thursday recipe: gluten free vegetarian pizza, hold the cheese

River and Sol have had chesty colds so all dairy has been off limits. That didn't stop them asking for home made pizza for dinner.

I had some ready made gluten free bases in the fridge and some vegetarian pasta sauce left over so I said to the boys they could have pizza but it would have to be without cheese. "That's fine!" they said. "We'll have it with basil and olives". Ok then!

I found a container of nutritional yeast in the cupboard a friend had given me to try, so I thought I'd sprinkle that on for a cheesy effect. The first time I ever heard of nutritional yeast was about 10 years ago when I was at my sister-in-law's house and she sprinkled it on top of avocado on toast for my nephew and niece, I tried it and quite liked it but never got into using it. Now was the time!

The ready made gluten free bases were ok but not something I'd get into the habit of buying. If you read the ingredients list on just about any 'convenience' gluten free product there is a long list of additives and numbers. The bases I bought were on the passable scale as a once off. I prefer to make my own but I totally get that from time to time the ready made is an energy and sanity saver.

Gluten free vegetarian pizza no cheese

Gluten free pizza bases (here's a recipe to try if you want to make your own)
For the sauce:
1 can organic diced tomatoes
1 cup organic tomato paste
2-3 cloves garlic crushed
1 medium brown onion finely chopped
1-2 teaspoons dried mixed Italian herbs
8 button mushroom finely chopped
1 small carrot finely grated

Black and green olives pitted and sliced
Chopped fresh basil
olive oil

Nutritional yeast (optional)

To make

Heat a fry pan over a medium heat add a splash of olive oil and saute the onion, garlic, mushrooms and carrot until the onion is transparent.

Add in the tomatoes and tomato paste and herbs.

Gently simmer for 20 minutes.

Allow the sauce to cool and then pour into a food processor and process until smooth.

You can skip this and use a ready made sauce that you like if you are really looking for the easy route! There are some good organic ones out there just read the label and avoid numbers, preservatives and heaps of sugar and salt.

Heat the oven to 190 degrees celcius.

Spread the tomato sauce over the pizza base.

Drizzle with some olive oil and then place the olives and basil on top and a sprinkle of nutritional yeast if using.

Bake in the oven for 15-20 minutes or until the base is crisp.

Of course you can add whatever toppings you like. Mine would have anchovies for sure!

So tell me, how do you do your dairy free pizza? If you have a favorite gluten free pizza base recipe feel free to share it in the comments.

Happy cooking :)