Tuesday, September 6, 2011

Pizza Crusts

Rudi's pizza crust, topped with fresh peaches, basil, chevre, lemon zest, and drizzles of honey and olive oil.

Who doesn’t love pizza? It’s the one thing every newly gluten-free person bemoans: “But then I can’t have pizza!” Fortunately, there are a lot of options for gluten-free pizza nowadays.

I remember even five years ago how difficult it was to find good gluten-free pizza without making it myself. I prefer making pizza from scratch, but it isn’t always the easiest thing to throw together at the whim of a craving.

There are two particular companies that make excellent premade gluten-free pizza crusts: Udi’s Gluten Free Foods and Rudi’s Gluten-Free Bakery. I’ve used Udi’s pizza crusts for about a year. Rudi’s recently developed their own gluten-free pizza crust and sent me a sample, so I decided it was time for a comparison review. Rudi’s was also kind enough to send me samples of their hot dog and hamburger buns so you can expect reviews of those soon.

And no, Udi’s and Rudi’s are not related companies, despite the similarity between their names. I’ve been watching their tug-of-war over the gluten-free bread market for awhile. Their products are similar and they seem to be taking cues from each other as they develop better and better recipes. It’s a bit like a game of Jenga—which company will create the best gluten-free products and which will collapse the tower trying? Gluten-free consumers are the true winners in this contest. Both companies make spectacular products. (I already made it clear in this review a few months ago that I prefer Rudi’s Multigrain Bread to Udi’s counterpart.)

Interested in trying Rudi’s products yourself? I’m hosting a CONTEST with a prize for one winner. The winner will receive two FREE loaf coupons and two Rudi’s sandwich boxes! To enter, please comment on this post with your most creative and delicious pizza topping. What pizza really makes your taste buds sing? Contest ENDS Tuesday, September 20, 2011, at 9pm Seattle (Pacific) time. I will judge the winner on the creative and skillful pairing of their flavor combinations.

4/5 spoons
Overall, an excellent, easy to use frozen pizza crust with good flavor.

Pros:
  • Bakes up crispy on the bottom with an appealing chewy, bready texture.
  • Browns beautifully, especially when rubbed with a bit of olive oil before topping and baking.
  • Holds together well, even when piled with extra toppings.

Cons:
  • Mild flavor doesn’t interfere with the rest of your pizza, though it doesn't enhance it either. I’d look for a more robust, yeasty flavor, if they were to improve the crust.
  • Contains xanthan gum, which bothers some people’s digestion.

3/5 spoons
Overall, a good frozen pizza crust: easy to use, decent flavor, quick to prepare. I wouldn’t hesitate to pick up Rudis Pizza Crusts in a pinch. But I'd love it if Rudi's would make a multigrain crust; therein lies their true bread genius.

Pros:
  • Bakes up crispy all over with some slight chewiness where the toppings sit.
  • It’s a bit more like a cracker than it is a pizza crust; that texture may appeal more to lovers of very thin crust pizzas.
  • Holds together well.

Cons:
  • Mild flavor, a bit too salty for my taste.
  • Contains guar and xanthan gums, which bother some people’s digestion.

6 comments:

  1. Hmm...well the best pizza toppings I've put on crust were: sliced, steamed new red potatoes, sauted asparagus, mozzarella, goat cheese and a touch of parmesan with a drizzle of olive oil and crushed garlic as the sauce. Now I don't know if it counts, after all it was a recipe found on the back of a bag of potatoes, but the world should know about such a beautiful combo!

    ReplyDelete
  2. Tuna and banana--that remains the most surprising pizza topping combination I've ever had. It was in Scotland, and it worked, amazingly enough.
    Seeing your peaches up there, I think another good fruit combo would be pear, gorgonzola, pine nuts, and spinach.

    ReplyDelete
  3. I found a great combo in a gluten free cookbook my boyfriend got me a while ago...

    Provolone cheese, sweet onions, pear, prosciutto, walnuts, arugula, sherry vinegar, top it off with some black pepper. YUM!!

    Also love roasted garlic, chicken, and sauteed onions as well. Delicious.

    ReplyDelete
  4. My best Pizza was a BBQ chicken grilled onion pizza. I sauteed the onions in with the chicken then added bbq sauce and cooked it in the pan for about 20 mins. Put it on my crust added mozzarella chesse and pepper jack drizzled it with some more bbq sauce and baked it, then murdered it(ate it like I had never eaten pizza before). Talk about amazeballs!! check out pitures here -->http://glutenfreelilbee.blogspot.com/search?updated-max=2011-04-27T09%3A13%3A00-07%3A00&max-results=7

    ReplyDelete
  5. Birdy: It looks like Jazmin won't be claiming her prize and you're the next runner-up! Please email me by Thursday, Sept 29, with your full name and mailing address so I can send you your prize. Congratulations! Send your email to: syronai [at] gmail.com. Thank you for participating!

    ReplyDelete