Gluten-Free Sicilian Pizza
Speed - 98%
Simplicity - 100%
Tastiness - 99%
99%
Yummy!
The crust did come out crisp on the edges and airy inside. The simple combination of cheese, tomatoes, anchovies, and garlic was superb.
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 1.75 Cups Brown Rice Flour
- 1/2 Cup Potato Starch
- 1/4 Cup Tapioca Starch
- 1/4 Cup Cornmeal
- 1.5 Teaspoons Xanthan Gum
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 Cup olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- 1 Cup Warm Water
For the Toppings
- 1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese
- 1 Tin Anchovies
- 2 Pieces Roma Tomatoes sliced
- 2 Cloves garlic minced
Instructions
- Combine yeast, sugar, and water in a bowl. Leave to bloom for 10 minutes.
- Combine the brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, cornmeal, xanthan gum, and salt in a bowl.
- Add the olive oil and active yeast mixture into the dry ingredients.
- Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface.
- Set the dough to rise in a lightly oiled bowl. Leave for an hour.
- Brush a rectangular pan with olive oil. Dust with more cornmeal.
- Press the dough onto the prepared pizza pan.
- Pre-bake the dough for 5 minutes at 425 F.
- Top the pizza.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes at 425F.
Perhaps the easiest to prepare among the traditional pizzas, a Sicilian does have distinct characteristics that make it worthy of all the fame. I’ll keep those in mind as I try to create a gluten-free version of this classic.
Almost synonymous to a thick crust that’s chewy and airy is yeast. So, let’s work some good yeast into our dough. I always start by activating my yeast in warm water and sugar so I can work on my other ingredients while I wait for that yeast to bloom.
Here where simply whisking together the flours – brown rice, potato, and tapioca.
We’ll be adding xanthan gum into this mix to somehow mimic that chewy crust a Sicilian dough is known for.
When the yeast mixture is all foamy, stir it into the dry ingredients together with the olive oil.
Transfer the dough onto a lightly floured surface and knead by hand just until it comes together into a smooth ball. A minute or two should be enough.
Set the dough in a lightly oiled bowl and leave it to rise for about 30 minutes to an hour.
The dough will rise, though not as much one made from gluten-free flours.
One thing I may love the most out of a typical Sicilian pizza would be how that crust crisps up on the bottom and edges while remaining soft and chewy on the inside. So how do we do that?
Oil has to go into the base of the baking pan, causing the crust to “fry” and crisp up better as the pizza bakes.
We’ll dust the pan with a little extra cornmeal too, so our pizza can easily come off the pan in the end.
Unlike your typical dough, we’ll have to “pre-bake” this crust so it can set a bit and hold our toppings better. Five minutes at 425F would be enough.
Take the crust out of the oven and put your favorite toppings on. I chose to top mine with mozzarella, tomatoes, anchovies, and garlic. . . much like how you’d get a pizza from Sicily.
Finally, return your pizza to the oven to finish baking. It has to go on the lower rack this time for the bottom of the crust to crisp up.
Sicilian Pizza
As the name suggests, Sicilian pizza has its origins in Italy and it is another popular type of traditional pizza. Nevertheless, there is also considerable variations to the style.
The one that I have focused on here is rectangular in nature and tends to call for herbs, fresh tomatoes, cheese and anchovies. While that choice of toppings may not work for everybody, it is a very traditional combination.
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Sicilian pizza tends to be square with thick dough and a crunchy base. This shape of pizza would be perfect for a gas grill Bakerstone insert if you want to cook outdoors rather than inside during summer weather. Nevertheless, the interior of the pizza is relatively airy with air pockets throughout.
However, there are two main versions of Sicilian pizza. The first is as I described above, although the crust may also end up spongier. The second is an Americanized version. This style is still served as a rectangle (or a square) and still makes use of a thick base.
One key difference is the toppings, with the Americanized version typically relying on mozzarella cheese and tomato sauce as the main toppings. In some cases, the order will be reversed, with the sauce on the top. Doing so helps to prevent the sauce from soaking into the dough too much.
The topping selection is often expanded on as well, so you will frequently see Sicilian pizza with similar toppings to other pizza styles. Such an approach can work well if you’re not interested in traditional flavors. After all, Sicilian pizza does result in a thick base, which would stand up well to a wide range of different toppings.
Gluten Free Variations
Needless to say, any gluten-free version of Sicilian pizza is going to depart from traditional approaches considerably. After all, gluten free dough simply doesn’t behave in the same way as a wheat-based dough.
Nevertheless, I was pleased with the way that this pizza turned out. It still looks very close to what you would expect from a Sicilian pizza and the texture is fairly similar as well. If nothing else, the approach is great simply for a pizza that is a little different than normal.
And, don’t worry, feel free to change out the toppings if you don’t like the traditional ones that I went with.
Ingredients
For the Dough
- 1.75 Cups Brown Rice Flour
- 1/2 Cup Potato Starch
- 1/4 Cup Tapioca Starch
- 1/4 Cup Cornmeal
- 1.5 Teaspoons Xanthan Gum
- 1 Teaspoon Salt
- 1/4 Cup olive oil
- 1 Tablespoon Active Dry Yeast
- 1 Tablespoon Sugar
- 1 Cup Warm Water
For the Toppings
- 1 Cup Mozzarella Cheese
- 1 Tin Anchovies
- 2 Pieces Roma Tomatoes sliced
- 2 Cloves garlic minced
Instructions
- Combine yeast, sugar, and water in a bowl. Leave to bloom for 10 minutes.
- Combine the brown rice flour, potato starch, tapioca flour, cornmeal, xanthan gum, and salt in a bowl.
- Add the olive oil and active yeast mixture into the dry ingredients.
- Knead the dough on a lightly floured surface.
- Set the dough to rise in a lightly oiled bowl. Leave for an hour.
- Brush a rectangular pan with olive oil. Dust with more cornmeal.
- Press the dough onto the prepared pizza pan.
- Pre-bake the dough for 5 minutes at 425 F.
- Top the pizza.
- Bake for 10-15 minutes at 425F.
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