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Any idea what this monstrosity is?
Nope?
This one should be easier:
That’s right. They’re both pizza bases.
It tastes great, really...if only I could get it off the paper!
I know what you’re thinking. “How on earth did she manage to make such horrible looking pizza bases?”
Thanks for asking. If there was a special number of pizza disasters allotted to each person on the planet, I’ve totally used mine up now. Here are some things I’ve learned:
1) Always follow a recipe.
2) If you disregard tip #1 and make up a bread-like pizza dough thingy – ensure that it isn’t really liquidy. The wetter/thinner the mixture is the more it will stick to your baking paper. (See above pictures.)
3) I will cry if I can’t get pizza. Like my brother said, pizza is a basic human right. After considering that truth, the siblings gave me permission to go to the supermarket and spend their inheritance on some Venerdi pizza bases.
4) Shop bought pizza bases are really, really expensive. (See comment about inheritance.)
But you know what? They’re really tasty too.
They’re also what I like to call a “life-saver” – mainly because things could have become really ugly if I didn’t get pizza that evening.
But, yes, they’re expensive. I’m talking $7.50 for two bases. Don’t tell Mum.
Because pizza is a human right, at least in my house, on a scale of alright-to-awful, how terrible is it that bases are so expensive?! I feel like gluten-free companies are ripping us off.
But on the other hand I’m also really glad that I have access to pizza bases at my local supermarket. While I’m being thankful: I’m also glad that I have a bed to sleep on, running water and a sewage system that works. Yay. But the pizza is still expensive.
What are your views on pizza? Are you a closet ninja turtle like me (I bags being Raphael) or can you take it or leave it?
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Author information: Theresa, New Zealand
Website: www.gisforgluten.blogspot.com
Theresa loves eating, which is often her motivation for doing anything. Scream “”dark chocolate”” in her vicinity and she’s there, nomming on it before you can say “”holy cadbury Batman!”” She is not a doctor, chef or nutritionist, but is merely curious and loves researching things. Theresa is from New Zealand, which is not only populated by many birds and sheep, but also a growing number of gluten-free people. She loves being gluten-free, even though it’s hard sometimes, and she has made it her mission to enjoy the gluten-free life and encourage others to do the same.
I love pizza, but haven’t eaten it since going gluten free. I see those bases every time I go to the grocery store, and I’m still not willing to break out $7.50 for it haha I would however like a decent pizza base recipe I could try myself…got any ideas? Pizza is one thing I miss, and there aren’t very many things I’m willing to admit that about. Can I be Leonardo? I always have loved purple! :)
Pizza has always been my favorite meal, I used to wait all week for saturday to arrive and drag my husband to my favorite pizza restaurant and get mine with pepperoni, so you can only imagine how heartbroken I was when my doctor told me that I might had celiac disease… I totally agree with Theresa when she says that pizza is a basic human right, and I’m not ready to give that right up! In my country it is very difficult to find gluten free products so one has to get creative, in this case I use as pizza base “casabe” a thin sort of bread made of cassava, a tuberous root very popular in my country, Venezuela. Anyway, as it is very thin and fragile it must be made with a lot of care but just some tomato sauce, lots of cheese, some olives, green pepper, onions, a 10 minute trip to the oven and you get yourself something very close to a veggie pizza. At least it fools me so I don’t miss it so much. Hope this idea can help somebody somewhere, cheers!
Marian: My brother spent some time in Venezuela a few years back – he said it was wonderful! I know what it’s like though, not having many gluten-free options. Thankfully New Zealand is starting to produce more gluten-free products, so now we have access to stuff like sorghum flour and pizza bases in our supermarkets! That cassava bread sounds delicious, is it made from cassava flour?
Case: I have managed to make some amazing gluten-free bases in the past, modelling the recipe on gluten-free bread (so it’s more like a batter than a dough) but somehow they don’t work every single time, which is why I end up with disasters like the above. However, I am on a little campaign to create a delicious pizza base. I promise to post it when I finally find one that works! :D
Bob’s Red Mill gluten free pizza crust mix is not bad and works everytime. My kids love having pizza using this crust and we can’t even have cheese! Our pizza is just sauce and what ever toppings we choose but still pleases every time.
Hi Theresa, yes, the casabe is made of cassava flour and it goes back to the native tribes that prepared it in the same way it is prepared today. Regarding traditional food such as bread, crackers, pizza base, buns, cereal, nope, there aren’t too many options for people with this disorder, you can find some imported products in some supermarkets and drugstores but they are very pricey and not too many people have the money to buy them on a regular basis. I ocassionally treat myself with cookies from Italy. I guess we in Venezuela are lucky in a way to have corn flour in our regular diet, everybody eats arepas everyday, a traditional dish prepared as a sort of sandwich thats good anytime a day. There is also a new brand of GF pasta made here in the country that is more accessible and is not too bad. Hopefully this people will continue expanding their range of products. Anyway, I highly recommend the arepas, they are really delicious and easy to prepare. :)