Chebe Pizza

Wow! Last week I had a fantastic grain-free, gluten free pizza. I didn’t go out to eat. I made the pizza from frozen dough and baked it in my toaster oven. My friend Heather came over for lunch and helped me assemble and eat the two single-serving pizzas.

Skepticism aside
We started with Chebe (pronounced chee-bee) oven-ready frozen pizza dough. I’ll admit that I was skeptical about frozen, ready to bake dough. It’s been decades since I’ve eaten any ready-to-bake and eat bread products. For years I made bread from scratch using baker’s years or a traditional sourdough starter and for many years I rarely ever ate bread.

Chebe Frozen Dough for Pizza Crust On-The Go
Now I wasn’t in a hurry to go anywhere, but I was hungry for lunch after an 18 hour fast. The simplicity of this product appealed to me and to Heather. The 11-ounce package contained two 4 1/2 x 7 1/2 by 1/4-inch rectangles of dough made from manioc flour, milk, cheese (milk, cheese cultures, salt, enzymes), egg (with citric acid), modified manioc starch (100% manioc), canola oil, iodine-free salt, dried oregano, onion, and garlic.

Caveats
Canola is not my favorite oil! In fact, I don’t buy it or cook with it and I rarely consume it. Similarly I would not buy iodine-free salt. I presume they chose this salt to meet the needs of people who are sensitive to iodine. And the cheese? Well, it’s not something I eat on a daily basis, but I do eat it as a treat, which is what I considered this pizza meal.

What is Chebe? (pronounced chee-bee)
In case you didn’t read my blog post about Chebe bread a few weeks ago. Here’s the scoop: Baked Chebe looks like white bread and has a crispy crust and a chewy interior. It’s grain-free, gluten-free, corn-free, soy-free, yeast-free, potato-free, and also free of peanuts and tree nuts. If you’re following a paleo or primal diets or simply looking for a less inflammatory bread-like treat, try Chebe.

Chebe Frozen Bread Sticks (baked) + salmon bellies & salad. Photo by Chef Rachel© 2009

Chebe comes from a root vegetable (aka cassava, manioc, tapioca) used extensively for thousands of years around the globe, cultivated about 10,000 years ago. Read more about cassava on Wikipedia.

Safety concerns about cassava?
A couple of my readers emailed me with questions about the safety of manioc root (aka cassava or tapioca). They'd read on-line that cassava root contains a toxic compound that has to be processed to neutralize these substances and prevent problems. Since tapioca is a common food used in dozens of commercial products, I figured the companies that process it know about this issue and how to properly prepare it, just as native people did.

The company that makes and markets Chebe bread mixes buys the tapioca flour and tapioca starch from a company that supplies dozens of other companies. Here's that they say: "Proper processing, water soaking (making a slurry) and heating will eliminate the cyanide out of the cassava. These steps are historically well known processing steps in Asia and Africa. "It [I assume they mean the testing] is a control point during the processing step of tapioca starch. No raised levels were ever found in the EU, so no regulations are made for tapioca starch."

Is it dairy-free? What about eggs?
Some of the Chebe mixes and frozen ready-to-bake breads contain milk, cheese, and eggs, so if you are allergic or intolerant to any of these, you’ll want to focus on the five lactose free, casein free bread mixes they offer. The instructions call for eggs because they help the dough hold together and rise, but you could try making the mixes without eggs; I haven’t done that yet. All of their products are produced by a 100% gluten-free manufacturer in a dedicated gluten free facility, so they’re celiac-safe.

Baking the dough
The package instructions said to preheat the oven to 375˚F and place the frozen pizza crusts on a non-greased baking pan, keeping 1/2-inch of space between each crust. We had a little bit of sticking, but not a lot. Next time I would oil it.

Baked Chebe crust right>>>

I used a 10x12-inch toaster oven tray and my trusty Cuisinart Convection Toaster Oven, which is very energy efficient. I can’t see turning on a full size oven for a small tray of food. To keep the baking time close to what was listed in the instructions I used regular rather than convection mode. You could use any toaster oven, although I'm partial to Cuisinart because I've found their products so reliable and durable.

I inadvertently left the dough on the baking tray for 20 to 25 minutes before popping it in the toaster oven. I actually think thawing the dough before baking gave it more loft and a crispier crust, which I like. I don't like it to be very dough inside. After baking for the allotted 20 minutes, until lightly browned, I removed the pan of pizza from the oven and we added our toppings.

We spread a thin layer of sun dried tomato pesto on one pizza then a generous layer of caramelized red onions that Heather made the night before, then slices of herbed goat cheese from Trader Joe’s.

We topped the second pizza with a traditional basil-based pesto (store bought), strips of roasted red bell peppers that Heather also made, pine nuts, and slices of soft herbed goat cheese. We popped the tray back in the toaster oven and baked it for another 5 to 7 minutes to warm the toppings.

Photo right by Rachel Albert Matesz, 2009

The verdict?
Fabulous. We cut each of the pizzas in half so we could each have a serving of each of the two pizzas served with a colorful green salad with a little bit of leftover baked salmon bellies. We loved the flavor and texture of the crust---slightly crunchy on the outside and a little chewy on the inside, a nice cross between thick and thin-crusted pizza. The lightness of the toppings allowed us to really taste the crust.

Photo right by Rachel Albert Matesz, 2009>>>

Would we make it again?
Absolutely! Both Heather and I agreed that this was worth making again. If you live alone, you could thaw a single crust for a single meal. If you’re cooking for two, you can make the whole package. You might need to figure 2 crusts per person if you’re serving an athlete or someone with a big appetite (remember each crust measures 4 1/2 x 7 1/2 by 1/4-inchesm which doubles in thickness as it bakes).

My tips
Defrost the dough for 20 to 30 minutes before baking even though the instructions don’t say to do that. Oil the baking pan or at least the bottom of the baking pan, or at least the place where the dough sits. I would use ghee, clarified butter, olive, avocado, palm, or coconut oil.

Keep checking back!
I plan to test and review more Chebe products. Let me know if you try them and what you think.

Where to find Chebe products
If you live in Phoenix, Arizona, you can buy Chebe bread mixes at Gluten Free Creations Bakery, 2940 E Thomas Rd, Phoenix, AZ 85016-8035. Or look for Chebe products in natural foods stores, such as Whole Foods Market. I'm not sure if Whole Foods sells the frozen Chebe Pizza Dough. I got mine directly from the company.

If you can’t find Chebe at a local store local retailer, you can order it on line from Amazon by clicking here or the links below or directly from the company, or ask the manager or grocery buyer of your favorite store to stock the product.

Chebe web letter
You can sign up for the Chebe Webletter, an email newsletter the company sends out about once a month. It contains news & announcements, online coupons, and spotlights a recipe using Chebe Bread Products. To view past webletters, or to subscribe, click here and then click the Webletter drop down menu.