In search of a pizza dairy/gluten free perfection?

I've been hearing a lot about Pizza recently. Mostly gluten free. That's fine, it's a start - I need gluten free, but it's not much good to me, unless it's dairy free as well, is it?? So, I've been on a bit of a quest and I think I've found a few answers, that may be you could try too - if you're after pizza that is!!

A pizza heaven??

So the first thing is, that if you're after Pizza and you're gluten free, it seems to me that you're pretty well catered for, right now. There's no need to make your own ( although of course you're perfectly free to do so) when you can buy a ready made pizza in the frozen section at Sainsbury's, or order one from Domino's (as reviewed by Kevin at Gluten Free by the Sea), Prezzo, Pizza Hut or even Ask, I believe!! It seems that Pizza restaurants have really got the bit between their teeth and are practically falling over themselves in the race to reach gluten free customers.

Others have chosen to try them out. Emma from Love Lactose Free Life has tried Pizza Hut and Grace Cheetham has tried Domino's. They elected to choose naturally dairy free toppings, I've not tried them, though. I mean I could try a gluten free pizza without cheese, if I wanted, but... it's just not pizza, then, is it?? 

Now those of you who are not gluten free but are dairy free and okay with soya, you can also get a ready made pizza. Mama Cucina do one, as reviewed by the Veggie's blog here. It is available from the chiller cabinet in some Holland and Barrett's and also Goodness Direct.

However, that is no good for me either. SO, I have been forced to make my own!!

I've tried a few bases, one of which came from a packet mix. The packet mix was a disaster, so I won't even go there! Of the ready made bases that I've tried, Sainsbury's and Tesco's own Free From bases have been the winners for me, but I've yet to try one by Venice Bakery. I've heard it is delicious! Emma reviewed it here.

The Sainsbury's base

The Sainsbury's base is not perfect by any means. It's a bit dry and brittle, which means it can crack, quite easily. However, once the toppings are on, you don't really notice that too much!

The Tesco's base I like, because you get two small ones in a packet together. I think they're slightly less dry, than Sainsbury's and they're the perfect size for one - for lunch, anyway.

Seeds of Change Stir-through sauce

As for the next stage - the tomatoey sauce base, most people would probably opt for a tomato puree, right? However, me being me, I can't eat stuff in can - my face comes out all blotchy, so I need stuff in a jar. 

I've tried two - Biona's tomato puree (in a jar) is really nice, but my favourite is Seeds of Change Tomato and Olive Stir-Through Sauce. Not technically gluten free, they are both dairy free and seem to be free from gluten containing ingredients.

Adding the puree! 'Baby' likes this bit!

Following the tomatoey base, the next level is entirely up to you! My favourite combination is ham and mushroom, as shown here!

This one was produced without Baby's help. Can you tell?

The really tricky bit about pizza, though (as far as I have been concerned) is the last layer- the cheesey bit, but this I now think I have cracked!!

As I browsed my local health food shop I happened upon a new cheese, which I have mentioned before - it's called Mozzarisella. It is fairly tricky to get hold of, although you can order it from their website. However, it's new to the UK market, so things are on the up!!

Nicely melted!

For me, it worked really well on pizza, especially if the pizza was cooked at 200 degrees C, for 10 minutes. I thought it melted just enough.

If you can't get hold of Mozzarisella, and, like me, you can't have dairy free cheese that is made with soya, there are a few other options. One is another new cheese (which I've yet to try) by Violife (Veganic) reviewed here, by Veganoo. This is also pretty hard to get hold of, right now, so your best option would be dairy and soya free melting Cheezly. This is sold in some Holland and Barrett stores and also in some health food stores. By itself, it's not particularly cheesy, but grated and melted, on top of a pizza, I think it tastes pretty good!!

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New cheese on the block - meet Mozzarisella!

New cheese on the block - meet MozzaRisella!

You know what they say about buses? Well sometimes I find that about the products that I mention. No sooner have I 'covered' a subject, then something else comes along!

When I wrote my recent post about dairy free cheese and followed that with a guest post by Sarah (@Sugarpuffish on Twitter) I really thought I had covered the subject pretty definitively, BUT it appears not!! Browsing the fridge in my nearest health food store, recently, I came across this little beauty: MozzaRisella! 

Dairy free Mozzarella!

Basically, as its name suggests, it is a Vegan alternative to Mozzarella - made with rice, as opposed to cow's milk. Reassuringly, it is an Italian product. When I saw this, I thought to myself, "Italians invented Mozzarella, didn't they? That means it must be good!"

Then I realised that the packaging states it is lactose, gluten and soy free. "Yippeee!!" I thought, "that means I can eat it!!"

The actual ingredients, are as follows:
Biosurice (water, germinated whole rice, lemon juice, apple vinegar, salt), cold pressed coconut oil. 
Thickening agents: agar-agar, gum arabic, xanthum gum, carob flour.
Flavourings: natural flavouring

To me, the most obvious way to use Mozzarella, is as a topping on a pizza. Having heard a lot about gluten free pizza, on Twitter recently (it seems to be cropping up everywhere) I couldn't wait to give it a go!!

Poised and ready for action!

In case you're interested, my base of choice was Sainsbury's Free From. Instead of puree, I used this Seeds of Change sauce (I can't eat tinned food).

Easy to slice

I've never used real Mozzarella myself, so I've no idea how it should handle, but I thought the MozzaRisella sliced well. 

A common complaint, in the dairy free community is that dairy free cheese doesn't melt very well. MozzaRisella did, when I used the Sainsbury's base - which was cooked at 200 degrees C, for about ten minutes. 

Et Voila!

However, the next day, when I tried to repeat my pizza experiment with a different base that cooked at a slightly lower temperature (180 degrees C) it didn't look as though it melted quite so well, but did seem gooey enough, when I ate it.

Pizza number two!

Now it's a long time since I've tasted real Mozzarella, but I have to say that I enjoyed this pizza perfection (see what I did there). It was gooey and creamy and off-set the strong tangy tomatoey layer, really well. The Hub thought that it tasted okay (ie. good enough) with the pizza, but that it wasn't stretchy, like real Mozzarella. He thought it definitely had a cheesy taste but tasted more like Dairy Lea, when eaten by itself.

I have to say, I definitely want to buy it again, to top my pizza, but there's only one place I know locally, that sells it. Today, when I went back for more, and it was all gone!!

MozzaRisella have another dairy free cheese in this range - Creamy Risella. It describes itself as a 'spread', which I believe is intended for eating with crackers. I tried it with Barkat's gluten free crackers (which, by the way, I love).

Cheese Number Two!

The ingredients are as follows:

Biosurice (water, germinated whole rice, salt, apple vinegar), water, cold pressed coconut oil, rice syrup, lemon juice.

Thickening agents: agar-agar, gum arabic, xanthum gum, carob flour.

Flavourings: natural flavouring.

Personally speaking, Creamy Risella did not rock my boat in quite the same way as MozzaRisella, but as people respond differently to products, in terms of taste (The Hub thought it tasted pretty much the same as the other), I would urge you to try it for yourself and make your own judgement. I might, however, be tempted to try using it in making dishes that require a soft cheese.

Like the MozzaRisella, I found it in my health food store. Unfortunately, it's not cheap (£3.99) but then dairy free products are often niche and expensive to produce - it kind of goes with the territory! 

If you want to buy it, the current list of stockists can be found here.

Update:  On Facebook, Jennifer and Hannah mentioned that they have contacted Mozzarisella and discovered that you can buy it direct - £3.70 per cheese, minimum order of £10, postage £6.99, grand total £18.09 (cost of package probably because it needs to be kept chilled). Mozzarisella indicated that they are just beginning to roll-out their product in the UK and that we can help, by inquiring at our local health food shops. Also there is a new product to follow - Pizzarisella gluten free, so keep your eyes peeled and keep pushing those doors!!

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