African Chicken & Rice Casserole ~ Sometimes you just need an easy no fuss meal to warm your body and enlighten your mind on a rainy Fall day…
It’s What’s For Dinner ~ October 17th 2016
Gluten – Free ~ Chicken Pizza on Socca flat bread
Socca ~ Flat bread – Gluten free (makes one 10-inch plus an extra smaller one)
1 cup corn flour
1/2 cup corn meal
1 1/2 cups water
1 1/2 Tablespoon Olive oil
1/2 teaspoon salt ~ I used no-salt
1 Tablespoon each ~ Thyme or Basil, Oregano, Onion powder, Chives
Whisk corn flour, corn meal, water, olive oil and salt. Let the batter rest for 30 minutes to 2 hours. ( I added the spices to the batter and allowed it to rest for 2 hours)
(To cook in the oven)
Set the oven rack 6 inches below the broiler. Warm the pan for 5 minutes.
Remove from the oven, spray with cooking spray and add a teaspoon of the oil to coat the pan.
Whisk the batter and pour in the pan, covering evenly. (You might want to use only half the batter and make two. Mine turned out very thick almost like a pita.
Broil 3 to 5 minutes or until the top of the Socca blisters and browns, then bake at 400 on a lower rack for 6 minutes or until set. It should be flexible in the middle and crisp around the edges.
This recipe originally called for chickpea flour, which I didn’t have. Probably why I had trouble with the results…I’ll try it as the recipe calls for one day, but I did make alterations to mine the other day and instead of baking it like I did the first time, I used my Pizza maker.
The ingredients listed above is what I used to make the rounds for the pizza base. This made one large round about 10 inches and the second part of the batter make a 5 inch or so…I didn’t divide the batter evenly because I wanted one large one to impress my son…
This process of cooking the batter in the pizza maker proved to be so easy and fast, a mere few minutes compared to the oven method. ~ The first time making this in the oven took much longer than the recipe called for. Probably, because I poured the entire bowl of batter into the pan. I really didn’t have a clue what to expect. But, now I do.. Thank heavens…
To cook in my Betty Crocker Pizza Maker:
Mix together the corn flour, corn meal, spices, oil, salt and the water. Let rest for 30 minutes or as long as two hours, covered.
After the batter has rested you can now add 2 teaspoons of Baking Power ~ always checking that your baking powder does NOT CONTAIN wheat…
Baking powder: This product often contains an ingredient that helps absorb moisture so the baking powder doesn’t clump. Some brands use wheat starch as that ingredient. Gluten–free baking powders include Rumford, Clabber Girl, Featherweight, and Bakewell Cream.
Being the pack rat that I am…I’ve saved cardboard rounds from long ago store bought frozen pizza’s. Cleaned them well and left out to air dry. I often used these cardboard rounds in between my cast iron fry pans. Since, they need to be kept oiled…
Let’s get cooking…
Addition of the baking powder.
I poured 1/2 of the batter into a hot, oiled pizza cooker. Closed the lid and set a timer. 2 1/2 minutes later I flipped with a spatula and cooked for another 5 minutes or so. Just until the center feels done.
After 2 1/2 minutes…..
After 7 1/2 minutes total cooking time…..
Place on wire rack to cool completely. You can after it’s cooled place the pizza base on a round of parchment or waxed paper on top of a cardboard round. Wrap this in plastic wrap and put into one of those extra large baggies. Freeze the base, until ready to use.
Never store in the refrigerator…
This advice is from reading about making gluten free products. The refrigerator ruins the bread. But, your freezer is your friend… as far as this way of cooking bread…I freeze the pizza base until nearing dinner time and put together with homemade pizza sauce, shredded chicken, onions, bell peppers and of course last but not least the cheese.
When you’re ready to prepare the pizza’s place the frozen base into the hot pizza maker and top with your ingredients. Close lid and usually within 5-7 minutes it’s piping hot, cheese nicely melted and ready for the pizza cutter to go into action.
This base holds up nicely to the added toppings and does NOT crumble or fall apart like some of the gluten free bread I’ve been making. I would give this a great big 5 stars as far as making gluten free pizza in your home.
Until next time
❤
~Laura~
bluebird4udaily 