temperature.

While the potatoes are boiling cut up the cauliflower (or use 8 ounces frozen cauliflower), spread out on a parchment lined cookie sheet, sprinkle with olive oil, salt and pepper. You can roast any other vegetables for toppings — broccoli, peppers, eggplant - at the same time. Pop into a 350℉ oven for about 15 minutes. Keep an eye on them and take them out when they are just getting brown.

Remove the vegetables and turn off the oven. When the oven is cool put the baking stone back in and preheat to 450°F. (Again, Convection Roast works best.)

Chop the cauliflower into a small mince or put into your food processor and process until it looks like it’s been coarsely chopped. You do not want it to look like mashed potatoes. (Prior to this step I like to press them in the ricer to extract any moisture. The large cauliflower pieces don’t go through the ricer holes but they compress and the water drains.)

Mix the potatoes, cauliflower, flour, salt and herbs in a medium bowl. Add 2 tablespoons water and mix in by hand to create a soft dough. Add more water, if needed, a little at a time to help the dough come together. You don’t want sticky dough. If this happens add a little flour.

At this point you can decide if you want one large pizza, 2 smaller ones, or 3 personal. Divide the dough accordingly.

Place the dough on a lightly floured piece of parchment. Flatten it into a disk, sprinkle with a little flour and cover with another piece of parchment. Roll it out with a rolling pin to the desired thickness. Thinner is probably better — around an 1/8 inch or so.

Peel off the top layer of parchment. Drizzle the top of the dough with a little olive oil. Pop it into the oven on top of the pizza stone keeping the bottom parchment paper in tact. This makes it much easier to work with. Bake about 8-10 minutes until you start to see it turning golden around the edges.

Remove from the oven, top with sauce and your other favorite toppings. Return to the oven for 5-7 minutes, or until brown around the edges. Serve hot. Serves 3 as a main course, 6-8 as an appetizer.

Flour mixture: 1/2 cup sorghum flour, 1/4 brown rice flour, 1/4 cup finely ground cornmeal, 1/2 tsp xanthan gum.

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The Great American GF Pizza Challenge

We all know there’s a great resource of GF (CF or dairy-free, no-eggs, no-yeast, etc.) chefs, cooks, bakers, moms, dads, teens, etc. out there who have great pizza recipes to share with the rest of us who are searching for a favorite! So, here’s your chance to wow us. Anything goes. I’m looking forward to the creativity and yuminess yet to come!

Please feel free to use “Post a Comment” below to tell us about your entry or add your recipe if you don’t have a blog or site. Thanks for sharing.

GF Pizza Challenge Participants

1. Mary Frances - gluten free pan pizza 2. Mary Frances - gluten free pizza crust

3. Annalise Roberts - pizza crust & link to brown rice flour mix 4. Dr. Jean Layton - GF Whole Grain Pizza

5. Kristen Campbell - gluten-free, casein-free, almond crust pizza

Powered by… Mister Linky’s Magical Widgets.

Had to end the Mister Linky’s link tool due to technical issues. So, for now, if you have a GF Pizza recipe you’d like to share please leave a comment with a link to your recipe. Thanks!

Lemon Artichoke Chicken & Penne

Last week my son ended his freshman year of college. Yay! I drove out to get him and we loaded up the truck and made the long drive home. I’m so happy he’s home but even more importantly that he had a great year.

OK, I’m pretty sure it was great except for the college food which leaves a lot to be desired. Fortunately, he’s doesn’t have food restrictions so it was easier for him than the kids who have food sensitivities, allergies or other conditions that require special diets.

Now that he’s home I’ll be cooking everything he missed while he was away. I’m going to have to work on converting more than a few of my old recipes to accommodate my food sensitivities but that will be half the fun and I’ll get to share them here.

This dish is one that is easily converted and it’s also one of my son’s favorites so it’s what we had last night.

It’s a little bit of work but worth it — if you like artichokes. (And, that’s not a problem because we love them!)

PS - I ate way too much!

Lemon Artichoke Chicken and Penne

1 pound chicken breasts
3 tablespoons GF flour (sorghum)
salt and pepper
1 teaspoon dried basil
2 tablespoons grapeseed oil
1 cup white wine
2 cups GF chicken broth
juice of half a lemon
1 jar capers, drained and rinsed
1 jar pitted kalimata olives, drained
1 bag of frozen artichoke hearts
1/2 pound of GF penne
Locatelli Grated Pecorino Romano Cheese
Feta cheese (sheep’s milk)
GF breadcrumbs
1 tablespoon olive oil

Cut the chicken — about 2 large breasts — into 2 x 1/2 inch strips. Dredge in flour seasoned with salt, pepper, and basil.

Pour the grapeseed oil in a deep, heavy frying pan and heat over medium high heat. Working in batches fry the chicken until fully cooked and browned on both sides. Remove the chicken to a plate.

Deglaze the pan with a cup of white wine scraping up all the browned bits. Reduce the liquid by half.

Add the chicken stock and simmer until it is reduced by about a third. Add the juice from 1/2 lemon and season with salt and pepper.

Make the penne while you’re waiting for the sauce to reduce. Boil it a few minutes short of being done (so if it is supposed to boil for 9 minutes reduce the time to 6 minutes). Drain, reserving 1 cup of the pasta water.

Add the penne to the sauce and mix in. Add the artichokes (cut into quarters). Simmer, stirring frequently, for 2 minutes. If the sauce boils down add some of the pasta water about ¼ cup at a time to keep things moist. Add the chicken pieces and heat another minute.

Pour the mixture into a large ovenproof serving dish. Stir in the drained olives and capers.

Sprinkle the pasta with a few tablespoons each of Locatelli Grated Pecorino Romano Cheese and Feta. Top with the GF breadcrumbs and drizzle with olive oil. Place under the broiler for a few minutes until the top is golden brown.

Note: this recipe can be made dairy-free by omitting the cheese. I use Locatelli Pecorino Romano because it is made with sheep’s milk and find I can tolerate it. And, I’ve found feta cheese made with sheep and/or goat’s milk at both Trader Joe’s and Whole Foods.

I happen to like Bionaturae GF pasta. It’s made with rice, potato, and soy flours.

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