This week I had an intense craving for pizza. My boyfriend Michael, who happens to be a manager at a Panera Bread (I’ll get into that later) decided that he would make me a gluten free pizza on his day off while I was at work. He is a creative cook but rarely has time to do so. I was very excited to see what the outcome would be and was quite happy with it! Below is a recipe, we didn’t really measure what we used but I Figure this is a close enough estimate. I’m also not used to making up recipes so please bear with me.
It came out great and I was really happy with the results!
- 1 bag Chebe Pizza dough mix (ingredients required for dough can be found on back of the bag)
- ¾ of a 16oz bag of broccoli (you could also use fresh we just didn't have time)
- olive oil- to coat crust
- 1 tbs minced garlic -I like a lot of garlic, of course you can use less
- ¼-1/2 cup of sliced onion as desired
- penzy's spices pasta sprinkle (to taste)
- ¾ cup ricotta cheese
- 1 cup mozzarella cheese
- Prepare crust and cook as directed on packaging
- While crust is cooking, Prepare all other ingredients
- Once crust is done with the first 10 minutes of cooking, coat surface with olive oil and minced garlic. This makes it softer and more tasty!
- Once crust is done cooking on its own take out. Coat with a bit more olive oil. Spread Ricotta on crust. Add broccoli and onion. Cover with Mozzarella and sprinkle with pasta seasoning
- Cook as directed, or until crust and toppings are cooked to liking.
Here are some photos of the outcome!!
Close up!
Whole shot!
What a great Success!
The Chebe mix (image to the left) is fantastic and was complete with seasonings included in the mix. It tasted nothing like the thin and chalky gluten free crusts I’ve experienced at local pizza places and really satisfied my pizza craving.
While delicious it could go for some improvements. For example, it was a bit too dry for my taste. The only thing I would change would be to use Pesto instead of olive oil and garlic, if that is the taste you are looking for. I would suggest Classico’s Traditional Basil Pesto Sauce and Spread for this purpose.
The rest of this week was not so gluten free friendly. I’ve been attempting going out to dinner recently, not all of which have been good experiences. One such experience occurred on Friday night at the restaurant On The Boarder. When first arriving I didn’t think to ask for a gluten free menu as most Mexican food places rarely use flour and have dedicated fryers for corn tortillas. However, when I informed the waitress she let me know they have a gluten free menu. She gave it back to me and I took a look. The menu was date from Feb 2010, it had at the top a bold warning that they could not guarantee there would be no cross contamination, about 1/3 of the menu was considered gluten free but there was more legal wording on there than food. To me there is a difference between covering your back from lawsuits and actually being a dedicated facility that provides gluten free choices.
I was very dissatisfied with not only the menu but also the waitresses handling of the situation once I placed my ill fated (literally) order. I made it clear what I needed, however when it arrived at the table it included Flour Tortillas and components of the meal that the GF menu had recommended not to get (such as onions? although I am not sure why.) I felt immediately ill and of course remained that way for the rest of my night. While obviously it was my fault for getting food despite the clear warning I am still unsatisfied with their choices, menu and behavior. I would not recommended going there for anyone on a gluten free diet and will not be going back myself.