Chickpea Flour Pizza

SERVES: 2

Ingredients:

120g gram flour (chickpea flour)

240ml water

1tablespoon olive or rapeseed oil

1/4tsp salt

150ml tomato sauce (see introduction)

60g reduced fat grated cheese or mozzarella

Your favourite toppings!

This pizza recipe is lower in fat and higher in fibre and protein than most take-out pizza – it’s also gluten-free and easily made in less than 10 minutes. Less time than it would take you to dial up that delivery!

The base for this pizza is based on the Italian snack ‘socca’ or the French ‘farinata’ – it’s essentially a bread/pancake made with chickpea flour (also known as gram or besan flour and frequently used in Indian cooking). Chickpea flour makes a speedy and nutritious pizza base. The flour is a good source of iron which is important for people with arthritis as inflammation and medications can sometimes lead to anaemia. You can find the flour in most supermarkets now, normally in the whole foods or free-from sections.

If you aren’t a fan of pizza you can just make the chickpea flour base and use it as a wrap for sandwiches or snack on its own. Try it topped with hummus, avocado and salad. The texture of the base is similar to a pancake so you could even make it as part of a brunch.

For the tomato sauce, I normally use our leftover weekly pasta sauce which is a blend of garlic, onion, celery, carrot, peppers and passata. However you could just as easily use passata straight from the carton or even tomato puree. Cooked tomato is a rich source of the anti-inflammatory anti-oxidant lycopene.

Method:

Put the chickpea flour in a jug and slowly add the water whisking gently until you have a smooth, thin batter. You could use a hand blender or milk brother to whisk the mixture if using a fork is uncomfortable. Leave the batter to stand for around 30 minutes.

Preheat your grill to MEDIUM and grease a frying pan with the olive or rapeseed oil. Wipe away any excess oil using kitchen roll.

Place your frying pan on the hob and heat it up for a moment. Then pour the batter in – you shouldn’t need to lift the pan or swirl the batter around as it is so thin it will just settle across the base. Cook the batter for 2-3 minutes until you can see the top has just set. Turn the heat off the hob and spoon over your tomato sauce, cheese and any toppings.

Transfer the pizza to the oven and grill until the cheese is bubbling and golden. Serve.