Deep Dish Pizza Round TWO

Tuna and I managed a weekend without a trip to Mellow Mushroom, which has been a staple in our social agenda the past month or so. This left me with a craving, nay, a need, for pizza. I struggle to buy gluten free pizza dough mixes for two reasons. One, they all call for eggs. De-veganizing the pizza crust. Minus one point. Two, I am fundamentally opposed to baking mixes as a cooking staple. Sure, I've made a Funfetti cake or two (ten), particularly in a pinch, but baking mixes/boxes/pre-made doughs, etc take all the fun out of being in the kitchen!

I am determined to make a delicious gluten free, vegan pizza crust. And I've deemed deep dish my first endeavor. My first deep dish pizza was amazing. But a little crumbly. And a bit bland without the delicious toppings. With version two, I wanted to make a tasty and more pliable dough. No crumbles.The key changes were adding an egg substitute (in this case, pumpkin) and dried herbs. I tweaked the flour mixture a bit to use less oat flour too.

Ingredients:
1 cup of warm water (90-105 degrees)
1 packet of yeast
2 T honey
3/4 c sorghum flour
1 c oat flour
3 T potato starch
1/4 c + 3 T brown rice flour
1/2 c cornmeal
1/4 c pumpkin purée
2 T oil (I used half melted coconut and half EVOO)
1 tsp Greek or Italian seasoning
1 tsp garlic salt
Pizza toppings- vegetables, meats, sauce, cheese, herbs, etc.

Mix water, yeast, and honey. Set aside for 5 minutes to let the yeast activate. It should look foamy.

Combine flours, potato starch, herbs, salt, and cornmeal. Once yeast is ready, add it to the flours along with the oil and the pumpkin puree. Mix with a dough hook or knead by hand for 6-10 minutes. I mixed the dough for 6 minutes because I am impatient.

Place dough in a baking pan coated with coconut oil or other oil. Let it rise in the oven for 6-8 hours. Again, my dough did not seem to rise or multiply. It is still TBD if this step is necessary.

Press into a 9 in round baking pan.

Top with favorite pizza toppings, then cheese, then sauce. Then extra cheese to ID the vegan side. I want a delicious pizza in my belly. Not a belly ache.

Bake for 30-35 minutes at 350 degrees. Allow to cool for 5 minutes before cutting with a knife.

Is that not the most beautiful pizza you've ever seen?

Spillover sauce. What happens if you lack the patience for cooling.

Now that is a beautiful crust! Saving the best part for last.

The result? Amazing. Seriously. Make this for dinner ASAP. As you can see from the picture above, the crust is still somewhat textured. There is room for improvement. Next up? Cut the cornmeal (maybe dust the bottom only) and determine if the 6-8 hour rise time is needed. Who has the time for that anyways? And I may try a flax egg instead of pumpkin. Just to experiment with binders. As for you, get off your rump and make this pizza!

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