I love pizza.
Let me say that again in case it wasn’t clear.
I LOVE PIZZA.
When I went gluten free in 2019, this was one of the saddest things to give up. I used to devour $2 Costco pizza slices, and I still get enticed by that strong aroma of melted cheese and baked bread walking past the food court.
I’ve tried my share of cauliflower crust pizzas, frozen gf pizzas, imitation pizza chips, and gluten free alternatives. Each are fine, but never really hit the spot. I was beginning to lose hope of ever having a truly satisfying bite of pizza again. Eating good pizza, like becoming a rockstar or being a world class Olympic athlete, became one of those far off myths. Not for me. Not in this lifetime.
But every time I walked past a Costco food court, pizza would call back to me. This gluten free curse wouldn’t allow me enjoy one of my favorite things, yet the siren call in the form of the aromas of melted cheese kept pulling me back! I was trapped.
My wife and I tried making gluten free doughs from the ground up and … It was a disaster. Gluten free dough isn’t as malleable or forgiving as wheat dough. It breaks up easily. It doesn’t form or bend well. Form the dough too thin and it may create holes in the pizza base as it bakes. Go too far the other way and you risk making a top-thick crust that just isn’t fun to eat. Sigh.
After a few years, I stumbled upon Trader Joe’s refrigerated gluten free pizza dough. It was a game changer. I went from eating just unhealthy frozen gf pizzas once every few months to home made pizza with fresh ingredients every… too often for my wife’s liking.
It bakes easy and doesn’t require waiting for the dough to rise, which saves a lot of time.
Here’s a Margherita with some mushroom.
Here’s a pepperoni.
Ooh and here’s another with fresh tomatoes and mushrooms
You get it. Here’s the recipe.
Gluten Free Mushroom Pizza
Equipment
- 1 Dough roller
- 1 Baking pan
- 12"x12" Parchment paper
Ingredients
- 1 Trader Joe's gluten free pizza dough (makes two thin pizzas or one thicker pizza)
- 4 oz Freshly grated mozzarella cheese
- 1 tbsp Olive oil (extra virgin)
- 5-10 tbsp Tomato Paste
- 10 Thinly sliced white button mushrooms
- 2 pinch All purpose gluten free flour
Instructions
- Add half of the 2 pinch All purpose gluten free flour on a large cutting board or clean countertop surface. This flour keeps the dough from sticking to itself and to surfaces. Add more flour as needed throughout the flattening process.
- Cut the 1 Trader Joe's gluten free pizza dough in half and set one half aside. This helps make a thinner crust pizza. Work with one half dough at a time then bake together.
- Using a dough roller, flatten the pizza dough as much as possible. I like to turn one half of the pizza dough into ~12" circle. I like to roll up the edges a bit to make a slightly thicker crust. I also like to use parchment
- If making two thin pizzas (with the single gf pizza dough), flatten that dough now as well so you can add oil, tomato paste, and toppings to both pizzas at the same time.
- Set oven to 360°F on bake.
- Once flattened to your liking, add half of the 1 tbsp Olive oil to the pizza. Using a cooking brush, spread the oil around the top and around the crust of the dough.
- Add half of the 5-10 tbsp Tomato Paste to the top of the the pizza. Spread over the dough except for over the crust.
- Grate the 4 oz Freshly grated mozzarella cheese into a bowl and add on the uncooked pizza. Use more cheese to your liking if you want gooey melty goodness.
- Add 10 Thinly sliced white button mushrooms evenly on top of the cheese. Don't worry about over-crowding, the mushrooms will shrink. You can add other toppings here as you like. Add a few more pinches of shredded mozzarella cheese on top of the mushrooms.
- Once oven has pre-heated to 360°F, add both pizzas. Bake for 12-16 minutes. If your oven is like mine and can fit one pizza per level, make sure you periodically check how the cheese and crust is cooked.
- Once finished, remove pizzas from the oven and allow to cool for 2 minutes. Using a pizza cutter (or large knife), but the pizza into slices to your liking.
- Plate and enjoy!
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