Chicago Pizza, GF

By MaryEllen

Taken from my new Gluten Free Pizza e-book, this recipe for Gluten Free Stuffed Crust Pizza is one of my most impressive. The recipe makes a huge, deep dish gluten free pizza that could easily feed 8-10 people, depending on how hungry they are.

Ingredients

• Ingredients
• 2 2 2 gfJules™ Pizza Crust Recipes or entire bag or canister of gfJules™ Pizza Crust Mix
• 8-16 8-16 8-16 ounces fresh spinach (the more spinach, the thicker the stuffing layer)
• 12 12 12 ounces mozzarella or non-dairy mozzarella-style cheese, grated (I use Go Veggie™ Mozzarella Style)
• 2 2 2 cups gluten-free pizza or marinara sauce of choice (most brands are GF) – room temperature
• 2 2 2 Tbs. gluten-free cornmeal (or whole millet ground in a food processor or blender) – optional
• Olive oil for pan and your hands
• any toppings you like on your pizza: mushrooms; pepperoni; peppers; onions … etc.

Details

Servings 8
Adapted from gfjules.com

Preparation

Step 1

Steam the spinach in a large covered pot filled with 1/2 inch of water. Turn the heat to medium-high and cover the pot until the spinach is wilted. Drain the spinach, then return to the pot. Stir the cheese into the hot spinach and mix well. Set aside.

Oil a deep dish pizza pan or large dark colored cake pan (9-10 inches or larger) or springform pan, ideally (makes the pizza easier to cut and remove). Sprinkle cornmeal evenly across the bottom after oiling.

After making the pizza dough, separate it into two: one contains approximately 2/3 of the dough, one contains 1/3 of the dough. From the dough, scoop out smaller pieces to arrange on the bottom and sides of the prepared pan. (Steps 1-4, pictured below)

Using your hands (rub oil between your hands before touching the sticky dough), press the dough pieces together across the bottom of the pan and up the sides of the pan. The dough should cover the bottom and sides with an even thickness, and if possible, lay up and over the outside top edge of the pan. Remember – it doesn’t matter how messy or haphazard the dough looks to you at this point, just try to get it to a fairly even thickness.

Spread the wilted spinach and cheese evenly across the dough, coming all the way to the edge of the pan where the dough begins to go up the sides. (Step 5, pictured below)

Dust a piece of parchment or a silicone baking mat and rolling pin well with gfJules™ All-Purpose Gluten Free Flour. Place the remaining pizza dough in the center of the floured mat and dust with more flour. Lay a piece of parchment or plastic wrap on top and begin to gently roll the dough out in all directions, adding more flour if necessary to keep the dough from sticking. (Steps 6-8, pictured below)

Once the dough is rolled to the diameter of your pan, the dough is ready to lift and top the other crust.



Place one hand on top of the covered, rolled out the dough, and another underneath the mat to flip the crust onto the parchment or plastic wrap side, then flip back on top of the stuffed pizza. Peel off the parchment or plastic wrap – don’t worry if it sticks or rips at all, just press it back into place once the parchment or wrap is removed. Remember, this crust will be covered too, so no one will see any blemishes in the crust even if you have to patch it back together!

Press the edges of the two crusts together and pinch. Wet the crusts lightly if they are not sticking together because the top one is floured.

Pole a few holes in the top crust with a fork to prevent it from having large air bubbles. Cover with parchment and place it in a warm spot to rise for 30 minutes (an oven set to 200°F then turned off is a good place).

Preheat oven to 375°F.

After rising, brush oil on top of the crust. Remove parchment and bake pizza for approximately 30 minutes.

Spread pizza sauce and any toppings on top of the second crust and return to the oven to bake another 10-15 minutes.