Strawberry cheesecakes

Dolci

Spring doesn’t just mean milder air and the awakening of nature, it also means the arrival of juicier fruit that precedes summer delights… in short, it means strawberries and Strawberry cheesecakes.

In fact, remember that strawberries are a very diabetes-friendly fruit, having only 5.3g of carbohydrates per 100g of strawberries. And since they are in season and friendly to our needs, also try Ricotta and strawberry cake.

Let’s get to work now!

Strawberry cheesecakes

22.01g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for the cake

200g gluten-free biscuits**
110g butter
50g Nutella

Ingredients for the mousse

200g strawberries
250g whipping cream
150g cream cheese at room temperature
60g icing sugar*
10g gelatine sheets*
2 tablespoons of milk
1 vanilla pod

Ingredients for the strawberry sauce

250g strawberries

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

Place the biscuits with the softened butter in the blender and chop until a rather fine mixture is obtained; complete by adding the Nutella and mixing well with the chopped biscuits.
Pour the mixture on the bottom of 9 round pastry rings with a diameter of 8cm placed on a tray, levelling well and compacting it with the back of a spoon. Finally, let your bases rest in the refrigerator for half an hour.
Meanwhile, prepare the mousse.
Soak the gelatine in plenty of cold water for at least 10 minutes.
In a bowl, mix the cheese with the icing sugar with a fork; wash and clean the strawberries, then blend them to a juice and add them to the cheese cream, mixing well.
In another bowl, whip the cream and add the seeds of the vanilla pod.
Heat 2 tablespoons of milk in a saucepan without reaching the boil, remove from the heat, add the squeezed gelatine and stir to dissolve it.
When the gelatine mixture has cooled, add it to the cheese cream. Finally, also incorporate the whipped cream and stir gently with a spatula, from the bottom upwards so as not to cause the mixture to go runny. Pour the resulting cream over the biscuit base inside the rings.
Now put the cheesecakes in the refrigerator for at least 3 hours.

Cheesecake preparation

Before serving, set aside some strawberries to use as a garnishing and blend the remaining ones to make a sauce.
Take the cheesecakes out of the refrigerator, remove the rings and top with the strawberry sauce and a sliced or whole strawberry.
This recipe can also be prepared by replacing sugar in the cream with a sweetener of your choice, e.g. 30-40g agave syrup, thus reducing the amount of carbohydrates.

The ready-to-eat cheesecakes

Version with gluten of Strawberry cheesecakes

Replace gluten-free biscuits with standard ones; no other adaptation is needed.

April 29, 2016/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Revisiting tradition: Vegetarian rice cake

Primi piatti

Rice cake is a dish that takes me back to my childhood. It was indeed a special celebration dish as it needed a special ingredient, pigeon, but also a lot of time to make, so my revisited recipe is this Vegetarian rice cake.

To tell the truth, when I think back to what I felt when I ate it, the taste of that dish still remains clear and contrasting: I remember how delicious the meat sauce prepared with pigeon meat cut into small pieces was, but the rice around the meat was a bit dry and too much (for me as a child) since it filled the large, high-sided pan, the one perfect for being slipped into the Petronilla (the Dutch oven, the only one we had) so that the surface, sprinkled with breadcrumbs, could brown and become crispy.

Well, many years later, I came up with the idea of revisiting our Rice cake to adapt it to today’s needs (i.e. to replace a meat that is not readily available with healthy, light vegetables) and, why not, to eliminate what I considered to be a defect, i.e. to reduce the ratio of rice to filling, thus obtaining a pleasant juicy sensation in a nice crispy envelope. And if you like preparations in the frying pan, try myPan-fried potato pie.

Vegetarian rice cake

22.37g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

540g vegetable stock*
270g Carnaroli rice
150g Scamorza cheese
1 egg
200g small courgettes
120g carrots
50g red pepper
50g yellow pepper
50g spring onion
40g breadcrumbs**
Grated Parmesan cheese, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on Prontuario AIC)

The ingredients of the Vegetarian rice cake

Preparation

Cook the rice in the vegetable stock and turn off the heat when it is still rather al dente, then let it cool and season with egg and a handful of grated Parmesan cheese.
In the meantime, julienne cut courgettes and carrots, dice the red and yellow pepper into approximately 1cm cubes and thinly slice the white part of the spring onion.

Chopped vegetables

Heat the wok, add a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, pour in the vegetables and season with salt and pepper. Put the lid on for a few minutes so that a little water escapes from the vegetables, which will allow them to cook. Cook until the vegetables are slightly soft.

Cooking vegetables in the wok

Spread half of the cooked and seasoned rice on a sheet of parchment paper lightly greased with oil and form a circle the diameter of the non-stick pan in which we will cook our cake (approx. 26cm); sprinkle the surface with breadcrumbs.

Preparation of the rice disc

Brush the frying pan with oil and tip the rice disc into it so that the side with the breadcrumbs is in contact with the pan. Sprinkle the disc with part of the Scamorza cheese lightly chopped in a food processor, cover with the vegetable sauce and add the remaining Scamorza.

The stuffing

Prepare another disc with the cooked rice, this time without sprinkling it with breadcrumbs. With the help of parchment paper, lay it on top of the vegetables and, once in place, break off the parchment paper to remove it, leaving the disc to top the cake. Alternatively, cover the vegetables by creating a layer of rice with your hands directly on top of them. In this case, the layer of rice may not be perfectly even, but this will not compromise the flavour of the preparation.

When the base of the cake is golden brown, use two lids as big as the cake to help you turn it over and put it back into the pan upside down. Let the second side of the cake brown as well and serve it hot.

Version with gluten of Vegetarian rice cake

Replace gluten-free breadcrumbs with standard breadcrumbs

This recipe participates in the “Rice Food Blogger 2016 – Chef Giuseppina Carboni” contest

April 19, 2016/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Spicy recipes: let’s cook Falafel

Le ricette degli amici, Polpettando

For “Friends’ recipes” today we share an idea that Aura sent us: the recipe of Falafel.

The think that struck me in this recipe is that chickpeas are not cooked, but soaked in water for a long time to make the dried chickpeas soft enough to be blended to a creamy texture: this is something very different from the use we make of chickpeas in Italy.

This is an extremely tasty North African and Middle Eastern dish consisting of spiced and fried pulse balls. An appetising main course, also perfect for children and those who choose a vegan diet. To stay in the same geographical area, try an enchanting rosewater dessert: Mahalabiya.

Let’s see how to prepare them!

Falafel

20.78g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

150g dried chickpeas
50g onions
1 clove of garlic
2g parsley
2g cilantro
1 tsp cumin
½ tsp bicarbonate
½ tsp sesame seeds
1/3 tsp pepper
salt to taste, oil for frying

Preparation

Soak the chickpeas for 24 hours, then dry them well on a tea towel.
Blend in a processor until the mixture is not completely creamy, but remains somewhat grainy. Add finely chopped garlic, onion and parsley to the mixture, then add pepper, salt, cilantro, cumin and bicarbonate of soda and mix well (in case the ingredients remain too divided, blend again). Finally, add the sesame seeds.
Using two soup spoons, form small elongated patties and fry them in hot oil. We made them round to speed up the process. Be careful not to overcook the patties, they must be thrown little by little into the boiling oil because the presence of bicarbonate in the mixture will make it fizz, so it is difficult to see when the patties are ready.
Once golden brown on both sides, drain them and let them dry on kitchen paper.

Version with gluten of Falafel

The recipe is naturally gluten-free, so no adaptation is needed.

April 15, 2016/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Aperitif time: Savoury puffs

Antipasti

With the arrival of nice weather, there is nothing better than ending the day with a pleasant aperitif with friends or a dinner of appetising and mouth-watering finger food: this is the inspiration for Savoury puffs to be filled to taste.

That’s what we were thinking about while preparing today’s recipe: an evening in the open air, on the balcony or in the garden, with a nice buffet to enjoy while chatting.

Do you like the idea?

Then try our Savoury puffs to be filled to taste… you’ll see what a success!

Savoury puffs

33.31g carbohydrates per 100g of puffs

Ingredients for the choux pastry

150g water
120g gluten-free flour mix for bread, brand BiAglut**
80g softened butter
10g sugar
3 eggs
a pinch of salt

** Ingredients specific for celiacs

Preparation

Pour water, butter, salt and sugar in a saucepan and cook for 5 minutes, stirring with a whisk.
Add the flour while continuing to stir, so that no lumps form, until the mixture has completely come off the saucepan sides.
Remove the saucepan from the heat and let the mixture cool for 10 minutes. Next, add the eggs one at a time, mixing well with the whisk: it is important that each egg is completely incorporated before adding the next one.
Fill a pastry bag or pouch with the dough and cut off a corner.
On a lined baking tray, form walnut-sized balls, trying to maintain a distance of a few centimetres between each ball.
Bake in a static oven preheated to 200°C for 15 minutes, then lower the temperature to 190°C and continue baking for another 10 minutes. Turn the oven off, open the door slightly to let the steam out and let the puffs dry for about 10 minutes.

Baked puffs

At this point, take the puffs out of the oven and let them cool completely before proceeding with a delicious filling to taste.

Filling

Cream puffs filled with various ingredients

Version with gluten of Savoury puffs

Replace the gluten-free BiAglut flour with an equal amount of standard flour.

April 12, 2016/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Mini apple strudels

Dolci

Fancy something sweet and fragrant? Mini apple strudels are just the perfect choice.

Good, because my recipe today is not only tasty and tempting, but also easy to prepare and light.

The main ingredient is apple, a precious fruit with many properties, which becomes an important ally in the kitchen because it can enrich many preparations with flavour without the need for too much fat.

In short, a wholesome fruit that I like to interpret (try my Soft apple and cinnamon cake).

That said, let’s roll up our sleeves and start making some delicious Mini apple strudels, perfect for breakfast, as a snack or dessert at the end of a meal.

Mini apple strudels

25.85g carbohydrates per 100g of strudels with no sugar in the apples

Ingredients for 6 mini strudels

350g green apples
150g gluten-free bread flour mix, brand BiAglut**
75g cold butter
40g water
1 egg
½ lemon
1 pinch of salt
sweetener*, brown sugar

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten free” (or, in Italy, present on Prontuario AIC)

Preparation

Prepare the shortcrust pastry by mixing the flour, chopped butter and a pinch of salt in a food processor or by hand. The dough will be grainy: compact it, cover it with plastic film and put it in the refrigerator until ready to use.
Peel and chop the apples, place them in a non-stick pan with the juice of half a lemon and a pinch of sweetener and cook until soft. Then remove from the heat and allow to cool.

Roll out the shortbread pastry to a thin thickness, cut out disks 12cm in diameter, put about 50g of apples on each disk, close them forming a half-moon and cut three slits in the surface.

Finally, brush the surface with beaten egg and sprinkle with a pinch (3g) of brown sugar.

Bake the mini strudels in a static oven preheated to 190°C for about 15 minutes or until golden brown.

Version with gluten of Mini apple strudel

Replace the gluten-free BiAglut flour with an equal amount of wheat flour and possibly reduce the amount of water to be added to the crust.

April 8, 2016/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Cheese and ham bread roll

Antipasti, Pane e Lievitati

A one-course meal that can change depending on the occasion: from a tasty aperitif to a succulent starter or a tasty snack to break the afternoon hunger: Cheese and ham bread roll.

We thought of a recipe that you can use to please all bread lovers.

Here are the details for preparing the recipe!

Cheese and ham bread roll

30.08g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for the dough

250g water
200g gluten-free bread flour mix, brand Farmo Easyglut**
200g gluten-free bread flour mix, brand Pedon**
20g extra virgin olive oil
1 egg
12g brewer’s yeast
8g salt

Ingredients for the filling

200g ricotta cheese
200g diced cooked ham*
130g cow’s milk mozzarella
100g Caciocavallo cheese
2 eggs
oil, salt, pepper, rosemary

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

*Ingredients whose labels must read “gluten-free” (or, in Italy, present on Prontuario AIC)

Preparation of the Cheese and ham bread roll

Let’s start with the dough! Knead all the ingredients together, form a dough ball and let it rest covered for at least 1 hour.
Meanwhile prepare the filling. Sauté the diced cooked ham in a pan with a few tablespoons of oil and a sprig of rosemary. Mix the ham with the ricotta cheese, chopped mozzarella and grated Caciocavallo cheese. Season with salt and pepper.
Roll out the dough to form a 40x50cm rectangle and let it rest for another 30 minutes.

Spread the filling by forming a rib along the longest side of the rectangle 2cm from the edge and fold it over the filling. Create another rib next to it and continue in this way to obtain a large stuffed cylinder.