Pizza/Dad's Birthday

Today is my dad's birthday. Although it is not considered a milestone like 18, 21, or 50, it is important to my family. It was not important because of how old my dad is today, but because of who my dad is. My dad and I have always been close. A couple days ago I asked my dad what he wanted for his birthday dinner. I expected to hear salmon or roasted chicken, but instead he said pizza. Now many of you in the gluten-free community know how difficult it is to have good pizza. Over the last year I have made countless recipes trying to perfect something that was a Friday night staple in our house when I was growing up. I thought that this day would never come, but about a month ago I discovered the perfect pizza crust. It took a lot of tweaking but I finally have a dough that you can touch with your hands, not spread with a knife. I am ecstatic that I was able to have the perfect pizza crust recipe for my dad's birthday this year. If you are anything like me, pizza is the one thing that you miss the most when going gluten-free. Here is the recipe that is the game-changer. Go ahead... it's ok if you dance a little after making this(I won't tell anybody.)

Ingredients  
~ 1 teaspoon sugar
~ 1 cup lukewarm water
~ 1 teaspoon dried active yeast
~ 1 1/4 cups rice flour
~ 3/4 cup potato starch, extra for dusting
~ 1/2 cup tapioca flour
~ 1 teaspoon xanthan gum
~ 1 teaspoon salt
~ 1 Tablespoon olive oil
~ 1 egg

Directions 
1. Preheat your oven to 500 ° F 

2. Add your flours, salt, and xanthan gum in a bowl and mix well.

3. In a second bowl, add yeast, sugar, and lukewarm water. Wait about 5-10 until the yeast has "proofed." 

4. Add to this(yeast mixture) the olive oil and egg and mix well. 

5. Form a well in the center of your flour mix and add the liquid gradually, incorporating it into the flour. 

6. Continue to mix until the ingredients form a dough ball.(I use a Kitchenaid) 

7. Remove dough from bowl and knead lightly on a dusted(with potato starch) board. This ensures the dough is thoroughly mixed. 

8. Put the dough back in the bowl, cover with a tea towel, and place somewhere warm for 20-30 minutes to allow the dough to rise.(It will not double in size like wheat dough, but it will poof up a little.) 

9. After the dough has been allowed to rise and divide the dough in half. 

10. Flatten out the dough using your hands or a rolling pin. You want the dough to be about 1/4 inch in thickness. 

10. Add a sauce(I use tomato but you can use pesto, olive oil, or anything you have on hand.) 

Pepperoni with spinach, olives, and artichoke hearts  

Meatballs(recipe coming soon), olives, spinach/vegetarian pizza on other half 

11. Add your toppings. I have even made this recipe to make a dessert pizza. I put apples, cinnamon sugar, and butter. 

12. Cook on a preheated pizza stone for 8-10 minutes or until the cheese starts to bubble and brown.(you can put the pizza directly on the stone or on foil for easy clean-up) 

13. Enjoy!