Gluten Free Pizza Available

Back in 2008 we noticed we were getting more and more phone calls asking if we made a gluten free pizza. People with gluten allergies were begging us to make a gluten free pizza that they could eat – something palatable was requested, but they were really hoping for something tasty. They also needed to have confidence that it wouldn’t make them sick, that is to say, that special care in the preparation & cooking would be assured and they could enjoy a pizza like everybody else – except that it would be a gluten free pizza. In a way it was very flattering to hear requests from people with gluten allergies; many said that we are known for being the best when it comes to all things pizza and these people really missed pizza. We still get calls and questions every week about our gluten free pizza.

We took quite a while to develop our own gluten free pizza recipe and it’s been on the menu for about a year and a half. Our recipe is made in house—from scratch and we only make it early in the morning in small batches. We do this to limit the exposure to wheat flour. We could have sourced the pre-made shells like some other pizza places do, but we felt that we could do better. Italians have been making Gluten Free pizza for years and they even have a Gluten Free baking category at the World Pizza Championship games. What I’ve learned from my experience there is that they don’t like eggs in the dough, which is common in North American Gluten Free products. Our recipe is egg free.

While we were developing our gluten free pizza dough recipe we had several testers who tasted our sample batches and sent us evaluations of each test. We knew we had our final recipe when all the evaluations came back with “this tastes like pizza!!!” A big thanks again to all of our samplers, we really appreciated your honest feedback. Even though we had our winning recipe, we still had to figure out how to incorporate a from-scratch gluten free pizza into a busy ‘wheat’ pizzeria. We asked our friends in Australia and Italy how they have been able to offer it on their menus for the past 10 years. We developed our system based on many suggestions from these experts.

We have a special shelf inside our walk in where we make the gluten free pizzas. We use sauce, toppings and cheese from the walkin which have not been in our kitchen, exposed to the wheat dusting flour that we use to slap out our wheat pizzas. Whenever we get an order for a gluten free pizza, a Pizziolo takes a clean, fresh apron and makes that gluten free pizza in the walk in, then loads it in our granite stone conveyor oven. We use separate baking disks and we also use a separate cutting wheel for our gluten free pizzas. We take extra special care that our gluten free pizzas are not exposed to any wheat products. It’s a lot of work, but we realize that not caring could make someone very sick and that’s just not acceptable.

Part of the other challenge was to check with all our suppliers about whether or not their products were deemed “gluten-free”. Label laws in Canada allow for a small percentage of wheat flour to be included in a “spices” category listed on the label—and listed here are all of our gluten free pizza toppings.

Gluten Free toppings:
Meats: Buffalo Chicken, Cajun Chicken, Plain Chicken, Seasoned Chicken, Strip Bacon, Turkey Bacon, Plain Beef, Capicollo Ham, Oysters, Anchovies, Shrimp.

Veggies: All of them!!!!

Gluten Free Pizza Crusts made from scratch with: White Rice flour, Brown Rice Flour, Tapioca Starch, Corn Flour, Corn Starch, Gluten Free Yeast, and Xanthan gum.
Available in 12” size only.

Gluten Free Specialty Pizzas*
When requested with gluten free pizza crust

Gourmet Hawaiian
Our signature marinara, Capicolla, Strip Bacon, Fresh Hand Cut Pineapple,
Monterey Jack Cheese Blend

Mexican*
*request with plain lean ground beef instead of seasoned beef, our signature marinara, Roma tomatoes, red onions and medium sharp cheddar

Classic Vegetarian
Our signature marinara, fresh mushrooms, green peppers, red onions & Roma tomatoes

Gourmet Vegetarian
Our signature marinara, chopped baby spinach, artichoke hearts, red onions & sundried tomatoes

Cheesy
Our signature marinara, mozzarella, medium sharp cheddar & Monterey Jack Cheeses

Big D’s Bodacious BLT “Canada’s Best Pizza 2006” – Canadian Pizza Magazine
No sauce, a blend of medium sharp cheddar & low fat mozzarella cheeses, capicolla ham, strip bacon, topped with fresh diced Roma tomatoes, ranch dressing, light pepper & sea salt finished with fresh chopped Romaine lettuce.

Havarti Heaven “Finalist for Best Pizza 2007” – Pizza Festiva
Olive oil & herb sauce, roasted red peppers, red onions, strip bacon & Cajun chicken with a blend of garlic’n’chive havarti & low fat mozzarella

Californian
Olive oil & herb sauce, low fat mozzarella cheese, seasoned chicken breast, chopped baby spinach, sundried tomatoes & Roma tomatoes