Bake at Home Pizza Company answers a coeliac's prayers

On Tuesday evening I did something that I haven’t done years. I ate pizza.

Since being diagnosed with coeliac disease, pizza was one of the foods I missed most second only to warm crusty freshly baked bread. And croissants and garlic bread to mop up home made Puttanesca sauce. Ok so there are other things I miss eating, but pizza is up there with them.

I’ve tried begging pizza parlours to create a gluten free pizza base, I’ve even tried making my own, but nothing is quite the same. Until now.

The newly launched Bake At Home Pizza Company answered my pleas by offering a thin and crispy gluten free base alongside their regular style 9” and 12” pizzas.

The pizzas are handmade to order and delivered ready to bake in the oven at time that suits you. “Never delayed, cold or soggy from a cardboard box,” says founder Joshua Beth. “This simple twist promises pizzas that are seamlessly baked to perfection always hot, crispy and absolutely fabulous.”

But I’ve heard it all before so decided to host a pizza party to put his claims to the test. A motley crew of two vegetarians, two hungry sportsmen, a Leith’s trained chef and me, the coeliac, crowded around the table for a taste testing sessions. Replete with wine and wisdom, we began prevaricating over the pizzas.

I like the bake at home concept particularly when you’re having guests as there’s no timing issues other than how long to cook them for. On the downside, unless you’re fortunate enough to have a wood burning stove at home – I lust after Jamie Oliver’s alfresco one as seen on TV – you do loose some of the authentic pizzeria flavour.

We shared five 12” pizzas between six of us which was more than enough leaving a few slices to reheat for lunch the next day plus a bag full of crusts for Pilgrim, a very lucky, very well fed dog. As an aside - Pilgrim actually ended up with the leftover slices whilst the 'doggy bag' ended up being someone's elses lunch. Needless to say the mix up occured rather late in the evening when coats were being located, boots being put back on and someone not looking where they were sitting!

The pizzas we pooled were:

 Aubergine, artichoke, butternut squash and red onion £12
 Goat’s cheese, red onion marmalade roasted tomato and basil (gluten free base) £10
 Pepperoni, chilli and parsley £10
 Portobello, chestnut mushroom, truffle, parsley £12
 Artichoke, red onion marmalade, winter spinach, mascarpone £12

The more sophisticated palates amongst us picked out the truffle taste from amid the Portobello and chestnut mushrooms placing this particular pizza top of both vegetarians’ list.
For me, the joy of being able to eat pizza was a distraction from the bit too biscuity base. The crusts however where light and crisp and the goat’s cheese, red onion marmalade, roasted tomato and basil made a tasting topping.

The general consensus was that the toppings were original and well thought out; they worked well together, even the more simple combinations. The pizzas bases averaged an 8/10.

I don’t think that any gluten free base will ever be quite the same as the traditional ones I enjoyed for so many years; however the delight of being able to order pizza once again proved a compromise worth making.

Emma Brophy

January 28, 2011