Embracing a gluten free diet doesn’t have to mean ditching your love of Italian food. This gluten free pizza is made from quinoa and tastes seriously amazing!

One of the hardest things for me when I decided to eliminate all gluten & wheat from my diet was the thought of missing out on Mum’s traditional Italian pizza’s whenever we visited. I knew if I didn’t come up with a substitute & fast, then eventually I would lose all control of my eating habits and give in to that little voice inside my head telling me that a little won’t hurt & then later suffer the consequences that one experiences with a gluten intolerance. The things we do for food huh!!

This pizza to me is the closest I will come to Mums & it’s pretty safe to say that when I make them, I really don’t feel as though I’m missing out! To be honest, it’s the other way around, I feel as though they are missing out!!

Quinoa Mediterranean Pizzas

Ingredients

For the sauce

1 bottle of Italian tomato passata sauce

1/2 bunch fresh basil

3 medium sized garlic cloves

1-2 tsp rock salt (more to taste)

¼ tsp black pepper

Olive oil (to drizzle)

1/2 cup filtered water

For the base

2 cups white quinoa (cooked according to packet instructions)

2 organic eggs

1 large garlic clove (2 if small)

1 tsp fresh oregano

1 tsp Himalayan crystal salt

Pinch of black pepper

For toppings

1 punnet sweet cherry tomatoes, halved

2 ripe avocados, sliced

1/2 bunch fresh basil (torn into smaller pieces)

1 cup Greek pitted Kalamata olives, halved

1 red onion, thinly sliced

Vegan mozzarella or bocconcini balls

Good quality olive oil

 Method 

• To make the sauce, lightly fry the garlic in a saucepan on low heat using the olive oil until it slightly starts to brown. Add all remaining sauce ingredients and bring to a boil. Turn down heat and allow to simmer for 30 – 45mins.
• Meanwhile, to make the crust, line two flat baking trays with baking paper. Place all crust ingredients into a large bowl and mix together until well combined.
• Take about a cup’s worth from bowl and on the lined tray, shape into flat and round pizzas. Once you have all your pizzas shaped out and ready to go, place in the oven for around 15 mins at 200°c, or until they are lightly brown.
• Take bases out of the open and decorate you pizzas with just the tomatoes, onion, olives & cheese. Return to oven for 5 -10 mins. Remember, your pizzas are already cooked, this step is just to melt to cheese & lightly brown the onions.
• Remove pizzas from the oven. Top with remaining ingredients, drizzle with a little olive oil, season with salt and pepper and serve!

Photographer: Margit Selg