Wednesday, September 8, 2010

'Za

As in pizza. With GF crust! The boy was pretty thrilled to be reintroduced to such a staple from his previous, gluteny (not to be confused with gluttony) life. It happened by accident, actually. I planned on some spaghetti squash casserole concoction, but thank goodness spaghetti squash isn't in season, because there still would be a gaping hole in his life where a nice slice (or 3) of 'za should be. However, the spag. sq. will be tested in the near future, given that cantaloupes wills soon make way for pumpkins in the produce department.

It was my first time adapting an all-purpose flour recipe to that of one with zero gluten ingredients. It was exciting, being able to experiment with new ingredients and see what becomes of them. (Daring, too. GF flours are not on the cheap side, and to toss them around with abandon is not something I want to make a habit of). I cheated, however, and used the pre-mixed GF all-purpose flour blend from Bob's Red Mill. I'm having a hard time finding some of the prime substitutes such as soghum flour, tapioca flour, potato starch, etc. I feel like I've been utilizing my Amazon account way too much lately, but if I can't find GF ingredients in stores, what else is a girl supposed to do?

And you know what? This 'za was GOOD! Of course, I could put all the credit towards the toppings - red onions, fresh garden tomatoes (!), a layer of spinach, garlic, and asparagus. It's really impossible to go wrong with vegetables. The crust was a bit dense, which I've read can be a trademark for GF baked goods. However, I also need to remember that food sans gluten will not mimic the foods you are used to eating with gluten. But that's not a bad thing - it's a learning thing.

I followed Isa Moskowitz's vegan pizza dough from her book "Vegan with a Vengeance."

*If you are a vegan, or even not, I recommend this cookbook. Isa is some serious fun, and her recipes follow suit.