Crafted Crusts: Woodfired Gluten Free Pizza Creations

For anyone avoiding gluten, pizza night can feel like the ultimate test of a restaurant's hospitality. Too often the gluten-free option is a single sad substitute, a thin cardboard disc that bears little resemblance to the real thing. At Piccolino Woodfired Pizza & Homemade Pasta in Fitzroy North, we take a completely different approach: every single pizza on our menu is available on a gluten-free base. That means coeliac diners and gluten-intolerant guests choose from the same full range as everyone else at the table, from a classic Salame to our pistachio-topped Mortadella. We fire each one in the same woodfired oven that has made us a fixture of Melbourne's inner north since 2019. If you're looking for woodfired gluten-free pizza that delivers the full trattoria experience, you are in the right place.

Gluten Free Pizzas to Try at Piccolino

Because every pizza on the menu can be made gluten-free, the hardest part of your visit will be choosing. Our toppings follow the same philosophy as everything else in the kitchen: quality Italian ingredients, sourced fresh and treated with respect. Vegetables arrive twice weekly from selected Queen Victoria Market traders, and we choose cured meats for genuine Italian character. Whether your taste runs to timeless classics, fiery Calabrian heat, or something a little indulgent, there is a gluten-free pizza here with your name on it. These are the combinations our guests order again and again.

The Classics: Salame, Capricciosa and Napoletana

Traditionalists are spoilt for choice on our menu. The Salame keeps things timeless with Napoli sauce, mozzarella, salame, and fresh basil, proving that the old combinations endure for a reason; the salame crisps at the edges in the woodfired heat, releasing its oils into the cheese for a flavour no oven at home can quite replicate. The Capricciosa layers ham, mushrooms, and olives over Napoli and mozzarella for the Roman classic in full, a pizza traditionally built to offer a little of everything on one base, which is exactly what makes it such a dependable choice for first-time visitors. 

The Napoletana brings the bold southern flavours of olives, chilli, anchovies, and capers, finished with a dusting of oregano on a gluten-free crust. Anchovies divide opinion, but on a woodfired base they melt into the sauce and deliver a savoury depth that even sceptics come to appreciate. These three pizzas have centuries of Italian tradition behind them, and they remain the benchmark by which any pizzeria should be judged. On a gluten-free base, each one tastes exactly as it should, with nothing lost in translation.

For Spice Lovers: Picante and La Bomba

If you like your pizza with a kick, two options stand out. The Picante pairs spicy nduja sausage with olives and fresh chilli over Napoli sauce and mozzarella, delivering slow-building Calabrian heat in every slice, thanks to our expertly crafted crust. Nduja deserves a special mention: this soft, spreadable salami from Calabria melts into the cheese as it cooks, so the spice weaves through the whole pizza rather than sitting on top. The briny olives balance the richness and keep every bite interesting. The La Bomba turns the intensity up further, combining nduja, salami, roasted capsicum, and fresh chilli on the one pizza, and its name translates quite literally as "the bomb". 

The woodfired oven caramelises the capsicum and crisps the salami edges, adding smoky depth to all that spice. A cold Peroni or a glass of Primitivo alongside makes the heat even more enjoyable. Both pizzas arrive just as fiery and satisfying on a gluten-free base as on our traditional dough.

Hearty Favourites: Italian Stallion, Hungry Wild Boar and Porky Pine

Some nights call for something generous, and these three deliver. The Italian Stallion ($29) loads pork and fennel sausage, salami, olives, fior di latte, fresh chilli, and basil onto one seriously satisfying pizza, with the aniseed note of the fennel cutting through the richness of the cured meats. The Hungry Wild Boar ($30) is one of Melbourne's most distinctive pizzas, pairing wild boar sausage mince with mushroom, provolone, and caramelised onion on a white base. Wild boar is a staple of Tuscan cooking rarely seen on pizza menus here, and its deep, gamey character against the sweet onion makes this a dish worth crossing town for. 

The Porky Pine ($26) settles the great pineapple debate in the affirmative, pairing leg ham and pineapple chunks over Napoli and mozzarella for the crowd-pleaser families keep coming back to; the high oven temperature lightly caramelises the pineapple, which is precisely what the divisive topping needs to win people over. These are the pizzas we recommend for a proper appetite after a long week, or for sharing when nobody feels like ordering light. Gluten free diners with big appetites need not hold back on any of them.

Something Special: Mortadella and Prosciutto

For a pizza that feels like an occasion, look to our cured meat specialties. The Mortadella tops fior di latte with silky mortadella, crushed pistachios, and a sweet balsamic glaze, a combination straight from the bars of Bologna where mortadella and pistachio have been paired for generations. The mortadella goes on after the oven so it stays delicate and almost creamy, while the pistachios add crunch and the glaze ties the sweet and savoury elements together. The Prosciutto finishes a Napoli and mozzarella base with delicate prosciutto, peppery rocket, and shaved grana added after baking, so the meat stays soft and the leaves stay fresh. 

Adding the toppings post-oven is the traditional way to treat these cured meats, since direct heat would toughen them and dull their flavour. Both pizzas pair beautifully with a glass from our Italian-leaning wine list, and either makes a fitting centrepiece for a date night or a celebration, especially when complemented by our homemade pizza dough. They prove that gluten-free dining can be elegant rather than merely safe.

Why the Woodfired Oven Matters for Gluten-Free Pizza

Gluten-free bases benefit from the woodfired oven even more than traditional dough does. The intense heat cooks the base quickly, locking in moisture at the centre while the exterior crisps and blisters, which is exactly what gluten-free flour blends need to avoid turning dry or dense. The wood fire also imparts a gentle smokiness that no electric or conveyor oven can replicate, adding character to every slice. Our head chef and owner, Andrea Fioriti, stretches and fires each pizza to order, giving the gluten-free bases the same attention as every other pizza in the house. The result is a coeliac-friendly pizza that stands proudly beside its traditional counterpart, rather than apologising for itself.

Gluten Free Pasta to Complete the Table

Pizza is only half the story at Piccolino, because our gluten-free hospitality extends across the whole menu. You can order nine of our house-made pasta sauces on gluten-free spaghetti or our hand-rolled potato gnocchi, from a simple Napoli to a 48-hour marinated wild boar ragu. Our dedicated gluten-free pasta menu walks through every option in detail. It means a table of mixed preferences can order freely, with pizza for some and pasta for others, all without a single gluten worry. Very few Melbourne restaurants offer this breadth for coeliac diners, and it is central to how we cook.

Vegan and Gluten Free on the Same Base

Guests managing more than one dietary requirement are equally well looked after. All seven pizzas on our Vegan Love menu, from the Margherita with vegan mozzarella to the truffle-drizzled Funghi, can be ordered on a gluten-free base as well. Our woodfired vegan pizza page covers the full plant-based range. This combination of vegan and gluten-free on a proper woodfired base is genuinely rare in Melbourne. It means nobody at your table gets left watching everyone else eat.

Visit Piccolino in Fitzroy North

You will find us at 148 Scotchmer Street, Fitzroy North, an easy trip from Alphington, Brunswick East and West, and the surrounding inner-north suburbs, and we are a popular destination for woodfired pizza in North Melbourne as well.  Browse the full Piccolino menu to plan your order, then dine in for the full trattoria atmosphere or order online for takeaway and delivery. Weekend tables fill quickly, so reserving ahead is always the smart move. Ready for woodfired gluten-free pizza done properly? Book a table today or call us on 03 9041 0809.