Organic Spelt Pizza Crust Recipe (gluten-free option)

I love pizza. Many people raise one eyebrow when I tell them not only this, but that I eat it too. Dear gawd! Gasp! A nutritionista who eats pizza? Who would have thought?! :) If you are eating the kind of pizza I'm going to share with you that is made of 100% REAL FOOD and foodgasmically delicious, then heck ya!

Lucky for me, recently one of my girlfriends not only cooked for me, but gave me her amazing pizza dough recipe too! All I had to do was bring a bottle of local Ontario wine to accompany her crispy, flavourful spelt crust pizza -- it was a match made in heaven. So I decided to whip up this recipe for my boyfriend for dinner on the weekend.

Now I won't take all the credit for this photo because had it not been for him, the pizza dough would have not ended up so pretty. You see, it was my first time making it and I was having trouble getting the dough to form a ball and not get stuck all over me! So I'm giving you a heads up that making a great pizza dough takes a bit of practice. I will share all my tips after the ingredients list to make sure you don't make the same mistakes I did.

Before I share the recipe, I beg you... please don't buy frozen pizza from the grocery store. The majority of these packaged pizzas are chock-full of sodium and goodness knows how many other unpronounceable ingredients that don't belong in your joyous body! Have you ever noticed that you are NEVER satisfied after eating this type of fast-food pizza? Plus the fact, there is no comparing the taste and freshness of your OWN toppings to a frozen junk food pizza.

Pizza Dough Ingredients:

1-1/2 cups organic stone ground spelt crust (You could swap this with brown rice flour, but you may need to experiment a few times to get it right - I haven't tried it yet, but I swap in gluten-free flours like brown rice in my baking and use a 1:1 ratio)

1/2 tsp fine sea salt

1 tsp baking powder (aluminum-free)

1 organic egg (slightly beaten)

1/4 cup water or almond milk

1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil

Method:

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Using your mixer, combine flour, salt, and baking powder together. In another small bowl, beat egg with a fork, add half of the olive oil, add the water or milk. Add these wet ingredients to the dry ingredients in your mixer and mix together until it forms a ball of dough. You may need to sprinkle the mixture with more flour as it's mixing to prevent it from sticking to the side of the bowl.

Sprinkle flour onto a flat surface (your counter). This is where you are going to roll and knead your dough. Take the dough from your mixer and roll into a ball. Knead it for 3-4 minutes max and then roll it into a flat circle-ish shape slightly bigger than your pan. Scoop the rolled dough onto the pan and roll/press around the pan to make the crust edge. Using the remaining olive oil, brush the dough before adding sauce and toppings (so that toppings don't bake into the crust).

When it comes to topping your pizza, the only limitation is your creativity. Here's one suggestion: I made arugula pesto, then placed chopped onions, cremini mushrooms, tomatoes, and some nitrate-free spicy salami. Then I sprinkled goat cheese, dried hot chili peppers and some freshly ground black pepper.

Once your favourite toppings have been added, bake for 20 minutes or the crust edges are golden.

Serves 2. Double the recipe or make 2 separate pizzas for more people.

Tips on making a great pizza dough:

If the dough is still sticky when you remove it from your mixing bowl, that's okay. Just sprinkle more flour onto it and you are kneading it.

Make sure you coat your hands with flour so the dough doesn't stick to you!

I actually used a cookie sheet and rolled it onto the cookie sheet once it was kneaded, rather than rolling it out and then transferring it. Much easier, but I'm a rookie at this. Give me a couple months and I will be a pizza dough making goddess (I hope!).

Don't be shy with your toppings because they shrink a bit, especially if water dense like vegetables.