While I love homemade pizza, I look for shortcuts to replace a dough-based crust. Though it's gluten-free, you need not follow a GF diet to enjoy this change-of-pace polenta pizza crust. Recipe from from Plant-Powered Families: Over 100 Kid-Tested, Whole-Foods Vegan Recipes* by Dreena Burton, BenBella Books © 2015, reprinted by permission. Photos by Nicole Axeworthy.
Recipe
Polenta Pizza Crust
Ingredients
- 1 tube polenta 18-ounce prepared organic polenta, broken in pieces
- 1 cup cooked and cooled brown rice
- ½ cup chickpea flour or use ½ cup plus 2 tablespoons millet flour
- ½ teaspoon garlic powder
- ¼ scant teaspoon salt
- 1 tablespoon cornmeal
Instructions
- Preheat oven to 425°F. If you have a pizza stone, place it in the oven. If you don’t, have a pizza pan or other large baking pan at hand (but it doesn’t need to preheat).
- In a food processor, add the polenta, rice, chickpea flour, garlic powder, and sea salt and pulse first to combine, then process just until the mixture comes together in a ball on the blade.
- Remove the dough ball and place it on a large sheet of parchment paper. Cover with another piece of parchment. Roll out the dough with a rolling pin between the parchment sheets to about 12" diameter or more, and ½" thick.
- Remove the top sheet of parchment from the dough. Using a pizza peel or a very large tray/plate, transfer the pizza crust to the pizza stone (with the single layer of parchment still underneath the dough).
- Bake for 25 minutes, until it is golden around the edges and firm in the center. Remove the pizza stone to let the crust cool slightly for few minutes while preparing the toppings.
- When ready to bake, increase oven temperature to 450°F. Using a large plate or your pizza peel, remove the crust from the pizza stone/ pan and invert to remove the parchment.
- Sprinkle the cornmeal over stone/pan, and place on pizza. Add toppings (see suggestions), and bake for 13 to 15 minutes, until heated through, and longer if desired for crispier edges/crust. Remove, let sit for 3 to 5 minutes, then serve.
Nutrition
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Suggested Toppings: Toppings that are not too moist are best on polenta pizza crust. You can always pre-roast veggies to reduce moisture.
Topping Ideas: Sliced bell peppers, roasted zucchini or eggplant, olives, sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced red onion, artichoke hearts, capers.
Visit Dreena Burton at Plant-Powered Kitchen.
- Here are more recipes for Easy Pizzas.
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Caroline says
Keep those gluten-free, low- or no-fat, vegan recipes coming! Thanks for this one.
Rachelle says
Hi there
Not sure what a polenta tube is here in Australia..can you help with an alternative ie cooking up a batch of polenta?
With thanks..
Nava says
Hi Rachelle, it is possible to make a great pizza crust with cooked polenta. You can use the cooking directions given in this post for cooking grits, which are very similar: http://www.vegkitchen.com/tips/how-to-cook-and-embellish-grits/ — once the polenta is cooked, spread it to about a 1-inch thickness in a lightly oiled pan and let it cool so that it will solidify. Then put your favorite pizza toppings on it and bake in a hot oven. Hope that helps!