Google+ Allergy-Free Vintage Cookery: Crazy Salad Pizza

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Monday, September 26, 2011

Crazy Salad Pizza


Yes, I know, pizza is usually covered with cheese, but in our house, cheese is a major trigger for a number of nasty symptoms all five of us.  Coupled with the gluten intolerance in the kids, we haven't been Dominos' best customers lately.

This week however, I found a cool recipe for quick-rise focaccia dough in The Mediterranean Vegan Kitchen cookbook (ready to bake in 30 minutes), and thought "Hey! This could work for a pizza!"  (I think with a lot of exclamation points.) (!)

After changing the flour to a combination of teff and sorghum, I invited each boy to choose his own toppings (always a fun activity).  Their choices ranged from julienned salami to raw onions to cauliflower & tomatoes ... no one wanted any sauce, and the cheese wasn't even missed!  We made a special pizza for VintageDad featuring salsa, tomatillos, tomatoes, cauliflower and caramelized onions.  He had a minor freak-out when he saw it because he thought the cauliflower was feta cheese, but that was quickly straightened out :)

Everyone loved his own personal pizza, but I wanted something special for myself.  I had started making salad to go with the pizzas, and that little lightbulb went on over my head.  I baked my pizza crust naked, then topped it with my salad!  I had some spring mix lettuce and diced tomatoes tossed with a tiny bit of olive oil and salt, then I stole a few of VintageDad's caramelized onions for the top....and It. Was. Awesome!  It might have looked a little funny, but I. Loved. It.

The crust was thin and crunchy at the edges, and so nice and hearty (and dark).  The salad had a nice snap, and the onions were sweet and mellow... a little bit of a lot of different textures and flavors that blended into one of my new late-night cravings :)

Crazy Salad Pizza (makes one 10" pizza)

1.5 cups teff flour
1.5 cups sorghum flour
1/2 cup additional flour of choice
1 package quick acting yeast
1 tsp salt, divided
1 cup very warm water
3 Tbsp olive oil, divided
2 cups spring mix lettuce
1 ripe tomato, diced
1/2 onion, sliced in rings

Preheat your oven to 200 degrees F.  Oil a baking sheet and set aside.  Mix 1 cup teff and 1 cup sorghum flour with yeast and 1/2 tsp salt.  Add water and 1 Tbsp oil, then stir in remaining 1/2 cups of teff and sorghum flour.  Knead for about 10 minutes, adding additional flour if needed until you have a springy ball of dough.  Shape dough into a ball, cover with a dish towel and let rest for 10 minutes.

Start your caramelized onions while you are waiting.  Cook onions in 1/2 tsp oil over medium-low heat, stirring occasionally, until golden brown.

After the dough has rested, place it on your baking sheet and press into a round shape (do not roll).  Focaccia typically is not flat, but shows the indentations of the chef's fingers (part of its charm!) so don't worry about making your pizza crust beautiful.

Dampen your dish towel, drape over your dough, and set the baking sheet in the oven.  Turn off the oven immediately and let the dough rise in the warm oven for 20 minutes.  At some point during this rising time, your onions will be done.  Set aside.

Remove the baking sheet from the oven and turn on the heat to 400 degrees F.  Spread 1 Tbsp olive oil over the top of your crust and sprinkle with 1/2 tsp salt.  Bake for 20 - 25 minutes.  (If you choose to add different toppings, now would be the time.)

Meanwhile, mix lettuce, tomatoes, olive oil and salt.  Cool the crust slightly, then top with salad mixture and caramelized onions.  Serve warm or at room temperature.

Shared with Monday Mania at The Healthy Home Economist and the Homestead Barn Hop at The Prairie Homestead and Just Another Meatless Monday at Hey What's For Dinner Mom? and Makin' You Crave Monday at Mrs. Happy Homemaker and Melt In Your Mouth Monday at Make Ahead Meals for Busy Moms and Mangia Mondays at Delightfully Dowling and On The Menu Monday at The Stone Gable and Just Something I Whipped Up at The Girl Creative and Real Food 101 at Ruth's Real Food and the Hearth and Soul Hop with Premeditated Leftovers and Slightly Indulgent Tuesday at Simply Sugar and Gluten Free and Tuesday Confessional at Confessions of a Stay at Home Mom and Fat Tuesday at Real Food Forager and Gluten Free Wednesday at the Gluten Free Homemaker and Real Food Wednesday at Kelly the Kitchen Kop and What's Cooking Wednesday at The King's Court IV and These Chicks Cooked at This Chick Cooks and Simple Lives Thursday at GNOWFGLINS and Pennywise Platter Thursday at the Nourishing Gourmet and Wellness Weekend at Diet Dessert and Dogs and Freaky Friday at Real Food Freaks and Creative Genius at The Creative Paige.

6 comments:

  1. Kim @ Welcoming KitchenSeptember 26, 2011 at 6:45 PM

    Your pizza looks great! I'm going to try your recipe soon! We love pizza at our house, too.

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  2. That pizza does look great. I have lots of fresh tomatoes from our garden that would be great on it.
    I am following your blog on GFC and put your button on mine.
    Pam from MBS.
    www.pmaynardwrites.blogspot.com

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  3. Looks wonderful! Ever since I cut dairy from my diet, I've always thought of pizza as "flat open-faced sandwich." So having roasted veggies on it, or olives and pesto, or salad--they're all perfect sandwich toppings and don't seem unusual at all to me! :)

    Thanks for submitting to Wellness Weekend this week--sounds like a great crust.

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  4. The pizza looks amazing! I haven't made pizza since taking the whole family dairy free, this looks like a delicious way to restart the tradition.

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  5. I love this idea! Thanks for sharing with the Hearth and Soul.

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  6. Looks yummy! I'm trying to go dairy free for a while (maybe wheat as well). I have a newborn that I breastfeed and even though no one in my family has allergies, I thought that getting rid of the dairy might reduce my newborns colic. We will see! Anyway, I make salad pizza too. I usually put some refried beans on the crust, then pizza sauce, cheese (but this could easily be left out), top with lettuce, tomatoes, olives and then pour on some salad dressing or taco sauce. So basically it's a Mexican bean pizza of sorts. :)

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