Who needs takeaway when homemade pizza is healthier and tastes better!

Last night I faced my first takeaway dilemma since diagnosis- sitting in a room with my husband and friends scoffing a takeaway which I knew I couldn't eat.

So it was a typical Saturday night in - we were invited over to the neighbours house for a takeaway and a couple of drinks - sound familiar? As Coeliacs we all know most takeaway options are off limits, however, I was super organised and had pre-planned my own very special gluten-free takeaway - homemade pizza.  I decided to bake it at home and then take it over to the neighbours house wrapped in tin foil to eat with everybody else when their takeaway arrived.

I used The Gluten Free Student Cookbook's recipe for gluten-free pizza dough and have recreated the recipe below:

Ingredients:

The Base:

225g Gluten-free flour (I used Dove's Farm white bread flour blend)
1 teaspoon Xantham gum
Pinch of salt
1 teaspoon caster sugar
1 teaspoon yeast
1 egg
3 tablespoons oil
130ml water

Topping:

Tomato puree
A few slices of salami
Grated cheese

Method:

1. Mix the flour, yeast, sugar, salt and xantham gum in a mixing bowl.

2. Make a well and add the egg and oil and mix together well.

3. Gradually add the water and mix.

4. Knead the dough for a couple of minutes on a floured surface.

5. Leave the dough in a bowl for 30 minutes and cover with a clean tea towel.

6. Pre-heat your oven to 200 degrees and grease a baking tray/pizza tray.

7. Roll out your dough to the thickness you like and place on the baking tray. I had to cut and mould the dough to fit my tray.

8. Bake in the oven for 10-15 minutes until the base starts to crisp up and go brown.

9. Spread your tomato puree and add your topping of cheese. Generously sprinkle with cheese.

10. Bake in the oven again for another 15 minutes until nice and golden brown.

This was my first attempt at baking pizza dough from scratch and although not perfect it turned out very well. I did find that the dough was a little bit crumbly, especially in the corners, but as a whole it tasted as good as any gluten-free pizza dough I have tried. By the fourth slice I was very full so probably next time I would cut the pizza in half, whack a few frozen chips in the oven to eat with it and save the other half ti eat the next day. Who doesn't love cold pizza for breakfast?

So rather than having to sit and watch everybody eat their kebab and chips, I was able to tuck in to my very own tasty gluten-free pizza which, at the fraction of the cost of a normal takeaway pizza was also far healthier than any takeaway. I felt so good plus no takeaway guilt!

There are bonuses to being a Coeliac - no more greasy, fatty, unhealthy takeaway food! Make-your-own takeaways are definitely the way forward for me now.

Hot Cross Buns

This was my first attempt at hot cross buns.

I decided to use Juvela's recipe as I had just been sent a sample box of their products just a few days ago which included a box of their White Mix. You can find their recipe here but I have also recreated it below:

The recipe:

Pre-heat the oven to 200ºC/400ºF/Gas Mark 6 and lightly grease a baking tray.

Ingredients

500g (20oz) Juvela Gluten Free Mix
2tsp mixed spice
50g (2oz) butter
1 sachet easy blend yeast (supplied with Mix)
50g (2oz) caster sugar
100g (4oz) mixed dried fruit
1 medium egg
125ml (1/4 pint) warm water (approx)
125ml (1/4 pint) warm milk (approx)

Instructions

In a bowl combine the Mix with the mixed spice. Rub in the butter to resemble breadcrumbs. Stir in the yeast, sugar and mixed fruit. Beat together the egg, milk and water. Gradually add to the dry ingredients to form a soft but not sticky dough. Knead the dough until smooth on a surface lightly dusted with Mix.

Divide the dough into 8-10 pieces and shape into buns. Place on a baking tray, cut a shallow cross on top of each bun and cover with greased cling film. Put in a warm place until well risen (this should take about 45 minutes).

To make the cross on top of the buns, use 50g of Juvela Gluten-Free Mix and mix with enough water to make a paste. Use the paste to pipe a cross on top of each bun. Bake in a pre-heated oven for 20-25 minutes.

To make a glaze for the top (optional) - Mix together 75g (3oz) sugar with 100ml (4fl oz) of water and use this mixture to brush the buns with while they are still warm.

Not bad for my first attempt.

Overall this was a quick and easy recipe for hot cross buns. It was handy using the flour mix as you didn't need to measure the flour out, you simply used the whole box including the sachet of yeast, also provided.

The dough itself was very very sticky and I found it quite hard to kneed, maybe I used too much liquid.

The final result was very pleasing indeed! Although my buns didn't rise as much as I would have liked and were rather dense, they tasted great, with just the right amount of spices and fruit, giving a really sweet, but not too sticky, fresh taste. I would liken my buns to a cake rather than a bread, but this isn't really a criticism, merely an observation. I think the key to getting lovely round buns is in the kneading and the proving of the dough beforehand. Practice will, no doubt, make perfect.

Happy Easter everyone!