The Quest for Gluten Free Pizza

So I've really done a great job creating gluten free cookies. I think they're delicious and, while I haven't eaten gluten (at least not on purpose) for two a half years, I think they're pretty much identical to their glutenous counterparts. There wasn't a whole lot of trial and error towards my quest for the perfect gluten free pie crust, cookies (of all sorts of varieties), and cakes. The first cake that I felt really good about was for my friend Wendy's birthday, she's not gluten free and thought it was delicious. It was a tres leches cake that knocked everyone's socks off.

So here's the thing. Before even knowing what gluten intolerance was, I used to practically medicate myself with pizza. If pizzavore was a thing, I was it. Pizza was my muse. I made pizza with love, I used my pizza stone at least once a week, and a long day's work was often rewarded with the best New York style pizza within delivery area. You get the picture.

Now my stomach writhes in pain when slight morsel of pizza graces my mouth, real pizza, the kind that's chewy and greasy and doughy...yeah...doughy.

The first gluten free pizza I made came out of a Whole Foods box. After letting the dough rise and mixing in egg (egg, weird right?), I literally pasted it into a large glass brownie pan. The taste was good, the texture was alright, the whole experience was both disappointing and exciting at the same time.

The best gluten free pizza ever goes to Picazzo's, a casual-yet-fancy-pants pizza chain that is based in Arizona (and have no stores in Washington...bumz). They take care to keep their ingredients separated and the pizza is good, real good, good enough to make me lazy in my quest to create the best gluten free pizza.

But Arizona is 1,500 miles away and I want pizza now. Really good pizza. So I'm going to keep updating this blog with my successes.

For now, I suggest you make a cast iron polenta pizza.
3/4 cups of dried polenta
2.5 cups of water
1 teaspoon of salt
A pinch of Italian seasoning
A pinch of crushed red pepper
one clove of garlic, finely minced

Combine all these in a sauce pan until the polenta is thick, pour into a greasy cast iron skillet (you may want to add some extra oil to the skillet before putting the polenta in). Bake for 30 minutes at 350-ish. Then add your pizza toppings when the center begins to turn solid.