Gluten-Free Deep Dish Pizza
Speed - 97%
Simplicity - 97%
Tastiness - 98%
97%
Tasty!
This gluten-free pizza dough recipe easily held up that much filling in this classic deep dish. It didn't turn soggy either, as you might expect.
Ingredients
For the Pizza Dough
- 2.5 Cups Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour
- 1/4 Cup Cornmeal
- 2 Teaspoons Yeast
- 2 Teaspoons Sugar
- 1.5 Teaspoons Xanthan Gum
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 Cup olive oil
- 3/4 Cup Warm Water
For the Filling
- 1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese
- 1 Cup Chopped Salami
- 1 Tin Crushed Tomatoes
Instructions
- Combine yeast, sugar, and water in a bowl. Leave for 10 minutes.
- Whisk together the gluten-free flour, cornmeal, salt, and xanthan gum in a bowl.
- Add the yeast mixture and olive oil into the dry ingredients. Stir until dough comes together.
- Knead the dough.
- Set the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and leave to rise for an hour.
- Flatten the dough with a rolling pin.
- Press the dough onto a 9-inch pie pan.
- Bake the crust for 5 minutes at 425F.
- Spread the cheese on the bottom of the crust.
- Top the cheese with chopped salami.
- Finish the layers with crushed tomatoes.
- Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes.
To be honest, I’ve had many unsuccessful attempts at gluten-free baking and found that my dough was too crumbly with most of them. Having worked on several gluten-free flour alternatives for a pizza dough, I finally had the courage to attempt one that would hold good enough for a classic deep dish.
It all again starts with activating some yeast in a mix of warm water and sugar.
Though not as effective as when used with flour of high gluten content, yeast does add some airiness to make a gluten-free dough less dense. In addition, it gives that distinct ‘freshly-baked’ flavor that we are accustomed to.
While the yeast is left to bloom, whisk all the dry ingredients in a bowl – gluten-free all-purpose flour, cornmeal, salt, and xanthan gum.
Make a well in the center of your dry ingredients and pour in the olive oil and active yeast mixture. Stir it with a wooden spoon until everything just comes together.
Tip the dough onto a surface dusted with more gluten-free flour and knead it until smooth. Unlike your typical pizza dough, this will take just a minute or so.
Set the ball of dough onto a lightly oiled bowl and leave to rise for at least 30 minutes.
This dough would rise significantly although not as much as you would expect from a typical pizza dough.
Flatten the dough with a rolling pin, aiming for a uniform thickness of about 2mm.
Transfer the dough carefully into a pie pan then trim off any excess with a knife.
Don’t worry if your dough breaks while doing so. You can simply patch it on back into place.
Let the dough set firm by giving it a pre-bake of 5 minutes at 425F.
Then, start getting your filling in. Cheese may burn over the extended baking time that a deep dish would need so it’ll have to go first at the bottom of your pie.
Next to go in would be your meat of choice.
Finish the layers with a good spread of crushed tomatoes.
This pie goes back in the oven for about 25-30 minutes.
Ingredients
For the Pizza Dough
- 2.5 Cups Gluten-Free All-Purpose Flour
- 1/4 Cup Cornmeal
- 2 Teaspoons Yeast
- 2 Teaspoons Sugar
- 1.5 Teaspoons Xanthan Gum
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 Cup olive oil
- 3/4 Cup Warm Water
For the Filling
- 1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese
- 1 Cup Chopped Salami
- 1 Tin Crushed Tomatoes
Instructions
- Combine yeast, sugar, and water in a bowl. Leave for 10 minutes.
- Whisk together the gluten-free flour, cornmeal, salt, and xanthan gum in a bowl.
- Add the yeast mixture and olive oil into the dry ingredients. Stir until dough comes together.
- Knead the dough.
- Set the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and leave to rise for an hour.
- Flatten the dough with a rolling pin.
- Press the dough onto a 9-inch pie pan.
- Bake the crust for 5 minutes at 425F.
- Spread the cheese on the bottom of the crust.
- Top the cheese with chopped salami.
- Finish the layers with crushed tomatoes.
- Bake at 350F for 15-20 minutes.
Deep Dish Pizza
Deep dish pizza is one of my favorite pizza choices – simply because you tend to get more cheese and toppings that you do with any other type of pizza. This results in a very hearty meal. And, the recipe here actually turned out really good when you consider that it is entirely gluten-free.
Get Gluten Free All Purpose Flour on Amazon!
Granted, there are still some differences but then again, there always would be. After all, we default to wheat flour for pizzas partly out of tradition and partly because the flour is simply so effective. Still, this gluten-free alternative did turn out well and is a great option for anybody who needs to avoid gluten.
As for tradition, deep dish pizza is also known as Chicago-style pizza and was developed, not surprisingly, in Chicago. Documentation is lacking, so it isn’t actually clear who developed the pizza or what the motivation was. However, it’s certainly obvious that deep dish pizza has become popular – with many different variations out there.
Making Deep Dish Pizza
Unlike regular pizza, deep dish pizza tends to be prepared in a pie pan, rather than on a flat sheet. This is essential for maintaining the structural integrity of the pizza. The style means that you end up with something that is shaped more like an actual pie, rather than a traditional pizza.
If you’re making this pizza on your grill, I highly recommend the Bakerstone Box, since its better suited to the pie pan than other alternatives.
The overall approach also results in interesting considerations, particularly when it comes to the toppings.
As I showed in this recipe, you cannot put the cheese on top with a deep dish pizza, as it would burn. As a result, the ingredients are typically included in the reverse order to normal. This is also why the top of the pizza is normally where you find the pizza sauce, rather than the bottom.
Variations on Deep Dish
Needless to say, everybody makes deep dish pizza slightly differently. In fact, the style is simply based on structure, rather than ingredients. As a result, there is no rule about what you can (or cannot) include in a deep dish pizza.
As most people will attest, recipes that are heavy on cheese and meat often work well, especially as they result in a gooey and tasty pizza. However, there are also many vegan deep dish pizzas (like this one here) that follow a similar style. So, you have no shortage of options at your fingertips.
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