New gluten-free pizza bases at Pizza Hut

I was really lucky to win a Twitter competition recently to try the new and improved gluten-free pizza bases at Pizza Hut.

You may recall I've blogged about my success at Pizza Hut  before and how much I love their GF pizza.

Pizza Hut is probably one of the best places I've found to eat out gluten-free and I've never had any problems there or accidental-glutenings. Since my first blog post about their pizza's I have been back time and time again and always get a great experience.

You can certainly tell the difference between the new bases compared with the old ones. They are a bit thicker and doughier, which I like. I'm not the biggest fan of the thin and crispy crusts to be honest, not that there's anything wrong with them - I just like a bit more bread on my base. I think the Pizza Hut GF bases are the closest I've found to a "normal" pizza. In my opinion the bases taste just like the Italians would make them.



The base I had was lovely and soft, not hard or crispy and I actually couldn't really tell it was a gluten-free base if I'm honest (apart from the fact it was a square base not round - this is a really great way that Pizza Hut staff distinguish between the gluten-free and normal bases, so there is less chance that mistakes might be made in the kitchen and you get given the wrong pizza base).

You might notice from my photo, however, that I was not supplied with my own pizza cutter this time (just a steak knife). Does anyone know why Pizza Hut have stopped providing pizza cutters with the GF bases? I liked the fact that I had my own cutter before. It's still good that I had my own knife and could cut it myself (all GF pizza's arrive un-sliced), again this is another good way Pizza Hut try to limit the risk of cross-contamination - by making you cut your own.

I went for the Meat Feast with added Roquito peppers, I like my pizza the spicier the better!

What's your favourite Pizza Hut topping?

Newburn Bakehouse square seeded wraps

Last week Newburn Bakehouse announced that their fab square seeded wraps now include an extra wrap in every pack meaning you now get 4 wraps for the same price as we were paying for 3 previously. This was music to my ears as I'm sure it is for Coeliacs everywhere. I love these wraps (they make great fajitas) and they regularly appear in my shopping basket but I have to admit I did find them quite pricey (ranging between £2.90-£3.10 per pack depending on where you shop and where in the country you live). But now we are getting an extra wrap at no extra cost I feel they are definitely worth the money. What you are getting is 4 really substantial wraps that don't fall apart when you pack them with filling, I mean there's nothing worse than a fajita that falls apart in your hands is there?! The cost is definitely justified in that you are getting a great quality product that tastes amazing. Not only that, they are now certified dairy free as well as gluten free. Great news for people that are lactose intolerant or Coeliacs that are avoiding dairy products in the first 6-12 months of diagnosis.

Their square shape means they are really versatile and also make great light pizza bases ideal for lunch or a tasty healthy snack. I'd love to hear from you if you have tried the wraps and used them in a more adventurous way.

These wraps are becoming more widely available as you can now find them in La Tasca restaurants and Starbucks and Costa Coffee are also using them in their wraps-to-go. Read about my review of the Costa wraps here

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.

Pizza Hut

This review is quite a bit overdue as I actually visited Pizza Hut about 3 weeks ago now, so my apologies.

It was my husband's birthday and he didn't want any fuss or frills, so we visited our local Pizza Hut. I'd heard a lot about pizza companies such as Pizza Hut and Dominoes introducing new gluten-free pizza bases and had read some really mixed reviews so I have to admit I was a little nervous about trying Pizza Hut gluten-free base. I was mainly worried about cross-contamination and whether the staff would be educated and adequately trained in preparing gluten-free pizza. But I needn't have worried.

When I got to Pizza Hut I made it known to our waiter that I required a GF pizza. He was not at all fazed by my request and simply proceeded to show me to the relevant section in the menu where it mentioned the GF base. He also explained that I could have any of the toppings as they are all gluten-free. Yes!

Now when it came to the salad bar I was a little bit more apprehensive. Our waiter was a little unsure about what sections of the salad bar I could actually have so he went to ask his manager and came back with a list of the items I should avoid, which included the pasta salad, bacon bits, croutons, bread sticks, and dry onions. He also said I should be wary of the seeds, salsa and pickled onions as they couldn't guarantee they were safe. I was so grateful for the extra effort he went to which made me feel a bit bad but in the end I decided not to have any of the salad because I was just so worried about the cross-contamination aspect - I mean, all the salad is in one place and it could be so easy for someone to drop, say, a crouton in to the lettuce accidentally or snap a bread stick in half and then some of the crumbs go in to the rest of the salad. Call me paranoid, but I was just not willing to risk it but I really appreciated the Pizza Hut staff going to so much effort to find out what parts of the salad bar were GF.

When my pizza arrived I found it was a square base, which means that the staff can distinguish between the normal bases and the GF bases so there is no way of mixing them up, genius! They also told me that the GF pizzas are cooked in their own square tins to avoid any cross-contamination. It looked delicious and I couldn't wait to tuck in, but not before cutting my pizza myself with my own (clean) pizza cutter. Again, this is another way Pizza Hut avoid cross-contamination by getting you to cut your own slices. This is such a good idea!

Overall I loved my pizza. It had the same flavoursome toppings that Pizza Hut are so well known for just with a different base. The base itself, although very thin, wasn't dry at all or chewy which I have found with some GF bases. Delicious!

When I had finished eating, the waiter came back to check that everything was OK with my pizza and he even told me that when Pizza Hut had first introduced the GF base all the staff had received training on how to prepare and cook the GF pizzas and as part of the training they had all sampled a GF pizza. He told me that most of the staff were really impressed with the taste, and these are people that wouldn't normally eat GF pizza so that is definitely reassurance to us Coeliacs!

It was great to see that the Pizza Hut are so well educated on their GF base and have gone that extra mile to include Coeliacs in their clientele. The waiting staff were wonderful and went out of their way to ensure my dining experience was stress-free and enjoyable! Thanks again, Pizza Hut! It now means that if I am out and about with family or friends and we need a quick, relatively cheap bite to eat, we can go to Pizza Hut and I'm not excluded from the pizza experience. I'm now on the look out for other eateries with GF pizza bases. Can anyone recommend anywhere else?

*Enjoying my first GF pizza base courtesy of Pizza Hut. This is the spicy cajun chicken topping*