The Adventurous Housewife: Gluten Free Nutella Pizza

I had the most amazing dessert pizza this summer at a restaurant called Nebo in Boston's historic North End. On their gluten free menu, it is described as "sweet pizza dough topped with chocolate, Nutella, and chopped hazelnuts"

A few months passed and while making pizza for dinner one night I decided to make my own! I didn't reference my photo of their pizza or look the menu up online, I just remembered that it involved Nutella and nuts. Nebo's is much classier looking with the delicately piped chocolate lattice, but mine tasted just as delicious!

Nutella pizza with almonds

My go-to pizza recipe is Bette Hagman's "Yeast-Rising Thick Pizza Crust" recipe from her "Gluten-Free Gourmet" cookbook. It makes crust for two pizzas. I cannot recommend a Kitchenaid mixer strongly enough for this crust. It gets pretty doughey at the end and a regular handheld mixer might choke.

Bette Hagman's "Yeast-Rising Thick Pizza Crust" with my adaptations:

2 c rice flour

2 c tapioca flour

2/3 c dry milk powder

3 1/2 t xanthan gum

1 t salt

2 T dry yeast granules

1 c lukewarm water

1 T sugar

3 T butter

1/2 c hot water

4 eggs

Mix dry ingredients in the bowl of your mixer. Dissolve the yeast and sugar in the lukewarm water. Melt the butter in the hot water. Pour the hot water/butter mixture into the mixer and blend. Add the eggs and blend again. Last, add the yeast mixture and then beat on high for 4 minutes (might be longer with a handheld mixer)

The beauty of gluten free pizza dough is that there is no rolling or kneading or tossing dough above your head. It's more like frosting a cake.

Lightly grease your pizza pans. Spread the dough out across the pan using a spatula. Officially you are supposed to let it rise 10-20 minutes and then bake in a 400 degree oven for 5-7 minutes before adding toppings. I typically put it in a cold oven and then set it to bake at 400. I figure that by the time 400 is reached, it's been a nice warm place to let the dough rise. So after the oven dings that it's hit 400, I let the crust bake until the top starts to brown just a little (around that 5-7 minute range)

Next, take the crust out of the oven, slap your toppings on, and put it back in the oven until it starts browning! My impulse to do the Nutella pizza was very last minute so it's incredibly simple. I just slathered Nutella on the crust and sprinkled on a package of slivered almonds and then put it back in the oven for 10-15 minutes.

Next time I would plan in advance and get hazelnuts. I'd also add a little sugar to the dough if I were planning to make a whole dessert pizza. You could also just bake the crust with butter and sugar and the hazelnuts on top and then add the Nutella after baking.