Gluten-free Copycat Pizza Hut Deep Pan Pizza
Photography by Simeon Crofts
DIETARY - Gluten-free, Vegetarian, Nut-free
If you’re a regular to this blog, then you’ll know my husband has celiac disease, which was one of the reasons I started this little venture in the first place. Since his diagnosis, he has missed a lot of the foods he once enjoyed. One such food is a deep pan pizza.
Up until the development of this recipe, hubby hadn’t found a gluten-free pizza base he liked, whether from a restaurant or the supermarket. We had slowly worked our way through lists of recommendations, and still he couldn’t find one he enjoyed. Part of the problem was he much prefers a deep-pan pizza base, but they’re pretty much non-existent here in Australia in gluten-free form; it’s thin and crispy or nothing. Back home, in England, prior to celiac disease, we would often take our niece and nephew out to Pizza Hut where we’d religiously order the deep pan base as it was so tasty we just couldn’t resist those nice thick crusts to nibble on.
One night a couple of weeks ago, my husband turned to me as he recalled such memories and asked if I could recreate his favourite Pizza Hut pizza, topped with ham, pepperoni, pepper, sweetcorn and onions. Never one to shy away from a challenge, I started researching and soon got to work in the kitchen, and I can tell you I produced a few rather rubbish pizza doughs at first!
Eventually, as I learnt more about the nature of gluten-free dough, I hit the jackpot. I nailed a recipe that delivered on texture (something very significant to hubby, who finds most gluten-free breads and doughs either fall apart or go rock hard) and that all-important Pizza Hut-inspired taste. I held my breath as I cut into it, hoping I wouldn’t find a soggy, undercooked centre, but no, it was light, spongy, perfectly chewy and hubby could pick up a slice without the base promptly giving way. It was a success! And the crust was golden, crisp and my husband’s favourite bit.
As you can see, this recipe is a little long-winded; there are a few steps, and it’s by no means quick to make due to the resting times, but the actual making and cooking of it is really easy. It will be worth the wait, I promise!
You can make this pizza with any toppings you like, and you can omit the milk powder in the base if you’re vegan.
Gluten-free Copycat Pizza Hut Deep Pan Pizza
Ingredients:
- 1 cup lukewarm water
- 1 sachet (7g) instant dried yeast
- 1 tbsp granulated sugar
- 2 cups gluten-free plain flour
- ¼ cup cornflour
- 1 tbsp tapioca starch
- ¼ cup dry milk powder
- 1 tsp xanthan gum
- ½ tsp baking powder
- 2 tsp salt
- 2 tbsp oil, plus extra for greasing
- 1 + ½ cups mozzarella
- 1-2 tbsp tomato purée
- Your toppings of choice
Method:
- In a jug, measure out 1 cup of lukewarm water and briefly stir in the yeast and sugar (this does not have to be smooth). Cover with clingfilm and set aside for 15 minutes. The liquid should form a foamy head, which means the yeast is nice and active.
- In a bowl, add the remaining dry ingredients and mix well until thoroughly combined.
- In a separate bowl, pour in the yeast liquid and olive oil, and add 1 cup of your dry ingredient mix. Stir and set aside for half an hour, you should see a good rise in the mixture after this time.
- Add the remaining dry ingredients to your wet mixture and, using an electric hand mixer or stand mixer, beat all of the ingredients together for 3-4 minutes until smooth and stretchy (it will start off clumping together but bear with it). Your dough will be sticky and will look more like a thick cake batter than a bread dough, but this is how you want it to look. Cover and set aside for 45 minutes. It should rise a little more.
- Grease your pizza or cake tin (you need something with deep sides) well with oil. Scrape your dough into the pan and spread out using your fingers until evenly distributed. Set aside for half an hour.
- Pre-heat the oven to 200°C (180°C Fan)/400°F/Gas Mark 6 and line a baking tray with parchment paper (you’ll need this towards the end).
- Scatter mozzarella cheese, tomato purée and your choice of topping over your base. I like to add the cheese first, then the tomato sauce, as this will prevent your base from becoming soggy.
- Bake your pizza on the middle rack of the oven for approx. 25 minutes. Remove from the oven, run a knife around the edge of the pan and carefully lift out your pizza. Pop on to a lined baking sheet and put back in the oven for an addition 5-7 minutes to further crisp up the crust for the perfect golden base.
- Take out of the oven, slice up with a knife or pizza cutter and enjoy hot.