Easy as Pie Classic Gluten Free Pizza Pie (with Udi?s Pizza Crust!)

I’ve been working a lot in the last month. It’s been great, but has meant less time to focus on cooking and blogging. A career in television is a busy and unpredictable one, so it’s important that when I have free time, I use it well. Though I use a lot of my free time to answer emails, I admit that having some food prepared ahead of time (or food that’s easy to put together) helps me give me the chance to relax when I need it. And we can all use some extra time to relax, can’t we?

As I mentioned in this post from last fall, I love Udi’s Gluten Free products. I truly have nothing bad to say about any I’ve tried so far. Their bread is light and doesn’t fall apart when you cut it in half (which is a triumph in itself) and the products aren’t terribly expensive as far as gluten free items go. Though I often prefer to bake my own breads it isn’t always possible. On these occasions, Udi’s really helps me out.

Last week I was sitting on the train doing my usual “What Can I Eat When I Get Home?” routine, silently itemizing the contents of my fridge. I had pasta sauce and roasted tomatoes that needed to be used when I remembered two packages of gluten free pizza crust (made by Udi’s) sitting in my freezer. I nearly squealed. Pizza! What an ingenious idea! (When you’re GF, you tend to forget pizza even exists. Kinda sad, right?)

In my opinion, thin crust pizza is better. Udi’s is a thin crust pizza that tastes and acts like a regular pizza crust. It isn’t rubbery like other gluten free brands and takes ten minutes to cook. Each package comes pre-baked in a set of two, meaning those days of playing around with a sticky dough are over. The work is done for you so you can add the fun!

Below I’ve posted my favorite kind of pizza recipe. If you have any toppings you like to add–by all means go ahead! You can even swap the roasted tomatoes for other roasted veggies and see what works. Though it’s not in these photos, I like to add fresh basil as well. Enjoy!

Easy as Pie Gluten Free Pizza Pie (with Udi’s pizza crust!)

By Emily of (Mainly) Gluten Free in NYC

Serves 2 (recipe directions for making one pizza at a time)

Ingredients

1 package Udi’s gluten free pizza crust (one whole crust per person)

1 cup tomato sauce (your favorite kind)

1 cup part-skim mozzarella cheese

10 roasted tomatoes (recipe here)

1 tablespoon Pecorino Romano cheese

1 1/2 teaspoons dried oregano or some fresh basil leaves.

Preheat oven to 375 degrees. Wet a paper towel and ring until damp, squeezing out all excess water. Carefully unravel and wrap around one of the frozen pizza crusts. Place the wrapped pizza crust on a dry paper towel in the microwave and heat (watching closely) for 30 seconds. Crust should be soft, but not too soft.

Unwrap pizza crust and place on a large greased pan. Generously spread 1/2 cup of tomato sauce and cover with 1/2 cup of cheese. (I like to cover the edges of the crust with cheese to give it extra flavor and crunch.) Top with roasted tomatoes, Pecorino Romano cheese, and oregano or basil leaves.

Bake until the edges are golden brown and the cheese starts to bubble. Sprinkle with garlic powder or additional cheese if desired. Repeat with second crust. Serve warm.

Other Quick and Easy Recipes You Might Like:

  One Bowl Shrimp Salad

  Pink Bean & Broccoli Quesadillas

  Zesty Red Pepper & Mozzarella Panini