Yeast-Free Pizza

I had pizza on the brain today. I knew exactly what I wanted to do with it. I had plans for the morning of doing yoga, eating my overnight oats and making the dough so that it could rise all day. However, after scouring all the cabinets, I discovered there was no yeast. Having no way of getting to the store to buy some, I decided to throw something yeast-free together and pray it worked. Well, it did. It definitely did.


Yeast-free dough
Ingredients
Makes 1-2 large pizzas, or 4 individual ones
- 2 cups whole wheat flour
- 1 cup bread flour
- 1 tbsp ground flax
- 2 tsp baking powder
- 1 1/2 cups water (105-115 degrees)
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 tsp agave
- 1/2 tsp sea salt

Instructions
- Preheat oven to 400.
- Combine dry ingredients in a large bowl.
- Add oil and agave to the measuring cup containing water. Slowly add to dry ingredients.
- Mix with hands until dough pulls away from the sides of the bowl and forms a ball.
- On a floured surface, knead the dough 10 times. Roll into a ball, cover with a drizzle of olive oil and allow to rest at room temperature for 2 hours. It won't rise, but it will give the gluten a chance to do its magic.
- On a floured surface + rolling pin, roll out desired size and shape of dough. Bake for 8 minutes. Top with desired toppings and bake for an additional 8-10 minutes, or until dough is crisp and toppings are cooked through.


My toppings? Roasted garlic, oven dried tomatoes and basil. Yes, I'm a freak and eat plain roasted garlic and onions. I wouldn't want to kiss me either.


Roasted garlic: Preheat oven to 400. Cut the tops off 2 heads of garlic. Drizzle both with a tiny bit of olive oil, cover in foil and roast for 30 minutes. Allow to cool, then squeeze the cloves out using your hands. Mash with a fork until (mostly) smooth.



Oven dried tomatoes: Preheat oven to 225. Half 1 cup cherry tomatoes and toss in 1 tbsp olive oil, S&P and dried oregano, to taste. Line on a greased cookie sheet and cook for 2-3 hours, or until tomatoes look like the picture above.


I ended up with this funky shape which I'm calling "rustic". Spread the roasted garlic mash, toss on some tomatoes, basil ribbons and sprinkle with red pepper flakes, oregano and S&P, and call it a day.


I was incredibly skeptical about this pizza. I thought it would taste awful and I'd toss it aside, microwave a sweet potato and have a puss on my face. A dough without yeast? Preposterous. Well, let me tell you, it was great! I couldn't notice a big difference between this and a regular whole wheat dough, but this was slightly thinner and crisper (which I love). I thought it would taste like a tough cracker, but it was still relatively doughy and tender.

I'm glad I have a good alternative when I run out of yeast and must eat pizza!