Guatemala Vegan Pizza Crust with a Twist

The twist on this Guatemala Vegan Pizza Crust is this recipe will also fit the dietary needs of any person that is gluten intolerant. I was diagnosed with a gluten sensitivity so when I moved to Lake Atitlan Guatemala I began to improvise and experiment with food to create delicious alternatives to my favorite dishes which now includes my interest in Vegan Recipes.

I love pizza and most flour used in pizza is from GMO produced flour and causes issues. I looked at how locals on Lake Atitlan make corn tortillas and decided to do some research into if masa flour could produce an edible pizza crust without all the side effects. For those not familiar with gluten issues wheat flour will cause stomach pain and a lot of discomfort.

Guatemala Vegan Pizza

Pizza Crust

The Guatemala Vegan Pizza recipe is simple all ingredients were purchased at Sandra’s market in Pana. This recipe will make 2 large 16 inch pizza crusts.

Pizza Crust

Guatemala Vegan Pizza Ingredients:

2 cups self-rising Masa mix
1 1/3 cups warm water 105 degrees
4 tablespoons baking powder
2 ¼ teaspoon active dry yeast
1 tablespoon sea salt
1 tablespoon natural brown sugar (not processed)
4 Tablespoons pure virgin olive oil
4 large cloves of garlic

Preparing:

Add the yeast and sugar to the 1 1/3 cups warm water 105 degrees let rest for 5 minutes till the yeast is active.

Add Masa and the rest of the dry ingredients in a small mixing bowl. Make a hole in the Masa and stir in 1 1/3 cups warm water. Mix will and form into a dough ball with a fork or your hands.

If the dough is too dry, add a few more drops of water. If it is too sticky, add a few teaspoons of Masa. Let rest 5-10 minutes.

Form the dough into 2 equal sized balls. Freeze one and use the other for cooking.

Place the dough ball on olive oiled parchment paper, spread the dough using a roller or by hand starting in the middle working your way out, creating a nice round pizza crust.

Try to make the dough as thin as possible this will make the dough puffy.

Mix olive oil and garlic together in a blender to make a paste. Spread this on the top of the pizza crust. This helps bring out taste and adds to the sometimes flat taste of masa flour, you can use basil, thyme or oregano as well.

Preheat your oven to 375 degrees, place the dough on the parchment paper in the oven and Pre bake for 20 minutes, or until the crust begins to brown on the bottom. Remove from the oven and add you vegan toppings and return to the oven. Do not over bake.

You can also make mini pizza’s by cutting the dough into balls and simply placing them on a frying pan with toppings and cook.

Notes on Oil and Salt:

Getting the right virgin olive oil, be sure to always check the label on olive oil, most olive oils are a blend of other products.

Sea Salt, pure Sea Salt can be found as Sandra’s the Pink Sea Salt is the most desired.

I have also come across this website that has vegan honey, no bee products are used.

http://www.beefreehonee.com/pages/bee-free-honee-recipes