After our Triathlon last weekend, my body was longing for some carbs. I had been told by someone at the Whole Foods deli counter last week that they were now making gluten-free pizza dough (rice) and pizzas made-to-order. Wow. My world just became a little bit brighter.
We decided to give this pizza a try, so I went to the Whole Foods pizza counter and spoke at length with one of their employees. He told me that the dough is made of rice flour and is 100% gluten-free. They are creating 10" rounds that come standard with mozzarella, and then you have three pizza sauces to choose from. The pizzas are custom made-to-order at the counter, and can either be baked at WF or you can take it home to bake in your own oven, which I did. The dough can also be sold separately, so customers can simply take it home, roll it, dress it with toppings and bake on their own. I was told that they keep the dough in a separate area and went to another kitchen in WF to prepare the pizza. I opted to take the pizza home and bake it in my oven which I know is 100% gluten-free. Our WF here in Reno is doing a great job stocking a lot of gluten-free items, however, they state right up front that they are NOT a gluten-free facility, so you always have to keep cross-contamination in mind.
I would like to further-research where they are baking the GF pizzas; are they in the same oven as the regular flour-dough pizzas, or have they designated a separate oven? So until I have that answer clear in my head, I'll keep baking them at home. And the price - it was very reasonable. Surprisingly, our 10" with three toppings (artichoke hearts, sun-dried tomatoes, and ham) and the choice of garlic/tomato sauce with mozzarella was only $15.00. I've purchased GF pizzas in San Diego that were only 8" and ran somewhere in the $20-something range...so this was also a pleasant surprise, and dangerous...I have to ration my pizza runs now!
The pizza was quite delicious and I enjoyed the crust - I bake my own pizzas, creating the dough at home via an easy recipe I posted last year, but this crust had a lovely crispness to it - and held it's form quite nicely. The toppings were fresh, healthy and I really liked the taste of their mozzarella cheese and the way it bubbled and cooked to a yummy "real pizza" consistency, especially around the crust. So yeah, it was a little bit of Heaven and felt like a real treat to go order a pizza at the counter, shop for 20 minutes and pick it up...dare I say, it kind of felt "normal"...
I would like to hear from those of you who give this Whole Foods pizza a try and hear what you think about the quality, consistency, toppings and price.
If this weekend's heat and lazy summer attitude prevents you from whipping up a storm in the kitchen, you now have the option of a quick and delish pizza - all you really need to do is pick some fresh lettuce and veggies from your backyard garden and drizzle on some olive oil and balsamic!
Happy Summer eating~
The first part of the baking class was how to blend flours - four different blends to be exact. This can be tricky I've learned the hard way, so learning a bit about combining other proteins and starches to perform the same job as the missing wheat was very helpful...and walking away with some great flour blend recipes was even more helpful. I'll post all of these later for you to try. It's quite a science I am discovering, to get just the right combination of flour, xantham gum or guar gum, vinegar, etc. in order to get your GF goodies to rise to the occasion.
As goodies are rotated through the oven and out onto the counter top, we would all gather around the hot baking pans like children on Christmas morning, so eager to see what Santa had left. The one thing I always get a kick out of when attending any Celiac function, is standing back and watching how excited everyone becomes over a fresh ANYTHING out of the oven...it's like controlled chaos and let me say, we don't hold back...I mean, we're polite and everything...but a bit aggressive when it comes to ensuring that our plates are overflowing with fluffy, tasty treats! 
Our class was so enjoyable and informative that we all voted to have another - so stay tuned and I'll keep you posted on the upcoming details. We were all inspired by delicious goodness. And not only will a hot, gooey cupcake keep us coming back for more, but so will the connections and friendships that are made in a simple class like this one, or connecting on-line with another Celiac and sharing tips with one another or a favorite restaurant. It's never been so clear to me as in this year since I began this blog, the need for community and how you can befriend a perfect stranger on the Internet just because you both have this funny auto-immune disease that won't allow you to absorb and digest wheat. I've become fast-friends with a gal who lives back east and had found my blog site. Through a connection to my hometown of San Francisco and our enjoyment for sharing GF tips with one another, we now have a genuine interest in each other's well-being and it all began through an email asking for some advice on living and managing life as a Celiac - these are the connections that brighten my day and remind me that the world is truly is small, and we are not isolated at all - quite the contrary. All this is a round-about way of suggesting that the world of Celiac is vast and growing each and every day, so jump in and use your baking knowledge and general understanding of this disease to help someone who was just diagnosed or simply needing a new recipe...like this one.