How to make a quick gluten-free pizza with kids

Got small children? Coeliac? Desperate to fill some time in lockdown but not too much time because...attention spans.

Kids making gluten-free pizzas

Here's an easy win: make gluten-free pizzas with them (and no, you won't be kneading your own dough).

PLUS! You'll only need 5 ingredients

AND! 4 have a long shelf-life

I'm ready to begin!

Ingredients:

1. B-Free snack-size pitta pockets.

2. Passata.

3. Chopped veg (I used sweetcorn & bell peppers).

4. Grated cheddar cheese.

Mini pitta breads? I hear you cry. Yep! No need to buy a 'proper' pizza base. Just get a snack-size pitta pocket from B-Free* (they recently appeared in my local Sainsbury's).

This has 2 benefits. Firstly, kids LOVE not having to share and a regular size pizza base is too much for a little tummy. Secondly, those pitta pockets never open properly so there's no point persuading yourself they will. And yes, I've been that person who's determined that this time (THIS time!) a new technique will do it (such as the tip of a sharp knife). It won't.

I digress! You'll be wanting to know how it all becomes a pizza.

Honestly? It's super simple.

Method:

1. Pre-heat the oven to 190 Celsius.

2. Place pitta pocket on a heatproof tray.

Carefully does it!

3. Spread a couple of spoonfuls of passata on top of the pittas.

Try not to go over the edges...so close!

4. Sprinkle chopped veg on top.

Pizza making is fun!

5. Add cheese.

Give us some cheese!

6. Pop in the oven for 15 minutes.

And that's it! Seriously. How easy is that?

Is this really all mine?

Top tips if the kids are really young:

1. Get them to do little jobs to use up some energy before they start decorating the pizzas - opening the fridge door, locating the cheese, finding a bell pepper etc...

2. Use 2 sets of equipment - give them each a bowl with chopped veg so they're not fighting over whose is whose.

3. Give them the cheese at the last minute or they'll eat it whilst making the pizzas.

4. Have something that'll take 20 minutes to do after the pizzas have gone in the oven. (Yes, they only take 15 mins to cook but that passata will be boiling hot when it comes out so you'll need a 5 minute buffer.) N.B. An episode of Paw Patrol suited my kids very well indeed.

Quiet concentration as a 3 year old starts eating her pizza!

How to make it vegan or dairy-free

The pitta pockets are gluten-free & vegan so that's an easy start. (Yep! B-Free are excellent at making egg-free gluten-free bread.) The passata and veg are obviously freefrom so the only thing you'll need to swap is the cheddar. I've tried some excellent dairy-free cheeses including a coconut-based one that's pretty good for those who can't have lactose or prefer not to have dairy. Check out the chilled freefrom aisle to find something you love. But be warned: some grated dairy-free cheddars contain oat fibre so you'll need to bear this in mind for coeliacs who can't tolerate avenin.

Click here for more gluten-free recipes. (Go on! They're fab!)

You can also head to my Instagram feed to see a video of the pizza-making.

* This is not an ad. Promise. My kids just love the gluten-free pitta pockets.