Yoghurt flat bread

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Yoghurt flat bread means homemade bread, which is one of the most satisfying preparations: what could be nicer than the fragrance of bread baking that fills the room? But we don’t always have time to let bread rise and bake it for 45 minutes or more. Try this simple:

Yoghurt flat bread made with baking powder and wholemeal flour.

So a convenient, homemade bread, ready in minutes: we only need 30 minutes to let the dough rest, which is the time needed to set the table, dress the salad and serve the other courses or ingredients with which to top our flat bread. And besides being able to prepare it with and without gluten, this wholemeal version is also very diabetes-friendly thanks to fibre content and yoghurt, which slow down the absorption rate of carbohydrates.

A bread from the Orient

In the cuisine of many Central and South Asian countries, as well as in the Middle East, flat and rounded types of bread are prepared that are suitable for meat, fish and vegetable dishes in small pieces, making them easy to eat as street food.

One of the most popular types of these breads is Naana bread made famous by Indian restaurants all over the world. It is served hot to accompany other dishes and seasoned with butter or ghee (clarified butter used in this cuisine) as well as being flavoured with spices and herbs.

For convenience, it is nowadays prepared using baking powder and yoghurt in the dough instead of water to make it softer. And while in India they use the characteristic clay oven called Tandoor, the oven used to cook tandoori chicken, perhaps the best-known Indian dish outside its country of origin and always present on the menus of these ethnic restaurants, we will use a simple non-stick frying pan with a thick bottom.

In this video recipe you can see how to prepare the wholemeal yoghurt bread and I suggest you serve it in the Emilian way, therefore with some of the products of this land such as Squacquerone cheese and Prosciutto di Parma, but when you have a moment of time I invite you to try it with some meat and vegetable dishes accompanied by curry and spice sauces that will certainly make you travel with flavours at this time when physically doing so is still rather difficult.

Focaccina allo yogurt farcita

Yoghurt flat bread ready to be enjoyed

Wholemeal yoghurt flat bread 

38.32g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 12 pieces

  • 400g fat free Greek yoghurt
  • 300g gluten-free wholemeal bread flour mix, brand Massimo Zero**
  • 100g brown rice flour* (you can also change the proportions and make 350g Massimo Zero Bread Mix** and 50g buckwheat flour: the dough will be darker and easier to roll out)
  • 8g baking powder*
  • aromatic herbs to taste
  • dried cherry tomatoes to taste (optional)
  • salt
  • dusting flour**

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Mix the flour with yoghurt, baking powder and a pinch of salt until smooth.
  2. Cover it with cling film and let it rest for 30 minutes.
  3. Divide the dough into 3 parts and flavour one part with chopped herbs, a second part with dried tomatoes to taste and leave the third part plain. Finally, divide the dough into 4 pieces of each type, form them into balls, then roll them out with a rolling pin to a thickness of 3-4mm.
  4. Heat a non-stick frying pan or a smooth griddle. When it is hot, place the bread on it and cook it on both sides until brown, with darker bubbles scattered on the surface.
Cottura della focaccina

Cooking the bread

  1. Serve the bread with toppings to taste. And if you like flat bread and have a little more time available, try also potato patties.
Focaccine allo yogurt con Squacquerone,Prosciutto di Parma e rucola

Yoghurt flat bread with Squacquerone cheese, Parma ham and rocket

Version with gluten

Replace the gluten-free flour and rice flour with 400g of wholemeal wheat flour and mix it with 350g of fat free Greek yoghurt.

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Stuffed picnic baguettes

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Stuffed baguettes are a great idea not only for a picnic, but also for a lunch at work. Unlike what you may think, a sandwich can be healthy and complete, as well as tasty, as in this recipe full of fresh vegetables. These Stuffed picnic baguettes are therefore a solution for young and old, and for all tastes!

If you decide to take them for lunch at the office or for a picnic and you don’t have time to prepare fresh bread, you can freeze the loaves and stuff them as soon as they have softened slightly after taking them out of the freezer, so when it is time to eat them, they will still be soft and fragrant.

The other feature I love about stuffed baguettes is that they have a hearty and succulent filling, but because of the way they are prepared, they are easy to transport and store and the risk of dirtying the basket or other container you put them in is reduced.

And the stuffing? Have fun, dear friends, this is just one idea among thousands possible!

Stuffed picnic baguettes

65.81g carbohydrates per 100g unstuffed baguette

Ingredients for the baguette starter dough

  • 400g water
  • 330g flour mix for bread, brand Caputo Fioreglut**
  • 170g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 5g brewer’s yeast

Ingredients for the baguette dough

  • 200g flour mix for bread, brand Nutrifree**
  • 110g water
  • 50g buckwheat flour*
  • 40g milk
  • 10g brewer’s yeast
  • 10g salt
  • brown rice flour* for dusting
  • extra virgin olive oil

Ingredients for stuffing

  • 9 slices of Primosale cheese
  • 9 lettuce leaves
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 avocado
  • ½ lemon
  • 1 bunch of parsley
  • tuna in oil (optional)
  • salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil to taste

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

    1. Knead the ingredients for the starter dough to obtain an even mixture; place it in a large bowl, cover it with cling film and place it in the refrigerator to rise for 12 hours.
    2. Take the starter dough and mix it with all the ingredients for the dough; knead well, if possible in a planetary mixer, then cover again with cling film and leave to rise for 1 hour in a warm place.
    3. Place the dough on a lightly floured cutting board and divide it into 9 pieces.
    4. Flatten each piece into a rectangle of about 10x15cm, roll it from the short side to form a cylinder; brush the mini-baguettes with extra virgin olive oil.
    5. Let the mini-baguettes rise for another 30 minutes, then bake them in a convection oven preheated to 200°C for about 35 minutes.
    6. Let the mini-baguettes cool down and prepare the avocado sauce. Put the pulp of a ripe avocado in a blender, add the juice of half a lemon, a small tuft of chopped parsley, salt and pepper, then blend to a smooth, even sauce.
    7. Take the mini-baguettes, cut them in half, remove the crumb from both halves and start stuffing the lower half of the baguette.
    8. Come tagliare le baguetteCome svuotare le baguetteBaguette svuotate pronte per essere farcite
  2. Put a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on the lower half, a pinch of salt, a grinding of pepper; form a layer with a slice of tomato, cover it with the avocado cream, place a slice of Primosale on top, put another layer of avocado sauce and a slice of tomato.
  3. Now take the top of the mini-baguette without crumb, lightly drizzle it with extra virgin olive oil and flavour with a pinch of salt and a grinding of pepper. Cut a slice of lettuce into strips and compress it well inside the baguette cavity; if you decide to put tuna fish, place it on top of the lettuce; close the mini-baguette and seal it with a string or foil so that it is tight.
  4. Let the mini-baguettes rest tightly sealed until ready to eat, when you can cut them in half to see the contents and be able to bite into them easily.

Baguette farcite

Version with gluten

For the starter dough, replace the Caputo flour and rice flour with a bread or pizza flour and mix it with 275g water; for the dough, replace the Nutrifree flour and buckwheat flour with 100g water without adding milk.

 

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Brioche braid

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Brioche braid means above all breakfast, surely the most important meal of the day because it allows us to recharge the energy we will need to tackle the tasks ahead.

There is therefore nothing worse than limiting it to a quick coffee or tea, without accompanying it with the right amount of nutrients. It is true that sometimes you don’t feel like eating as soon as you get up, and this also happens to children during the school term if we wake them up early and have to constantly urge them to get ready quickly so as not to be late for the bell to ring.

And if at the beginning of 2020 we did not have to fight with our children to wake them up before 7 a.m., there was still the struggle to convince them to eat a good breakfast so as not to arrive at 11 a.m. hungry and desperately seeking forbidden foods… at least the forbidden in our house where industrial snacks, whether sweet or savoury, are an absolute taboo: forgive me, but this is one of the rules on which I am immovable!

If you want help with this, I would say that the Brioche braid is an excellent ally! Who can say no to a lightly toasted slice of fragrant pan brioche with a smooth layer of jam? Probably no one, not even the most stubborn no-breakfast people.

Then prepare it in the shape you prefer: single-portion mini buns (note that in this case you will have to reduce the cooking time to 20-25 minutes) or the braid I explain in the recipe, which you can cut into slices, once cooked and cooled, and store perfectly in the freezer until a few minutes before consumption. Thawed briefly in the microwave, then toasted, your brioche bun will be as good as freshly made.

Have I convinced you? See here how to prepare the recipe. You will see that your day will be ‘as good as bread’!

Brioche braid     

44.71g carbohydrates per 100g without granulated sugar

 Ingredients for the starter dough

  • 250g gluten-free flour mix for bread, brand BiAglut**
  • 200g low fat milk
  • 25g brewer’s yeast

Ingredients for the dough

  • 300g gluten-free flour mix for bread, brand Nutrifree**
  • 120g low fat milk
  • 100g butter
  • 40g sugar
  • 2 eggs
  • 10g salt
  • granulated sugar*

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Dissolve the brewer’s yeast in lukewarm milk and add it to the flour in a bowl or a food processor, mix until a soft, smooth dough is obtained. Shape into a ball, cut a cross on the surface and let it rest in a bowl covered with a tea towel until it has doubled in volume (approx. 1 hour in the oven at proving temperature or 1.5 hours in a warm place).
  2. When this starter dough has risen well, in a second bowl or in the planetary mixer, place the remaining 300g of flour and start mixing; gradually add the soft butter, 1 whole egg and 1 yolk (keep the egg white to brush the surface of the brioche), the starter dough, salt, sugar and start adding the milk until it is completely incorporated.
  3. Put the dough on a floured cutting board, cut the dough into 3 equal parts and form a long cylinder from each piece and finally twist the cylinders to form a plait that you will place in a large non-stick mould. Brush the surface with the egg white you set aside and leave to rise for about 1-1.5 hours, brushing occasionally with egg white.
  4. When the braid is nice and swollen, brush the surface again, top with granulated sugar to taste then bake in a static oven preheated to 180°C for about 35 minutes, covering the surface with foil to prevent it from becoming too brown.
Treccia di pan brioche pronto per la colazione

Brioche braid ready for breakfast

Version with gluten of Brioche braid

Replace the gluten-free flour with a conventional flour of your choice, also multi-grain or wholemeal, and reduce the milk used for the dough to 80-100g

 

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Flaxseed dark bread

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I had promised you a journey into gluten free bread, so the must stop is this Flaxseed dark bread. In addition to using a preparation rich in fibre and sunflower seeds, I thought I would also add flax seeds to benefit from all the qualities they contain. Taking care of oneself by eating good bread seems a good solution to me.

Flaxseeds are rich in Omega 3, 6 and 9 essential fatty acids, promote the expulsion of LDL cholesterol and promote the synthesis of HDL good cholesterol, thus preventing the onset of cardio-vascular diseases. They also help control triglycerides, keeping arteries clean and regulating blood pressure. And finally, they contain vitamins B, vitamins C and E, minerals and essential fatty acids: in short, real natural food supplements.

The important thing to emphasise is that in order to be able to digest flaxseeds and thus reap their full benefits, it is essential to break and/or blend them as their extremely hard outer part makes it impossible to digest them if swallowed whole.

At this point, let’s start kneading and wait for the house to fill with the unmistakable fragrance of freshly made bread. Watch the video recipe here.

Le pagnotte di pane nero con i semi di lino

The loaves of dark bread with linseeds

Flaxseed dark bread  

40.37g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 450g gluten free wholemeal bread flour mix, brand Massimo Zero**
  • 370g water
  • 40g linseeds* (soak in 100g water)
  • 20g extra virgin olive oil
  • 17g brewer’s yeast
  • 5g salt
  • brown rice flour* for dusting
  • extra virgin olive oil to brush the surface

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Soak the linseed in 100g of water, let it soak for about ten minutes and whisk it lightly.
  2. Pour the dark bread mix into the bowl of the planetary mixer, add the blended flaxseeds then mix for a few minutes at low speed.
  3. Dissolve the brewer’s yeast in the lukewarm water and pour into the planetary mixer. Mix at medium speed for about 5 minutes, then add salt and oil and mix for a few more minutes. When the dough is smooth and homogeneous, stop the planetary mixer and place the dough on a lightly floured cutting board.
  4. Again with the help of a little brown rice flour, flatten the dough slightly and let it rise, i.e. pre-rise, directly on the cutting board for about 15 minutes.
  5. With the help of a rasp, divide the dough into two parts, lightly roll each half to form a sort of cylinder and put it to rise in a rising basket in a warm place for about 1.5 hours.
  6. Once the bread has risen, tip the two loaves onto a baking tray covered with baking paper or a perforated silicone mat. Brush the surface with extra virgin olive oil, make a cross cut and bake in a static oven preheated to 230°C for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 200°C, then bake, leaving the bread in the oven for a further 35 minutes, checking the bread because the baking time varies slightly depending on the oven.
  7. Remove from the oven and let the bread cool before cutting it.

Version with gluten of Linseed dark bread

Replace the Massimo Zero wholemeal bread with Petra 9 flour or QB Multicereale flour and mix it with 300g water instead of 370g.

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Assortment of white bread

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During National Coeliac Disease Week, I couldn’t help but share a recipe for a wonderful gluten-free assortment of white bread, the food that is the main challenge in the daily lives of those who cannot eat gluten.

My choice went to a fibre-rich preparation, Preparato Universale per prodotti da forno Massimo Zero, because fibre is a valuable ally in controlling blood sugar levels when we consume gluten free bread, which is generally high in carbohydrates and low in fibre.

While the presence of fibre in the mixture is very useful from a nutritional point of view, it makes it slightly ‘harder’ to work with, so having a kneading machine or robot at hand makes the task easier and ensures really good results.

This is precisely why I thought that sharing a video recipe could be extremely useful to prepare a tasty bread without any difficulty. So enjoy viewing and cooking!

Assortment of white bread  

44.19g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 500g gluten free multi-purpose flour mix, brand Massimo Zero**
  • 240g water
  • 240g milk
  • 50g mixed seeds* (to be soaked in 50g water)
  • 40g extra virgin olive oil
  • 17g brewer’s yeast
  • 5g salt
  • brown rice flour* for dusting
  • extra virgin olive oil to brush the surface
  • water to soak the mixed seeds

Preparation

  1. Put the mixed seeds in a small bowl and barely cover them with water, then let them rest while you knead the bread so that they completely absorb the liquid.
  2. Shake the bag of mix well before pouring it into the jar of the planetary mixer, then run it for a few minutes at low speed with the flour mix alone.
  3. Dissolve the brewer’s yeast in warm water, pour it into the planetary mixer and add the remaining water and milk. Mix at medium speed for about 5 minutes, then add salt and oil. Stop the planetary mixer to detach the dough from the sides of the pot and run it at high speed for a few seconds so that the oil is perfectly incorporated into the dough. When the dough is smooth and homogeneous, stop the planetary mixer and remove half the dough by placing it on a lightly floured cutting board.
  4. Add the seeds to the remaining dough in the planetary mixer and mix at high speed so that they are fully incorporated.
  5. Shape into loaves or braids of the desired size (I formed 4 loaves with the white dough and 5 braids with the dough with seeds), differentiating the shape according to the type of dough. Brush the surface with extra virgin olive oil and leave to rise in a warm place for about 2 hours or in the oven with the proving function for about 1 hour and fifteen minutes.

Shaping the dough

  1. Bring the oven to 200°C, brush the surface of the bread with oil again and bake. Let it bake for about 40 minutes, keeping an eye on the baking time, which varies slightly depending on the oven and, above all, the size of the bread.
  2. Remove from the oven and let the bread cool before cutting it.
  3. Portate il forno a 200°C, spennellate nuovamente la superficie del pane con olio e infornate. Lasciate cuocere per circa 40 minuti tenendo controllata la cottura che varia leggermente in base al forno e, soprattutto, alla pezzatura del pane.
  4. Togliete dal forno e lasciate intiepidire il pane prima di tagliarlo.
L'interno dei panini

The bread crumb

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Soft potato focaccias

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Soft potato focaccias for me are indelibly linked to my paternal grandmother. In fact, for many years, the tradition in our house was to make bread once a week, in large quantities, to be baked in the wood-fired oven on the farm.

The thing I remember most pleasantly is the time when we could eat ‘Torta del forno‘, a version of soft potato focaccias that my grandmother prepared by adding a boiled and mashed potato, extra virgin olive oil and salt to a loaf of bread. The new small dough (or sometimes large dough for everyone’s desire to eat this amazing food) was rolled out with a rolling pin, cut into strips of about 15x7cm and thrown onto the bricks of the wood-fired oven to test its temperature. Indeed, our wood-burning oven never had a thermometer, so based on the colour of the surface of the bread strips we could tell if the oven was too hot, and so we had to wait to bake the bread, or was not hot enough, and so we had to burn more wood inside.

These scones are a tribute to that flavour, although baking in a wood-fired oven certainly gives different aromas and flavours. However, I can assure you that my grandmother really liked this version.

Soft potato focaccias

43.66g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 400g water
  • 300g potatoes
  • 220g gluten free multi-purpose flour mix, brand Massimo Zero**
  • 170g flour mix for bread, brand Caputo Fioreglut**
  • 60g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 30g buckwheat flour*
  • 40g extra virgin olive oil
  • 16g yeast
  • salt, oregano, cherry tomatoes, olives, rice flour for shaping

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Boil the potatoes, peel, mash and let them cool.
  2. Knead the remaining ingredients, form a dough ball, brush it with a little oil, cover it with cling film and let it rise for 1.5 hours or until doubled in volume.
  3. Knead again with the planetary mixer adding the mashed potatoes, mix quickly well, then take spoonfuls of the mixture, roll it out first with your hands, then with a rolling pin using plenty of rice flour, and with a pastry cutter cut out discs about 2 cm thick and 10 cm in diameter. Place them on a baking tray covered with baking paper and let them rise again for about 30 minutes.
  4. Brush the surface with a little oil and season to taste with oregano, olives, tomatoes, etc.
  5. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for about 40 minutes.
  6. To watch the video recipe, click here

Version with cluten of Soft potato focaccias

Replace the Massimo Zero and Caputo flours with wheat flour and reduce the amount of water to 300g.

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Crispy bread in casserole

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Do you know the irresistible texture of bread baked in a wood-fired oven? When the crust, under the blade of the serrated knife, makes that unmistakable sound that already gives you a foretaste of the pleasure of the taste of bread? Crispy bread in casserole is a gift for the senses: it is for the sight, because the colour of the bread is just right golden; it is for the smell, because the fragrance has the irresistible fragrance of bread; it is for the taste, because in addition to the flavour, the crunchy texture of the crust and the softness of the crumb are simply perfect. And everything is gluten-free!

If we want to find some faults, well, we cannot deny that it requires a lot of resting time, even though we can easily knead it the day before and ‘forget’ it in the refrigerator, and moreover, baking it requires a little more energy than bread baked in the usual way. Yet, if you have a cast-iron casserole dish, my advice is to try it right away because it is a bread that has nothing to envy the products of the best bakers in our towns.

Crispy bread in casserole

46.55g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 500g water
  • 450g flour mix for bread, brand Nutrifree**
  • 50g buckwheat flour*
  • 20g extra virgin olive oil
  • 5g brewer’s yeast
  • 5g salt
  • rice flour* for dusting and extra virgin olive oil for brushing

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Dissolve the yeast in warm water; place the Nutrifree mix and buckwheat flour in the planetary mixer and start mixing the flours together, then gradually add the water with the yeast while continuing to knead. After kneading for at least 5 minutes, add the salt and extra virgin olive oil and mix for a few more minutes. Transfer the dough into a bowl, brush with a little oil, cover with cling film and refrigerate for 15 hours.
  2. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a cutting board dusted with rice flour. Again using rice flour, fold the dough 5-6 times at least, then give it the round shape of a loaf and leave it to rise for about 2 hours covered with a cloth.
  3. Bring the oven to 230°C with a cast-iron casserole inside (I use my Le Creuset casserole) with a lid. When the oven has reached the set temperature, remove the casserole from the oven by placing it on a trivet because of the very high temperature. You can cut a cross on the surface of the loaf and drop it, literally, into the casserole to avoid burning yourself.
  4. Place the casserole in the oven closed with its lid and bake for 45 minutes.
  5. After this time, take out the casserole from the oven, open it with the help of an oven glove or potholders and turn the loaf upside down. Put the whole thing back in the oven and bake at 210°C for another 30 minutes.
  6. Remove the casserole from the oven and take out the bread; if you feel that the bread is still slightly heavy, place it in the oven without the container for another 10 minutes. Let it cool and enjoy it while listening to the sound of the crust under your teeth!

Version with gluten of Crispy bread in casserole

Replace the Nutrifree bread mix with wheat flour, but mix it with about 300g water.

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Gluten-free Colomba Pasquale

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For ten years I have invariably cooked traditional dishes on the celebration days of our Catholic culture, but this is the first time that a large-sized leavened dessert has satisfied me 100 per cent! I have never tasted a soft and fragrant gluten-free Colomba Pasquale like this one, prepared with simple (albeit numerous!) ingredients and a mix containing only naturally gluten-free ingredients.

You can imagine the joy of seeing the dough rise without any hesitation inside the warm oven: you know what that means for those who have to deal with flours that are always a bit temperamental like gluten free ones.

The other advantage of this Colomba is that it stays good for several days, although to fully enjoy the softness after the first day, it is best to heat the slices for a few seconds in the microwave or in a conventional oven for a few minutes.

Do you know what the only flaw is? That it has to rise at least six hours and therefore it takes a whole day with its waiting… but maybe that’s good because otherwise I think I would bake one every week.

I wish you a very happy Easter that we will certainly remember for the events that have changed our lives without warning, but I hope you will also remember it a little for my Colomba. And in the video recipe you can follow how to prepare Colomba step by step.

Colomba pasquale

49g carbohydrates per 100g

 Ingredients for the poolish

  • 75g unsweetened almond milk or soya drink*
  • 50g gluten-free multi-purpose flour mix, Massimo Zero**
  • 25g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 10g acacia honey
  • 10g brewer’s yeast

Ingredients for the dough

  • 100g gluten-free multi-purpose flour mix, Massimo Zero**
  • 95g sugar
  • 95g butter
  • 85g sultanas or candied fruit
  • 4 eggs
  • 35g tapioca starch*
  • 30g rice starch*
  • 25g rice flour
  • 25g acacia honey
  • 20g liqueur to moisten the raisins
  • 2g guar gum
  • 1g xanthan gum
  • zest of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • orange flower water (optional)
  • tonka bean (optional)
  • salt

Ingredients for the icing

  • 40g egg white (corresponding to 1 egg white)
  • 30g icing sugar
  • 30g almond flour
  • 10g corn starch
  • 10g granulated sugar
  • almonds in their skins

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Mix the flours for the poolish in a planetary mixer with the honey and warm milk in which the brewer’s yeast has been dissolved. You will obtain a soft dough that you will have to put to rise at room temperature for about 3 hours covered with cling film.
  2. After 3 hours, put the poolish in the planetary mixer, add the Massimo Zero mix, starches, rice flour, sugar, guar and xanthan gum. Knead by adding the eggs, one at a time, then add the very soft butter gradually so that it is absorbed. To knead in the planetary mixer, you can use the dough hook or the leaf mixer and when the dough starts to stick to the hook, it is ready to be put to rise.
  3. Let the dough rise directly in the bowl of the planetary mixer in the oven set on proving  function for 1 hour.
  4. Soak the raisins in liqueur.
  5. Put the planetary mixer bowl back in place with the hook and add the last ingredients: grated lemon zest, vanilla bean, grated Tonka bean, orange flower water and finally honey and a pinch of salt. Stir the whole mixture and complete by adding the soaked raisins and the soaking liquid.
  6. Pour the mixture into a 500g Colomba mould and put it to rise in the oven at 30°C for at least another 2 hours.
  7. Meanwhile, prepare the icing. Whip the egg whites until stiff by adding the icing sugar, then add the almond flour and corn starch. Stir well and when Colomba is ready to be baked, sprinkle the icing over the surface of the cake and top with whole almonds with the peel and granulated sugar.
  8. Heat the static oven to 165°C and bake Colomba for 1 hour and 15 minutes (depending on the oven, it may be ready even 10 minutes earlier), preferably with the cake placed in the lower part of the oven. You can add a small pan of water in the oven to keep it slightly moist. After the first 15 minutes, cover the surface of the cake with tin foil to prevent it from browning too much.
  9. Once removed from the oven, place the Colomba upside down by poking it with two Chinese food sticks and let it cool for 1 hour.
  10. Once completely cold, store the Colomba in a well-sealed plastic bag.

colomba-pasquale

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Pumpkin and turmeric bread: gluten-free treats

Autumn in the kitchen means pumpkin , so why not prepare Pumpkin and turmeric bread?

Pumpkin is a delicious treasure of nature, and is extremely versatile when it comes to sweet, savoury and leavened recipes. And we love it, because it can give a special touch to food and is suitable for many preparations, besides having many health benefits and vitamins.

So let’s start kneading little goodies!

Pumpkin and turmeric bread

53.11g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 500g flour mix for bread, brand Nutrifree**
  • 320g pumpkin
  • 200g water
  • 150g milk
  • 100g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 20g extra virgin olive oil
  • 12g brewer’s yeast
  • 10g salt
  • ½ teaspoon turmeric (optional)

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Cut the pumpkin into small cubes, steam it for 20 minutes or cook it in a thick-bottomed pan with 2 tablespoons of water, then purée it with a fork or in a food processor – the important thing is that the pumpkin flesh is nice and dry.
  2. Put the flour in a bowl or planetary mixer, mix it with the pumpkin purée and crumbled brewer’s yeast, then add all the other ingredients. You can add a pinch of turmeric to give a boost of colour and flavour, then knead well until the mixture is smooth and even. Form a loaf, cover it with a tea towel and leave it to rise until doubled in volume.
  3. Divide the dough into 6 parts, shape each into a loaf and make 3-4 turns of string around each loaf, then leave the bread to rise for another 40-50 minutes, directly on the baking tin that you will use to bake the bread in the oven.
  4. Bake the pumpkin rolls at 180°C for 20-25 minutes.
pane-zucca-curcuma-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

Pumpkin and turmeric bread with the typical pumpkin shape

Version with gluten of Pumpkin and turmeric bread

Replace the Nutrifree and rice flours with 600g of wheat flour and mix with just milk and no water.

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Travelling to South America: Pao de queijo

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Pao de queijo or cheese bread is typical throughout South America, with some interesting regional variations that define its distinctiveness. The key element, however, is that it is prepared with naturally gluten free flours.

In many cases it is fried rather than baked, but it is always extremely rich and tasty, so much so that it can be eaten not only with other foods, but also on its own as a snack.

It is also extremely easy to prepare, so it can be a solution when we do not have the time to prepare a leavened bread. Another bread idea if you do not have time for leavening is this Yoghurt flat bread.

Pao de queijo

37.95g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 300g milk
  • 265g quinoa flour*
  • 150g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
  • 130g rice oil
  • 80g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 60g rice starch*
  • 2 eggs
  • 5g salt

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

Preparation

  1. Put the milk, oil and salt in a saucepan and bring to the boil. As soon as it comes to the boil, remove the pan from the heat and add all the starch and flours to the liquids, stirring with a wooden spoon: the mixture will be firm leaving the saucepan sides clean.
  2. Let the mixture cool, then add one egg at a time and finally the grated Parmesan cheese. Finish mixing the ingredients well by placing the dough on a cutting board and, when it is perfectly homogeneous, form into small loaves about 4 cm in diameter. Place the balls on a baking tray lined with parchment paper and bake in a static oven preheated to 180°C for about 30 minutes.
  3. Cheese bread can be eaten warm or cold.
ricetta-senza-glutine-pao-de-queijo-uno-chef-per-gaia

Cheese bread ready for a snack

Version with gluten of Pao de queijo

The recipe contains only naturally gluten-free ingredients, so no adaptation is necessary for its version with gluten.

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