Gluten-free Pizza with Cheesy Stuffed Crust
DIETARY – Gluten-free/Nut-free/Vegetarian
There are few things better in life than a hot crust laden with melting cheese! A puffy, perfectly chewy base and buckets of flavour are key to a great pizza, but are often nowhere to be found when it comes to gluten-free. That’s all about to change with this recipe! It took 10 different batches, one game-changing secret ingredient, and many hours of development to perfect, but I can now say with some serious confidence that this is the best gluten-free pizza you will ever taste. Even gluten lovers will be converted!
The PIZZA development
If you follow a gluten-free diet, you may have heard the phrase: ‘lower your expectations, it’s gluten-free’ more than a few times. My husband, Sim, who has coeliac disease, certainly has. And pizza is one such food he has grown used to compromising on. In fact, it’s gone from one of his favourite foods to his least favourite, as it’s a reminder of how good food used to be before his diagnosis.
Very often, gluten-free pizza bases are unfulfilling; either stiff and rigid like cardboard or falling apart in chunks, unable to hold a decent topping. Whether shop-bought or at a restaurant, Sim had yet to find a gluten-free pizza that stood up to his memories of a wheat-filled slice’s soft, delicious dough. On top of the sub-par texture, the flavour was never great either, and a crust was almost non-existent. Most gluten-free pizzas, at least here in Australia, are completely thin and flat with no crust to enjoy or dip into some sauce at the end. Sim particularly missed a cheesy stuffed crust, which was an occasional guilty pleasure from Pizza Hut or Dominoes.
So, I had quite a task on my hands! I wanted to develop a gluten-free pizza base that rivalled any other recipe online plus any shop or restaurant. It had to be soft and a little chewy but still hold the toppings without collapsing when sliced. It needed a cheesy stuffed crust that stood up to Sim’s memories. It had to be packed with flavour so that chomping on a thick crust felt satisfying and could easily be the ‘best bit’. And, finally, it couldn’t taste gluten-free – perhaps the trickiest bit of all.
Over the past couple of weeks, I made 10 different batches of pizza. Pizza literally became my obsession. I watched hours of YouTube videos, studied dough hydration levels, bought an array of ingredients and started researching their role in dough. I started by making three different batches of gluten-free pizza dough on the same day. I wanted to test xanthan gum in one pizza against psyllium husk in another, and I wanted to test one dough with a bit of baking powder added, thinking this may help it rise in the oven. I’d found a bunch of existing recipes online and in cookery books using a mix of all these ingredients, so it wasn’t clear which would be the winning combination.
On day one, I baked all three pizzas simultaneously, minus a stuffed crust, as I wanted to focus first on the texture and taste of the dough. I topped them all with a little tomato sauce and grated mozzarella cheese, and Sim and I did a taste test. The dough with baking powder was immediately out. It had a strange flavour and a tough texture. The dough with xanthan gum tasted typically gluten-free, and the one with psyllium husk had the overall best texture and a much-improved flavour, but still not anything better than we’d tried before.
On day two, I decided to re-make the winning dough from day one with the psyllium husk, but this time altering the hydration levels. Until I started this development, I had no idea what a pizza dough hydration level was or why it was important, but after endless reading and many, many YouTube videos, I discovered hydration significantly impacts the baked texture. The hydration level simply means the water-to-flour ratio in the recipe. For example, if a dough has 1000g of flour and 600g of water, it has a hydration level of 60%. In Italy, it is common for pizza dough to have around 55% to 65% hydration. Outside of Italy, 70% is favoured in most recipes. So, I decided the only way to find out which is best is to make a selection of doughs. Using the same formula from day one, I made the first dough with 60% hydration, the second with 65% and the third with 70%. Comparing the taste test, it was clear 70% was the winner. The dough was much lighter, fluffier and held really well. But, despite it being a clear winner, I was confident I could produce even better.
A couple of days later, I baked another 70% hydration pizza, this time adding a little more psyllium husk. I wanted to find out what ratio of psyllium husk to flour was the sweet spot or if it even made a difference. So, I made one pizza dough with an additional 2g of psyllium husk and another with an extra 4g.
After baking my two pizzas in the same conditions again, the one with more psyllium husk won out. By now, I was so consumed by perfecting the pizza I still felt I had another experiment left in me! This time, I wanted to push it and go to 80% hydration, which is rarely done, but gluten-free flour absorbs liquid far more than regular flour, so I had a feeling the dough could take it, and it might just be the secret to an amazing pizza. I also felt I could increase the psyllium husk a little more, so I added another 2g. I also wanted to make a stuffed crust this time to see how it all came together. Pizza batch nine came out better than I could have imagined. It was soft, slightly fluffy, really flavoursome, and definitely didn’t have that typical gluten-free aftertaste. But just one problem - the stuffed crust exploded! So, I tried again, this time using a hard mozzarella instead of a soft one and rolling the dough under rather than simply pinching together. Success! The second try worked, although the cheese filling was a little disappointing. It needed even more. To be honest, can you ever really have enough cheese?!
Finally, pizza 10. I doubled the amount of hard mozzarella and decided when it came out of the oven, I would brush the crust with a bit of melted garlic butter to level up the flavour. It was delicious, and the crust oozed with mozzarella, just as Sim remembered. I was done… or so I thought. But I had one last trick up my sleeve. What if I brushed the entire par-baked dough with melted garlic butter before topping? I’d lost count of how many pizzas I had baked by this point, but I was sure this was it. The winning combination. I par-baked my pizza dough for six minutes, took it out, brushed with garlic butter, popped it back in for another few minutes, then topped it and finished cooking. When it came out of the oven, I gave only the crust a second garlic butter basting and let it cool for a few minutes before we dug in. Oh. My. God. It wasn’t just the best gluten-free pizza either of us had eaten; it was one of the best pizzas we’d eaten full stop. And it was only baked in a standard stove; imagine what it would taste like in a wood-fired oven?!
Dough ingredients
Gluten-free recipes, especially where dough is involved, are often loaded with a long list of ingredients and some, like Expandex starch or sorghum flour, aren’t readily available in the supermarket. I really wanted to use simple, easy-to-find ingredients in this recipe and keep it to a minimum. Homemade pizza should be low-cost and simple enough to whip up on a Friday night with the kids, so it had to be straightforward to win the battle of the gluten-free pizza recipes!
Warm water – This is your hydration element and crucial to the baked texture. It’s also how we will activate our yeast to ensure the dough doubles in size before rolling it out.
Yeast – I used instant yeast in this recipe for ease. You need one sachet, which is usually 7g. If you find one that’s a gram more or less on either side, that’s totally fine.
Sugar – You may be wondering why we’re sweetening a pizza! But don’t worry; the sugar is flavourless in the finished dough; we only use it to activate the yeast. Yeast feeds on sugar, so adding it to the water and yeast mix increases its activity and speeds up fermentation, helping us counteract the salt in the dough, which can kill yeast, and ensuring we get a decent overall rise.
Gluten-free plain flour – No special bread flour is needed here; just plain gluten-free flour will do the trick, and any brand will do. I use the supermarket’s own brand from Woolies.
Salt – This is a secret flavour bomb ingredient. Salt not only adds taste to the dough but also boosts the other flavours.
Psyllium husk – Psyllium husk is a type of fibre that is readily available in all supermarkets. In gluten-free dough, it acts as a binder, improving the texture to ensure it isn’t too crumbly, and helps with the kneading and shaping.
Olive oil – This adds a wonderful flavour to your finished dough, and I highly recommend using a quality one. I used Cobram Estate Extra Virgin Olive Oil as I find this has a fantastic taste.
The secret ingredient – garlic butter! Check out the recipe below for when and how to use this for a complete flavour explosion!
Well done if you stuck with me long enough to read that journey! It was a lot. But, despite going through multiple bags of flour, two boxes of yeast and more cheese than I wish to remember, it has all been worth it. So, I present to you the very best gluten-free pizza you’ll ever make!
Gluten-free Pizza with Cheesy Stuffed Crust
Ingredients
- 230ml warm water
- 1 sachet (7g) instant yeast
- 2 tsp sugar
- 285g gluten-free plain flour, plus extra for dusting the surface
- 1½ tsp salt
- 12g psyllium husk
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- Approx. 140g firm mozzarella
- 30g salted butter
- 1-2 tsp minced garlic
- ½ tsp dried Italian herbs
- 2 tbsp pizza/tomato sauce
- Grated mozzarella and/or mozzarella slices (I use a bit of both)
- 1 tomato, thinly sliced
- Few basil leaves, to garnish
Method
- First, measure out the warm water and mix in the yeast and sugar. Don’t worry about getting it to dissolve; just a quick stir is fine. Cover and leave for 15 minutes until a foamy head has formed.
- Meanwhile, measure your dry ingredients in a clean bowl and stir to combine.
- Make a well in the middle and, when ready, add your yeast water mix and olive oil. Mix until combined. You can do this by hand or in a stand mixer. The dough will be very sticky, but you don’t have to worry about making it perfectly smooth at this stage. Grease your bowl with olive oil, place the dough inside and cover with greased clingfilm. Leave to prove in a warm place for 90 minutes or until doubled in size. Tip: Take a photo when you set the dough aside to prove; this will help you visually measure if it’s doubled in size later on.
- When the dough is ready, pop into the refrigerator for 3 hours or leave overnight. This step isn’t essential, but it will help develop the flavours and make your baked pizza even better if you have the time. If you can’t wait to tuck in, skipping straight to the next step is also fine.
- Heat a pizza stone or overturned baking tray in an oven set to 240°C/475°F/Gas Mark 9.
- Lightly dust your surface with gluten-free flour and tip out the dough. Knead for a couple of minutes until smooth. If you’ve refrigerated the dough, this will be much easier. If you haven’t, persevere and avoid adding too much extra flour. The more you knead, the easier it will become.
- Roll out your pizza into approximately a 12-inch circle. Transfer to baking paper. If you've refrigerated your dough, allow it to come up to room temperature before completing the next step to ensure a soft, perfectly chewy bake.
- Cut your firm mozzarella into sticks and line all the way around your pizza, about 1cm in from the edge. Using your finger or a pastry brush, spread a little water around the inside of the mozzarella ring. This will help your dough seal when you roll the crust.
- Carefully lift the edges of the dough and roll it over and slightly under the mozzarella batons. It’s easiest to roll the dough over the top of all the mozzarella first, then go back and start tucking the dough slightly under the mozzarella, pinching the inside edges to ensure the crust has sealed with the base. Make sure there are no holes, tears or gaps. Prick the base with a fork all over, and use the baking paper to lift your dough on to the pre-heated tray or stone. Par-bake for 6 minutes.
- While baking, make the garlic butter. Melt the butter completely, then mix with the minced garlic and dried herbs.
- Take the pizza out of the oven and lightly brush the whole thing (base and crust) with the melted garlic butter. Put back in the oven and continue par-baking for another 4 minutes. Par-baking the base helps avoids a soggy crust, while the baked-in butter baste creates a seal to ensure the tomato sauce doesn’t soak the whole thing and make it too soft.
- Take the pizza out of the oven and lift it off the tray using the baking paper. Replace the tray in the oven to continue holding its heat while you top the pizza. Spread your tomato sauce over the base and sprinkle over your shredded cheese. Top with the tomato slices and a few slices of mozzarella, if using.
- Return to the oven, this time removing the baking paper and placing the pizza directly on to the hot stone or baking tray. This will be easy to do now the pizza is par-baked. Bake for a further 15-20 minutes until the crust is golden.
- Remove from the oven and generously brush the stuffed crust with the remaining garlic butter (you can pop this in the microwave for a few seconds if it has started to solidify). Leave for 5 minutes to cool slightly (if you can resist!) Sprinkle with a few torn basil leaves, slice and enjoy!