Celiac Disease and Pizza

[kbmannon]

Hello all,

For nearly two years my wife has been on a gluten free diet due to celiac disease (CD). Complications from the CD resulted in various other intolerances, including soy and eggs. Tough combination for cooking in general - but this question is about pizza.

She loves pizza, absolutely adores it, but unfortunately I have not yet found a suitable recipe or pre-packaged alternative. My baking skills leave a great deal to be desired, so experimentation has not gone well. I've got a pantry full of alternative flours and gluten free mixes. Generally I end up with a soggy, tasteless, mess.

Might anyone be able to point me toward a reference for preparing gluten free dough, or at least a few tips for experimentation?

Thanks, and happy holidays,

Kevin

[Betts]

Can she do corn? What about a layer of polenta on a sheet pan, cool and then bake to crisp, top with pizza fixings of choice and enjoy. I suppose pizza on rice cakes is pretty dismal

[oregano]

There is a fantastic gluten-free bakery in Philadelphia called Mr. Ritts. I seem to recall they had pizza dough. Their web site, with shipping list, is http://www.mrritts.com/

(No connection with them, just know some people who are happy customers.)

[tejon]

Do you have any of the Gluten Free Gourmet series of cookbooks? I have a dear friend with celiac disease who has made some truly delcious things out of them. I believe pizza crust was one thing that he finally worked out. A bread machine is very helpful when baking gluten free breads - the dough acts quite differently than wheat dough and it's easier to have one less thing to try and control.

[kbmannon]

Thanks, all!

Yes, corn is fine. (and yes pizza rice cakes are terrible!) I had never thought of baking polenta pizzas. I will try that over the holiday.

I just took a look at the Mr. Ritts site, and it has got my hopes up. I'll be ordering a bunch from them.

We have a couple of the Gluten Free Gourmet cookbooks, and I've made some excellent meals from them. However, I haven't had as much luck with the dough recipes. I do have a bread machine somewhere in the basement - I'll dig it up and try again.

Again, thanks for the great info.

[jsolomon]

Googling seems to bring up several appropriate sites.

Best of luck with a difficult jonesing.

[maybelline]

Have you tried using spelt flour? I have had great success baking for my wheat-allergic husband using spelt. It can be substituted for wheat flour, with no alterations to your recipes. I've made cakes, pies, cookies, and bread. Haven't tried pizza, but I'm sure it would work. Good luck!

[kbmannon]

I think another aspect of my failure is my wife's intolerance to eggs. I use Ener-G egg replacer, which does well with a GF pancake mix that I use, but doesn't seem to help much with dough. I tried spelt some time ago, maybe I'll give it another go using the bread machine.

EDIT - Now I remember why we haven't used spelt in so long. It's not GF (as specified in the celiac sprue association handbook).

Edited December 23, 2003 by kbmannon (log)

[woodford]

kbmannon-

That's too bad about the spelt. My husband has an allergy to the wheat, not the gluten, so that's how we can use it with no problem. On occasion, when we are out of spelt, my hubby will make a pizza crust with rice flour, and it is tasty, but its' texture is very dense and crunchy-like a thick cracker. Not like traditional pizza dough at all.

Another resource you might look into is low-carb cookbooks and websites. So many people are low-carbing these days, and all types of flour are carbohydrates, so there are bound to be ideas out there on how to get your pizza fix without making a classic pizza "crust".

Good luck.

[Kenk]

Google gluten free pizza dough!

Google Results

[uberleet]

kbmannon-

On occasion, when we are out of spelt, my hubby will make a pizza crust with rice flour, and it is tasty, but its' texture is very dense and crunchy-like a thick cracker. Not like traditional pizza dough at all.

Sounds like banh xeo

I know, it doesn't really have anything to do with spelt or gluten-free pizza dough, but it made me hungry for banh xeo.

Though, when I was working as a baker at a health food cooperative, someone wanted me to make them a wheat-free bread out of rice flour (we regularly made a wheat-free bread out of spelt, but they couldn't eat that, for some reason). I pictured the result as a glassy, rock-hard loaf - like a glass brick.

[herbacidal]

Sounds like banh xeo

brick.

didja notice that mamster wrote that?

[chefette]

Whole Foods sells a gluten free pizza dough (frozen).

[uberleet]

Sounds like banh xeo

didja notice that mamster wrote that?

I didn't catch that (the email address should've been a giveaway, but I didn't notice it). How cool is that?

I read the article a few months ago and it got me hooked on the stuff!

[kbmannon]

Chefette, is it a dough or a preformed shell?