For me it has been a big challenge to make a gluten free pizza crust that tastes good. I spent two weeks in Italy working with a pizza chef learning to make pizza before opening my restaurant. I love my gluten filled pizza dough, the way it feels in my hands and I love tossing it in the air. Gluten free dough is a different animal. This crust uses fresh zucchini and mozzarella, its delicious. A few tips: do not take a short cut and think you don’t have to squeeze the moisture out of the zucchini – you will be surprised how much water is released. For the crust use a drier, firmer mozzarella, you do not need extra moisture. Save the fresh, moist mozzarella for the topping.
- 8 cups shredded zucchini
- 1 cup shredded mozzarella cheese (dry or firmer mozzarella)
- 2/3 cup gluten-free all-purpose flour
- 2 cloves garlic, pressed or minced
- 2 tsp dried oregano
- 2 tsp basil
- 2 eggs, beaten
- 1/2 tsp salt
Preheat oven to 500°F with a pizza stone pre-baking in it.
In a large bowl, toss the zucchini with 1 teaspoon coarse salt and set aside for 15 minutes. Squeeze the excess moisture out of the zucchini by wrapping it up in a piece of cheese cloth and wringing it out.
Once all of the excess moisture has been wrung out, place the shredded zucchini back into the bowl and add the mozzarella cheese, flour, garlic, oregano, basil, eggs, and salt. Using clean hands, mix all of the ingredients together.
Place the zucchini mixture onto a piece of parchment paper at least 15″ in diameter, set on pizza pan that will make it easy to transfer into the oven.
Using your fingers, spread the zucchini crust mixture to form a circle about 14” in diameter, 1/2″ thick. Pinch the edges up so that it forms a nice crust.
Once the pizza crust has been shaped, transfer the crust on the parchment paper onto the heated pizza stone in the oven. Bake for 8-12 minutes or until the crust starts to brown.
Once the zucchini crust has baked transfer the pizza on the parchment paper out of the oven, onto pizza pan.
Top the pizza with sauce and any additional toppings that you’d like. Once the toppings are on, transfer the pizza on the parchment paper back onto the heated pizza stone in the oven and bake for an additional 4-6 minutes.
Quick Pizza Sauce:
1 large can Glen Muir Organic crushed fire roasted tomatoes
3 cloves garlic
2 teaspoons dry basil
2 teaspoons dry oregano
1 teaspoon sea salt
1/2 teaspoon pepper
1/2 teaspoon crushed red pepper
Place all ingredients in food processor and pulse until smooth. Taste and adjust seasoning to your liking.