Making the switch to a gluten-free lifestyle hasn’t been the trauma it could have been; I say that because most of the challenge in being gluten-free comes in the form of baked goods and I didn’t bake that often. I mean, I certainly never made it a regular habit to bake a loaf of bread, doughnuts, croissants or puff pasty – but making a great gluten-free pizza was the one food I craved most.
It seems I am not alone in my love for pizza – did you know that Las Vegas holds the world’s largest ‘pizza-only’ trade show? Americans eat 3 billion pizzas every year (that’s a lot of pizza!) with more pizzas ordered during the Super Bowl than any other time of the year – Halloween ranks right up there too! Pepperoni is the number one topping of choice (you knew that already, right?) But what you may not know is that there is a high number of pizzerias within five miles of every computer center – yep, we’re all crazy for pizza.
This recipe from Nancy Silverton’s Mozza is hands-down our favorite pizza – and just in case you need another endorsement, The Professor and I made this pizza for Shauna, Danny and Lu on our recent trip to Seattle and The Chef was singing its praises from the rafters . . . regardless, we can’t seem to get enough of this beautiful pie.
NOTE: The fennel pollen is key to the success of this pizza; it is pricey and you’ll probably need to order it as most grocery stores won’t stock it on their shelves. You could toast fennel seed, and then grind – this won’t have the same punch as you get from fennel pollen, but it will do in a pinch.
GLUTEN-FREE PIZZA WITH SAUSAGE, CREAM AND SCALLIONS
Slightly adapted from The Mozza Cookbook
Makes 2, 8-inch pizzas
INGREDIENTS:
- Your favorite Gluten-Free Crust
- 2 Spicy Italian turkey sausages (approximately 8 ounces, give or take)
- Extra virgin olive oil
- Kosher salt
- ½ cup heavy whipping cream, whipped to soft peaks
- 3-4 ounces low-moisture mozzarella, torn into ½-inch pieces
- 3 scallions, cut on the diagonal; trim the green end slightly, then begin slicing from that end
- 1/4 cup thinly sliced purple onion
- 2 Tablespoons fennel pollen
METHOD:
- Make your gluten-free dough as much as a day ahead (this gives the dough a chance to develop that ‘yeasty’ flavor)
- Preheat oven to 500 degrees; if you have a pizza stone, place in your oven as it pre-heats, preferably on the floor of the oven
- Remove sausage casings and break links into 2-3 pieces; lay on a baking sheet lined with parchment and bake for about 6 minutes. Set aside to cool.
- Roll or press out dough between 2 pieces of parchment; remove top piece of parchment and push back the edges of the dough to create somewhat of a ‘rolled’ or ‘mounded’ edge; sprinkle the dough with kosher salt and brush the edge with olive oil
- Place dough, on the parchment, directly on the pizza stone (if using); otherwise, place dough, on parchment, onto a baking sheet and then into the oven.
- Bake dough for about 6-8 minutes or until the bottom of the crust is golden brown and the top of the crust is still tender, yet par-baked; remove from oven and cool for 5-7 minutes; remove the crust from the parchment
- Spread whipped cream onto cooled crust, starting in the center, moving cream out towards the edges – leave a 1-inch rim with no cream
- Break turkey sausages into bite-sized pieces and scatter over the cream; scatter the cheese, then the scallions and purple onion
- Place under the broiler for 2-3 minutes until cheese is melted and is a nice, golden brown
- Remove from oven and sprinkle with fennel pollen
- Drizzle with a bit more olive oil, cut into slices and serve
Tried your GF sourdough baguettes with some success. Didn’t see the 3-4 hour rise time so it was not as full as I would have preferred (and will try again) but dough handled beautifully and the flavor was definitely there.
You suggest this dough makes great pizza crust which I would like to try. Your recipe for pizza does not cover the sourdough crust pizza.
I would love a little more detail on how to prepare crust using your Sourdough baguette recipe. How many/how long the rising, refrigerate over night? and timing (how much time ahead, etc.) of building the crust.
Thank you!
Wow, what a great looking pizza! And a wonderful idea about switching to gluten-free. These are definitely the flavours I love on a pizza. Beautiful.
This looks fantastic! Even though it’s not gluten free… I’m totally thrilled I have pizza dough ready for dinner tonight! I’ve been tortured by pizza posts for too long 😉
Cream on pizza…now why haven’t I thought of that? The bakery down the road makes the most delicious GF muffins. I should get their recipe and share it with you. This pizza looks just delicious, my friend. Thank you for sharing!
Someone is eating my share!! 🙂
I rarely eat pizza, but when I do, it’s a whole wheat crust and veggie toppings. Mozza would have the best! And yours looks fabulous. When my daughter comes home next time, perhaps I can talk her into making it with me.
Gluten free or not it’s the topping that is making me drool here! Divine!
Love it!! Looks great for GF and the toppings are delish!
I have honestly never eaten a gluten free pizza before. And even more honest I have never really eaten many gluten free baked goods either. I suppose that comes from the need not being there. I recently became aware that an old friend had been diagnosed with Celiac disease, misdiagnosed for months, like many. I directed her to your site, as well as Shauna’s. I know she will be super excited about this, as we all love pizza like you said. I am a huge fan of it, and I will have to try this since I never have had any dough like this. Thank you:).