Recipe courtesy of Psychologies Magazine (February 2016) and taken from the book River Cottage Gluten Free written by Nutritionist, cook and River Cottage teacher Naomi Devlin.
This is a thin-based pizza, sparingly spread with a simple tomato sauce and baked until the base is invitingly crisp and the cheese is bubbling.
Serves: 3-4
Ingredients for the Pizza Base:-
70g sorghum flour; 10g fresh yeast (or 3g quick dried)
140g potato starch
40g tapioca starch
25ml olive oil
1 large egg
1 scant tsp sea salt
1 tsp light Muscovado sugar
1 tsp xanthum gum or 2 tsp ground psyllium husk
1 tsp cider vinegar
Fine polenta or rice flour
Ingredients for the Topping:
400g tin plum tomatoes
2-3 fat garlic cloves, finely chopped
50ml olive oil, plus extra for drizzling
Few drops wine vinegar (optional)
2-3 mozzarella balls, each about 125g
Thyme, or oregano leaves for sprinkling (optional)
Rocket leaves and Parmesan shavings
Step One: For the pizza base, mix the sorghum flour, yeast and 120g tepid water in a bowl until smooth, then cover. Set aside at room temperature for an hour to ferment.
Step Two: For the tomato sauce, chop the tomatoes and put in a pan with the juice from the tin. Add the garlic and cook, covered, over a medium heat, for 10 minutes. Stir in the olive oil, a couple of pinches of salt, a few good grinds of pepper, a pinch of sugar and a little vinegar if you think the flavour needs lifting. The oil will take a bit of stirring to get it to emulsify with the tomato. If the sauce is too thin, cook uncovered for a few minutes. Set aside to cool.
Step Three: When you are ready to make the dough, beat the remaining pizza base ingredients, except the polenta or rice flour, into the sorghum mixture, until smooth.
Step Four: Sprinkle flat baking sheets and work-surface with fine polenta or rice flour. Scoop up a quarter of the dough with floured fingers, roll into a ball, then roll out on your floured surface into a thin circle, about 5mm thick. Pick up an edge gently and slide a floured rolling pin underneath to help you transfer the delicate dough to the baking sheet. Repeat with the rest of the dough.
Step Five: Spread the sauce between the pizzas using the back of a spoon. Slice mozzarella and lay on top. Sprinkle with thyme or oregano and drizzle any exposed dough with a little olive oil. Leave to rise at room temperature for about 1 hour, until the dough looks puffy. Preheat the oven to 250oC /Fan 230oC/Gas 10, or as high as it will go and bake for 6-8 minutes. Add rocket and Parmesan, and serve.
