I feel like life has been a bit of a whirlwind lately, so I apologize for the lack of posts. Besides all of the work we have going on with the design studio, we have been so wrapped up in getting stuff done on the house to get it on the market (the realtor came by on Friday, we have just a few small things to do and then we are ready – YAY!) and we have had a ton of summertime social activities going on. Life has been insanely fun and exciting, but the last couple of days I am feeling it all catching up to me. My head is spinning and I am not sure which way is up some days. The biggest problem with how busy we have been is I just can’t seem to squeeze time in to cook. When I do, I am so focused on getting healthy and delicious food made and then having time to eat and enjoy it, that I am forgetting to slow down enough to share the recipes. I actually made this pizza almost a week ago, I had the time to take photos and everything and then I totally forgot to share it with you guys! I actually forgot completely about it, until I was going through my photos today. Ooops. You can see where my head is at these days. This week seems to be a bit calmer so I hope to have some other recipes to share with you.

This recipe is something I have made before and it is really quite simple and it is so delicious. You can really play around and use whatever toppings you love, these are just some of my favorite toppings and what I easily had available. I had made up a quick batch of roasted red pepper hummus the other day using my chipotle hummus recipe (I substituted 1 large roasted red pepper for the chipotles), so that is what I used on this pizza. Feel free to use store bought hummus, that works just as well and I have done it plenty of times. I love how creamy the hummus is, it is the perfect base to whatever your favorite toppings are. I honestly don’t miss the cheese one bit when I eat one of these pizzas.  This pizza is also great with a variety of toppings like roasted eggplant, zucchini, fresh tomatoes, broccoli, red onions, asparagus, mushrooms, arugula and so on and on and on. I have made this so many different ways. So have fun with this recipe and your toppings!

As far as the crust goes, if you don’t want to make your own crust, you can simple use whatever pre-made gluten-free crust or dough that you like. I really enjoy this whole-grain crust from Gluten-Free Girl because I can easily tweak it based on what flours and starches I have on hand and I love that it is vegan and gluten-free and most importantly VERY simple. I really enjoy using flours like millet and buckwheat in this crust, because besides their beautiful flavor, I really love how they give the crust a beautiful rustic, brown color and it browns very nicely and the crust has a lovely chewy texture that is just absolute perfection. Make sure to check out this post on Gluten-free Girl and the Chef on how to create your own multi-grain all purpose flour blend using whatever your favorite flours and starches are. I know I have shared it on here before, but it is a wonderful guide with a very simple ratio. I usually mix up 1000 grams at a time, 700 grams of a variety of different flours plus 300 grams of a starch or two.

[print_this]Whole-Grain Hummus Pizza – Gluten-free + Vegan[/print_this]
*Note the quantity of ingredients below is for just 1 small 8-inch (or similar sized) pizza, double the ingredients if you plan to make one large 16-inch pizza or two small pizzas.

• 1 small (approx 8-inch) gluten-free and vegan whole-grain pizza crust (see the recipe for the whole-grain crust that I used, below)
• 1/2 cup roasted red pepper hummus (or whatever your favorite hummus flavor is)
• 1/2 cup black olives, thinly sliced
• 1/2 cup sun dried tomatoes, roughly chopped
• 1/4 of fresh basil, roughly chopped
• 1 clove garlic, very finely minced
• 1/4 cup hot pepper spread or your favorite pickled hot pepper, such as banana peppers, peppadew, jalapeños, etc – roughly chopped
• kosher salt and fresh ground pepper
• 1 tablespoon of olive oil

Preheat the oven to 350º. Spread your pre-baked crust with with the hummus, top with sun dried tomatoes, hot peppers, fresh basil, olives and garlic. Season to taste with salt and pepper. Drizzle the olive oil over top of everything. Bake for 8 to 10 minutes until the toppings are warmed and the edges of the crust are lightly browned and crisp.

[print_this]Gluten-free Whole-Grain Pizza Crust
From Gluten-free Girl and The Chef
Makes 2 8-inch pizza crusts or 1 16-inch pizza crust. (I made two crusts, they weren’t exactly round since my pan is rectangular, but you get the idea)

• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed or ground chia seeds
• 500 grams whole-grain gluten-free flour mix (I used a combination of millet, buckwheat, sorghum and arrowroot starch)
• 1 1/2 teaspoons kosher salt
• 4 teaspoons active-dry yeast
• 1/4 cup extra-virgin olive oil
• 1/2 to 1 cup warm water, about 110*
• olive oil for brushing on top of the crust

Mix the flaxseed (or chia seed) into a bowl. Pour 2 tablespoons of boiling-hot water over the seeds. Whisk immediately and quickly until you have a thick paste. Let this set aside and cool down.

Put the gluten-free flours and the salt into the bowl of a stand mixer. Mix them up together.

Put the yeast, olive oil, and half the warm water into a small bowl. Stir gently. Let them sit for a moment to activate the yeast.

Add the flaxseed slurry to the dry ingredients and mix for a moment. Pour the yeasty water into the dry ingredients. With the mixer on medium, whirl for a few moments, until the dough comes together into a soft ball around the paddle of the stand mixer and feels soft and pliable. If the dough feels too dry, add more of the warm water in small amounts until the dough feels right. (You might not need all the water. You might need more. Yeast doughs can differ from kitchen to kitchen.) Set the dough aside in a warm place and let it rise for 1 hour.

Preheat the oven to 450°. (If you feel comfortable with heat, take it up to 550°. Just watch the dough in the oven, carefully.) If you have a pizza stone, make sure it is in the oven. If not, sprinkle a pizza tray or baking sheet with gluten-free cornmeal.

Grab 1/2 of the dough (or all of it if you are making one large crust) and put it between 2 pieces of parchment paper. Through the paper, roll out the dough to your desired thickness.

Pre-bake the dough. Take the parchment paper off the dough, then transfer the dough to the pizza stone or prepared pizza tray. Brush the top with olive oil. Bake until the dough has started to crisp up and browned at the edges, about 8 to 10 minutes. (It will take less time if you have the oven cranked up to 550°!)

Take the crust out of the oven. You now have a pre-baked pizza crust. Top with whatever you’d like and bake until the toppings are cooked through.[/print_this]