Gluten Free Sourdough Pizza Crust

1. In a medium mixing bowl whisk the gluten-free flour, almond flour, tapioca flour, psyllium husk powder, baking powder, salt, and yeast until combined. Set aside.
2. In a separate medium mixing bowl, whisk the sourdough discard, warm water and olive oil. Add the dry ingredients to the wet using a fork to mix. The batter will begin to thicken. Knead by hand, in the bowl, for two minutes. The dough will become thicker and remain sticky, almost like mashed potatoes. Scrape the excess dough off your fingers using a fork. Use a flexible spatula to scrape the bowl and smooth the dough on the surface into a dome. Cover the bowl with a damp tea towel and leave on the kitchen counter or warm area to rise for about 90-120 minutes. The dough should rise to about 1 1/2 times its size and be fluffy and springy to the touch.
3. In the meantime, prepare a sheet of parchment paper by generously brushing olive oil on a sheet of parchment paper (or two if you want to make 2 smaller pizzas). This is the base to shape and bake the crust on. Have a pizza peel or sheet pan standing by to slide the shaped dough on to for baking.
4. Prepare the oven by placing an oven rack at the center and if making two pizzas, another rack two settings down (leaving enough room to slide the pizza on to the pan). Place sheet pan(s) and/or pizza stones on racks. Two crusts or pizzas can be baked at the same time.
5. Prepare the ingredients for the pizza. Just before you’re ready to divide and shape the dough, preheat the oven to 550 degrees F.
6. At this point, you’ll only use water to shape the dough. Fill a shallow dish with water so you can wet your hands as you work with the dough. Do not use flour here (as traditionally done with glutenous dough).  Moisten a work surface with water. Turn the dough out onto the moist work surface. Dip your fingertips and palms into the water and pat the dough into somewhat of a disk, then divide the dough into two equal pieces. Moisten your hands again and shape each piece into a rough ball by tucking the edges under. Set the dough balls on a water-moist work surface.
7. On the oiled parchment paper, set a pizza dough ball in the center. Dip your palm and fingertips into the water. Working with both fingertips and palms, start pressing in the center of the dough, working your way towards the edges in a circular pattern leaving an edge all around that is thicker than the base of the crust (you can play with this if you like a thicker crust). It will feel almost like trying to shape mashed potatoes! There may be a bit of occasional tearing, if so, wet your hands/fingertips and smooth those areas back together. Turn the parchment as you work the dough so that a pizza shape can be achieved. Continue, wetting your hands and smoothing over the dough with light pressure as needed so the dough does not stick to your hands and you shape it by smoothing the dough in circular motions and/or pinching to create the edges, then smoothing with moist fingers again.  It’s okay that the parchment gets a little wet.
8. Wet a fork and dock the pizza with the tines of the fork about 10 times. Tear off any excess parchment paper so that it’s flush with the pizza dough, leaving enough overhang to use as a handle if needed. (Note that parchment paper is generally rated for use under 500 F. So at 550 F, with any overhang, the paper will char and become brittle.)
9. Slide the shaped pizza dough onto a pizza peel or the back of a sheet pan using the parchment as a handle if needed. Open the oven and pull out the rack with the stone/pan. Slide the pizza dough onto the preheated pizza stone or back of the preheated pan.
10. Par-bake for 11-13 minutes or until the dough is golden brown around the edges and center. Remove from the oven. The parchment will be brittle at this point, and can be removed before baking the pizza. It may stick a little, so remove it carefully.
11. Top the par baked crust with your sauce and toppings. To Freeze: The par baked crust may be frozen at this point. Allow the crust to cool completely, then store it in a freezer or plastic bag. Thaw at room temperature and carry on!
12. Bake the assembled pizza on preheated stone or pan at 550 F for about 6-8 minutes or until the cheese has melted and sauce is bubbly. The pizza bakes fast at high heat, so keep an eye on it. Remove from oven and allow to rest for five minutes. Cut into 8 equal pieces.
13. Store pizza leftovers in a lidded container in the refrigerator for up to three days. Reheat at 350F for about 12 minutes.

*Make your own gluten free sourdough starter using tips from our blog!