Event: GF Pizza, Beer, and Cider Tasting at PIE

Do you know PIE? It's a pizzeria right off of Union Square that makes amazing GF pies. The owner, Jeffrey, is GF and dedicated to making safe and authentic pizza for his fellow GFers. I became acquainted with the eatery and owner at a NYC Celiac Disease Meetup held there in 2010, an event where we were able to try many (so many!) of the GF menu options. Jeffrey's hosting a similar event this Thursday:

No need to RSVP - just stop on by and join the party! (7-9pm, $25)

P(izza) Love and Special Sauce

In all this gf pizza making, I stumbled upon two tips for making tomato cheese pie, gf or not:

(1) Don't sauce too heavily. Makes for a limp crust. I've started using even less than I did here:

Now is not the time to be a saucy Susan.

 (2) Use a bare-bones pizza sauce. I found this one, Don Pepino:

No frills.

It contains tomatoes, corn oil, salt, spices, and powdered garlic. Of note: no sugar. There is no need for sugar in a sauce. Adding it will just result in the creation of pizza food; don't do that to your nice gf crust, okay? What did it ever do but love you?

I don't know if Don Pepino's is available nationwide (it's made in NJ, but owned by the B&G company) but if, like me, pizzeria pizza is what you're after, I'd go for something similar. Heck, pop your head into the most old-school pizza place in town and see what they're using. I plan to do the same next time I'm in my home 'hood of Bay Ridge.

And with that, I think I can close the chapter on pizzeria-pizza-at-home for now. Though suggestions and comments are definitely welcomed.

Brooklyn-Style Pizza, Part 2 (Udi's)

Next up: Udi's pizza crusts.

These puppies bring the gluten-free joy. Each package contains two 9" pre-baked thin-crust pizza shells. Depending on the toppings, each crust serves one or two. When I make white pie, each pizza is enough for two meals:

Ate the other half before I remembered to snap a pic!

While a regular cheese slice with vegetables can make a solid meal for one:

Can't go wrong with peppers, onions, and mushrooms

A (delicious) word about the white pie: To make, simply sprinkle the crust with shredded mozz,  four huge dollops of ricotta, and cooked chopped spinach (frozen is fine) that has been drained (squeeze between your hands until you have a well-formed ball of spinach) and mixed with some garlic powder.* That's it. Let the cheese speak for itself. (I recommend that you bake it until the mounds of ricotta have flattened a bit.) No need to doctor it in any other way, except maybe to add some hot red pepper flakes once it comes out of the oven.

I had been missing white pie; hadn't had it since being diagnosed with celiac disease ten years ago. TEN YEARS without this childhood staple. When I made this with the Udi's crust the first time, I was literally near tears - it tasted so much like what I'd grown up eating. 

These crusts, they are delicious and convenient. At 9", they are easy to tuck into a bag for when you're visiting friends and need to bring some safe food. Heck, bring a bunch of them and share with the gluten-eaters! Everyone I've shared them with has been completely surprised that they're gf. Udi's is based in Colorado, so I've been buying the crusts at Whole Foods for $5.99, but you can order them online for $5.00 plus shipping (and $2 off if you buy 8 packages). Udi's also offers a printable coupon on their site when you sign up for their email newsletter.

Thus ends pizza crust recommendations. Tomorrow I'll round out this whole pizza discussion with a sauce suggestion. But I'm curious, do you have any gf crust suggestions of your own?

*Yes, I said garlic powder. You can get local, organic, and whole food with this, but I'm going for Brooklyn pizzeria style and, for me, that means garlic powder.

Brooklyn-Style Pizza, Part 1 (Everybody Eats)

When last we met our heroine (that's me), she was on a pizza mission...

So, as promised, here is installment one of Brooklyn-good gf pizza that you (yes, you) can make at home. The crust for this gem comes from my new favorite spot, Everybody Eats. They sell packages of two 12" pre-baked pizza shells that look like this:

Unassuming little shell

You add your sauce and cheese, bake for 15 minutes and, like magic, you get to pull this out of the oven:

Marone, that's a beautiful pie.

Wait, let's take a closer look at that:

Go ahead, click on the picture.

Sorry, that was mean. (I'd totally share if you were here.)

I have made five pizzas with these shells and fed the results solely to gluten-eaters - who have all loved it. They happily took seconds and were stunned to find that it was gf. (This is definitely NOT pizza food.)

If you live in NYC, stop on by their Brooklyn office to pick some shells up. Otherwise, you can order a shipment via phone or email.

Tomorrow I'll share my other suggestion for making great pizza at home.

Pizza Food

Many years ago, an old friend and fellow native Brooklynite coined the term "pizza food" to categorize anything that is pizza-like, but most definitely not pizza. This covers pizza bagels, English muffin/pita pizzas, and frozen pizza of the Ellio's ilk. It's also used as a derogatory term for any pizza parlor fare that is, well, crap. Usage guide:

Me: "Did you try the slices over at the new place on 3rd?"
He: "Eh."
Me: "What do you mean, "eh"?"
He: "It's pizza food. Too sweet, too many foo-foo toppings."

Like that.

But into every life a little pizza food must fall, especially if you're gluten-free. Until recently, we've been at the mercy of limited options and products that are safe, but not always tasty. And while more and more fresh pizzeria options are popping up, especially around NYC, many remain unsafe due to cross-contamination. (Though not all! I'll have the scoop on some good options soon.) There do seem to be more frozen gf pizza options than ever before, but I find that most of them are (1) expensive, (2) too salty, and/or - yes, (3) pizza food.

I want pizza that tastes like it was made in Brooklyn by an old Italian guy who came over from the old country. Like it comes from a place named Nino's or Gino's or Rocco's, carried out in a white cardboard box with a little oil spot on top where the cheese hit when I tripped over that crooked curbstone on my block.

I'm this close to getting what I want. (Just need the box and the old Italian guy.) Lemme 'splain:

I mentioned here that I've been on a pizza-making spree as of late. And, by George, I think I've got it. Or, rather, them. I've found two at-home pizza options that have me delighted beyond words. And I'm going to tell you all about them this weekend. Stay tuned.

Gluten-Free Bisquick Experiments (Pizza Edition)

I picked up Bisquick's gluten-free mix, intending to make some pancakes or biscuits.

Not your grandma's Bisquick. 

Then I noticed the pizza crust recipe on the box. Have been on a pizza-making spree around here, soooo...

Bee-yoo-ti-ful.

Did it rival a slice from the local pizza parlor? Of course not. It's Bisquick - and it tastes like Bisquick. I shared this pie with a gf friend, who I believe said "Yum, reminds me of my childhood" and promptly ate three slices. 

So push those memories of Gino's or Nino's - or wherever you used to get your pizza fix in the gluten-y days - and enjoy this for what it is: i.e. a ridiculously fast and easy way to satisfy your pizza needs, without spending a small fortune on frozen gf pizza. The box of Bisquick was $4.59 at my local Key Food and contains enough mix for at least two large crusts. It mixes up as easily as pancake batter - and has the consistency of it too. Don't be alarmed; you didn't mess anything up. Just spread it thinly on a pizza pan (or cookie sheet) and bake off for 15 minutes. Then add toppings and heat until cheese is bubbly. Mangia!

*5.2.11 Update*

I've now made at least 2 dozen of these crusts and have to recommend a couple of recipe tweaks: 

1 - There is no need for so much oil - and, in fact, I think it is more like "real" pizza without it. I've reduced the 1/3 cup it calls for to about 2T and made up the liquid difference in water. The batter will be thin - you'll wonder how it can possibly become a pizza crust, but it will. 

2- Use good oil. Decent oil, at least. The recipe is 1 1/3 cups Bisquick, 2 eggs, oil, and water - so ingredient quality definitely matters. (The Bisquick recipe also calls for you to add herbs to the crust batter, but that's just wrong. Don't do it.)

3- When spreading the batter across the pan, I recommend pushing the bulk of it to the edges, so that you end up with a thin middle and a satisfying and chewy crust. Like this: 

4 ingredients + 15 minutes = joy

Lastly, just have to say: people love the pizza I've been making with these crusts. LOVE. And I feel like the woman from the old Rice Krispies Treats commercials; these are so easy to make that you'd really have to pretend you worked hard on them.