This is it. Finally, we have it. A wheat free, slow carbohydrate pizza that doesn’t involve blitzing cauliflower into rubble and trying with all your might to make it stick back together. Chickpea flour plus the brilliant soldering properties of psyllium husk and a little flaxseed for goodness are all that it takes. There’s no kneading, just a simple process of allowing a little yeast to bloom, then stirring it all together until a sturdy dough forms. This is not an earnest interpretation of ‘pizza’ that requires you to eat it with a knife and fork, like a salad- desperately hoping that your vegetables will adhere to the base. This is proper, frosty Sunday night comfort food. Shut the door and take off your shoes. Turn up the oven high. Choose your favourite toppings (mine is pork sausage, skins removed so it crumples into little meaty pebbles, with kale and chilli), but for nostalgia sakes, feel free to bust out the ham and pineapple. Put on some music. Open the red wine. Dance in the kitchen if you really feel inclined. Then when the pizza is molten and ready cut it into pieces and eat it with your hands- because you can.
Chickpea Flour Pizza
Makes 1 large pizza – serves 2/3
Nb, the psyllium husk is key in keeping things together here. You can buy it in large bags from the health food store. It’s a boon to all sorts of gluten free baking, allowing baked goods to hold together without the need to lean on gums. The flaxseed isn’t essential, but I like the faint wholemeal taint it offers to the flavour of the crust.
Pizza base
1 tsp dried yeast
1 tsp brown sugar or honey
1 cup/250 ml warm water
1 1/2 cups (180 g) chickpea flour
4 tbsp psyllium husk
1 tbsp ground flax
1 tsp sea salt flakes
1 tbsp olive oil.
1) Pork and Kale topping
3 tbsp tomato paste, or home made pizza sauce
2 Italian pork sausages, skins removed
2 stems of kale, diced
Pinch of chilli flakes
100 g mozzarella, torn or sliced
2) Ham and Pineapple topping
3 tbsp tomato paste, or home made pizza sauce
100 g of leg ham, cut into small chunks
80 g fresh pineapple, finely diced
100 g mozzarella, torn or sliced
Method
1) To make the pizza base add the yeast to the sugar and warm water and allow it to bloom for five minutes. It will go cloudy and a little frothy.
2) Mix all of the remaining dried ingredients together in a bowl.
3) Pour in the yeasted water and stir to combine.
4) Continue stirring and stirring to create a dough, it will gradually thicken up over time.
5) If you have time, cover the bowl with plastic wrap and place aside for 30 minutes. If not, continue rolling out the dough.
6) Preheat the oven to as hot as it can go (250C/485 F) with a baking tray, or pizza stone inside.
7) Take two 50 cm long pieces of baking paper. Transfer the dough into the centre of the baking paper and flatten out into a disc with your fingers. Drizzle with a little olive oil over the top.
8) Place the other piece of baking paper on top and use a rolling pin (or a bottle of wine) to roll out the dough into a pizza base, around 3/4 cm thick. Gently remove the top piece of baking paper, trying not to pull off too much of the batter. If some comes with the top layer of paper use a knife to scrape it off and re distribute it across the pizza.
9) Spread the tomato sauce over the top of the pizza.
10) Add your toppings and your cheese.
11) Transfer the whole pizza, still on the baking paper gently to the hot baking tray and bake for 15 minutes, until the base is firm and the cheese is burnished and molten. Remove carefully from the baking paper, slice and serve.
