Book of Yum

I wasn’t exactly intending to blog about tonight’s dinner, honestly. I mean, how many pizza recipes does one need? We’ve already had some pretty fancy pizza recipes here at the Book of Yum. But this week, due to a chaotic household, it just seemed better not to use the oven, and so when I was planning the menu I thought I’d try a new pizza technique- grilling the pizza crust. It’s a technique I’ve heard about many times but never tried myself, and I thought it was high time. It’s perfect, really, especially in hot weather when turning on the oven seems like cruel and unusual punishment. (Granted, it hasn’t been all that hot here… but it should be!) I have a lot of Chebe mixes left from the last bulk order I did with them, and during busy weeks, there’s nothing I love more than the “open the package and dump it in the bowl” style of baking. This time I made two small ones from the mix because I just love making more than one topping but still having separate pizzas. Then it was time to grill. I’m big into the propane grill, baby. Supposedly it is the DH’s, but I use it about 10 times more often than he does- I’m always grilling veggies or tofu or something because it adds so much flavor to everything. But what could a grill do to a pizza crust? The answer? A lot. I was worried that the crust might stick to the grill, but happily, it didn’t. And it baked so fast- far quicker than if you had baked it in the oven. Just a few minutes and one side of the pizza looked DONE, and even had sexy grill marks to prove it. I turned it over, let it grill for another few minutes, and then went happy with my toppings. To be honest, I had something of a little problem- largely, no pasta sauce in the house whatsoever. I did have half of the juice from a can of chopped tomatoes, and some tomato paste, so I made a very basic red sauce base. To my surprise, it worked just fine and actually tasted great. Then I grilled up a portabella mushroom basted with olive oil, garlic, and seasoning, and did the same to my sweet red pepper. With the addition of some sliced calamata olives and cheese, I had a great basic veggie pizza that matched my taste buds perfectly. But I still didn’t have enough red sauce for the second pizza, so I decided to go all out and try something I’d never had before- marguerita pizza. According to online sources, this is one of the first official pizzas and was produced by Italy’s Royal chefs in honor of Queen Marguerita in 1896 when she asked them to make her an assortment of pizzas resembling the bread pizzas she had enjoyed among commoners. Traditionally, the marguerita pizza contains “fresh sliced tomato, mozzarella, fresh basil, fresh garlic, onion and a hint of Romano (no tomato sauce).” (source: In Mama’s Kitchen) Sounded good to me! And in fact, it was absolutely delicious. I’ll definitely be making BOTH of these pizzas again, and I have a feeling that my grill is going to be even busier this summer baking up a slew of yummy pizzas. Oh, and since there was cheese AND grill marks involved, the DH loved this recipe too.

This pizza would be perfect for an Independence Day party, or just for a quick dinner before you see the fireworks. Looking for other gluten-free fourth of July recipes?

Try my Recipe for Grilled Sesame Vegetables
with this accompanying Ginger Peanut Sauce (Complete with pics from our 4th of July last year)
My World-Famous Grilled Sesame Tofu Recipe
a classic Gluten-Free Macaroni Salad Recipe
Japanese potato salad Recipe
Grilled Kabocha and Sundried Tomato Pate
GF Lemon Blueberry Muffin Recipe (Add raspberries and white frosting for a red,white and blue treat!)

Want another yummy pizza recipe?
Try my favorite Grilled Veggie and Smoked Cheese Pizza Recipe
Allergen Free Gluten-Free Pizza Recipe (with crust recipe)
Or this unexpected Zucchini Crust Pizza Recipe

Hope this helps you get some ideas for your Fourth of July Celebration! If you have links to your favorite recipes for the forth of July, share in the comments and I’ll add them to the list!

Gluten Free Grilled Chebe Marguerita Pizza and Grilled Veggie Pizza Recipe Main Course  Alternative Grains  Italian

Ingredients Pizza Dough: 1 pkg. Chebe pizza mix 2 eggs 1 tbsp. oil 4 tbsp. your choice of “milk” (dairy or non-dairy) Marguerita topping: Grated nonfat mozzarella cheese (1/4 packaged ball) or favorite non-dairy substitute 1 medium organic tomato Handful fresh basil salt Traditional topping- Tomato sauce: 3 tbsp juice from can of chopped canned tomato 1 tbsp tomato paste 1 tsp. olive oil sprinkle of sugar and salt Veggies: 1 portabella mushroom 3 peeled garlic cloves 1/2 sweet red pepper 8 kalamata olives nonfat mozzarella cheese, grated (or favorite nondairy cheese substitute) Directions Combine Chebe pizza ingredients according to package instructions and knead dough into a ball. Separate into two balls. Take a gallon sized ziploc bag and place your chebe dough inside the bag and flatten it out (pressing on the OUTSIDE of the bag so your hands don’t get icky) into a nice circle in about 1/4 or 1/8 of an inch thick. Remove dough from bag and place on a plate, and reserve. Now make your second pizza. Turn on your grill to medium high heat and place your pizza crusts on the grill (without toppings) letting it cook with the lid open for a few minutes. You may wish to rotate the dough if your grill cooks unevenly. Turn your pizza crust over when that side has nice grill marks and grill the other side for another few minutes. Remove from grill and cover with toppings.* Grill for a few minutes on low, covered. When cheese has nicely melted, remove from grill and cut into pieces. Yummy! *For the marguerita pizzas, top the pizza with mozzarella cheese, tomato slices, a sprinkle of salt and a handful of basil. Drizzle with a little high quality olive oil and finish grilling. *For the traditional veggie pizza, crush your garlic cloves and put them in a small bowl with a tablespoon of high quality olive oil and your favorite pasta/italian seasoning herbs. Baste your portabella mushroom and red pepper and grill, turning when each side is done. Remove from heat and chop into pieces. Also mix your tomato sauce ingredients in another bowl. Top your pizza with tomato sauce, grilled veggies, and cheese, adding olives on very top. If you like, after the pizza has baked with toppings, you can broil it in the oven so the cheese gets all brown on top. Be careful not to burn!

Rating:  9 Original Source:  Grilling technique from chebe site, toppings my own creation. Please do not replicate anywhere without my permission. Recipe ID:  1263 Added:  July 1, 2008 Last Modified:  July 1, 2008

The latest edition of “Go Ahead Honey, It’s Gluten-Free” hosted by Ginger Lemon Girl featured one-pot meals. I was thrilled to play around with a savory dish for an event, and I made a cheesy cauliflower pie in a hash brown crust. DH loved it, but I wanted to make a vegan version as well, so I played around VERY LIBERALLY with the recipe to come up with this vegan cauliflower (ok, broccoflower) portobella mushroom pie. Enjoy! This recipe tastes good, but without a topping it doesn’t look very pretty. I recommend you try the bread crumb topping for extra texture and visual appeal.

Looking for more Vegan one-pot-meal recipes?
Try VegWeb.com
ChooseVeg.com
or Fat Free Vegan Blog

Gluten Free Vegan Cauliflower portobella mushroom pie in grated potato crust recipe Main Course  Potatoes  American

Ingredients Vegan Potato Crust: 2 cups grated packed raw potato (with skin) 1/2 cup grated onion 2 garlic cloves, minced 1/2 tsp. salt 1 tbsp. ground flax whisked with 3 tbsp. water, and let sit teff flour Vegan Filling: 1 tbsp olive oil 1 cup chopped onion 2 medium cloves garlic, minced 1/2 tsp salt Leftover broccoflower stalk from 1 medium head, chopped (or cauliflower stalk) 1 whole portobella mushroom, stalk separated and minced. Slice the cap and cut into bite size pieces. 1 carrot, peeled and chopped Un-cheese vegan sauce: 1 1/4 cup soy milk 1 cup filtered water 3 tbsp raw cashew nuts, ground into a powder 1 tsp. salt 1/8 tsp pepper sprinkling nutmeg (optional) Gluten-free vegan roux base: 3 tbsp. oil 1/4 cup teff flour or other whole grain gluten-free flour 1/2 tsp. salt 1/2 tsp. black pepper 1 tsp garlic powder 1-2 tbsp. nutritional yeast dash apple cider vinegar Optional (but desirable!) 1 slice Leftover Gluten free bread, crumpets, or plain waffles, toasted and ground in food processor with seasoning and a dash of olive oil to make breadcrumbs. Or use pre-made GF crackers, crumbled. Avocado slices (if you like them!) Directions Grease pie pan with oil or nonstick cooking spray. Grate potatoes and rinse in cold water, then drain. Grate an onion in your food processor and mix with potatoes. Add minced garlic, salt, and flax egg substitute. Mix together thoroughly, then add a little teff flour (or other whole grain GF flour) and work it through the mixture. Spread out evenly in your greased pie pan to make a pie crust, working up the sides of the pan. Bake at 400 degrees F for 30 minutes, lower temperature to 350 and baste with olive oil (seasoned with favorite seasoning blend if desired) and bake for another ten minutes. To create your filling, sautee onion and garlic in olive oil that has been heated in a cast iron pan. When onion begins to look translucent, add the broccoflower stalk and the minced portobella mushroom stalk. Cover and let cook for 5-7 minutes. Add your portobella mushroom cap slices, cover, and let cook for a few more minutes. Add carrot, mix and let cook for a little longer or until carrot loses its bite. Take off burner and reserve. Combine your un-cheese vegan sauce ingredients (from soy milk to nutmeg, but be sparing with the latter) in a blender and give it a whir until ingredients are thoroughly combined. Heat your olive oil and then add your teff flour (you may use less if desired). Mix into a paste and heat on burner, letting flour mixture develop flavor as it heats. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic powder. Slowly add the un-cheese vegan sauce to the roux, whisking as you add and make a “white” sauce without any lumps. Add nutritional yeast and a dash of apple cider vinegar. Taste and correct any seasonings. If mixture is too thick you can add water. To assemble, Add teff “white” sauce to your filling ingredients slowly, adding one layer at a time and combining thoroughly. When filling is as “saucy” as you like, stop, even if you have extra sauce. Pour filling into pie pan. If you like you can top the pie with your GF breadcrumb topping or crumbled crackers. Otherwise, don’t worry about it. Bake in oven at 350 for 30 minutes or so. When pie seems adequately baked, remove from oven. If you didn’t top with bread crumbs, you can add avocado slices to make it more visually appealing. Enjoy! Pie will firm after cooling in the refrigerator, but you can also eat it hot from the oven.

Rating:  8 Original Source:  sauce radically modified from recipe at www.vegan-food.net. This recipe is my own creation. Please do not replicate anywhere without my permission. Recipe ID:  1248 Added:  June 18, 2008 Last Modified:  June 19, 2008