Couscous patties: tasty and easy to prepare

Polpettando, Secondi piatti

How to resist Couscous patties? So here is one of our favourite sections, meatballs and patties. Today’s recipe is couscous patties: light, tasty and easy to prepare. We also recommend a sauce to accompany them and enhance their flavour.

If you feel like continuing preparing patties, have a look at the Meatballs and patties section of the blog and try Falafel if you want to opt for vegetarian cuisine.

They are simply irresistible!

Couscous patties

carbohydrates 18.9g per 100g of patties without sauce

Ingredients

200g Green pumpkin pulp
180 g ready-made couscous** (I love gluten free Bia Couscous )
60g diced speck*
40g raisins
40g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
1 clove garlic
1 egg
extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper as needed

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Ingredients for the sauce

250g Mutti tomato pulp
extra virgin olive oil, oregano, thyme, chilli, salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

Soak the rasisins in warm water. Dice the pumpkin and brown it in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil and the clove of garlic; let it cook for 15 minutes. Remove the garlic, add the speck and squeezed raisins, then cover and cook for another 5 minutes.
Place the cooked pumpkin in a bowl with the couscous and mix, crushing the pumpkin so that the mixture is fairly homogenous. Add the egg and grated Parmesan cheese, mix well and season with salt and pepper.

Shape the mixture into round balls, place them on a baking tin lined with parchment paper, drizzle them lightly with oil and bake in a convection oven preheated to 180°C for about 20 minutes.
Meanwhile, prepare the accompanying sauce. Season the tomato pulp with the herbs and extra virgin olive oil, then season with salt, pepper and chilli to taste.
Serve the couscous balls with the tomato sauce.

Version with gluten of Couscous patties

Replace the gluten-free couscous with one of the wonderful couscous types by the company Biasponsor of the San Vito Lo Capo couscous festival in Sicily.

March 1, 2018/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Salmon au gratin: the taste of simplicity

Secondi piatti

The holidays are coming and many of us are already thinking about what to prepare on Christmas Eve. So, to follow the tradition of having a ‘meatless’ dinner on the 24th of December, we recommend a very easy and tasty recipe featuring one of the most popular fish on Christmas tables: Salmon au gratin.

It is such a simple preparation that it is almost a non-recipe, but accompanied by a side dish of vegetables, it is truly worthy of the Christmas table and will win over even the youngest members of the family. Have a look at Ravioli with prawns and cherry tomatoes which could be perfect to complete your dinner.

Salmon au gratin

10.29g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

600g salmon in 4 slices
100g breadcrumbs**
Parsley, extra virgin olive oil and salt as needed

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

Place the breadcrumbs in a deep dish and mix with chopped parsley, salt and oil to form a sort of paste.
Place the salmon slices on a baking tray covered with baking paper; cover with the aromatic breadcrumbs and press them down so that they stick well to the fish.

Place in a static oven preheated to 200°C for about 10 minutes, so that the bread browns slightly.

Now serve and enjoy!

salmone-gratinato-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

Salmon au gratin

Version with gluten of Salmon au gratin

Replace the gluten-free breadcrumbs with standard breadcrumbs.

December 13, 2017/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Turkey meatballs with saffron

Polpettando, Secondi piatti

Our much-loved meatballs are back on the table with these Turkey meatballs with saffron, the perfect dish to please young and old alike. Why? Simply because they contain the right nutrients, they can be prepared with vegetables and have that nice shape typical of goodies that are eaten one after the other.

Meatballs are also a practical solution for household supplies: when you make them, you can make extra amounts and, once cooked, you can put them in the home freezer to have them ready in minutes in case of emergency. You can defrost them first in the microwave oven and then heat them in a non-stick pan, or simply wait for them to defrost and heat directly on the stove.

Today’s proposal is a light, delicate and lightly spiced recipe: Turkey meatballs with saffron.

Prepare your shopping list with these ingredients and fire up the cooker… let’s get started!

Turkey meatballs with saffron

6.9g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 6 servings

700g ground turkey meat
450g milk
250g leek
100g robiola cheese
80g breadcrumbs**
40g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
1 egg
1 sachet of saffron
rice flour*, extra virgin olive oil, salt, herbs

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

Chop the leek very finely and sweat it in a non-stick pan with a little oil.
Place the minced meat in a bowl, add the stewed leek, season with salt and add the Parmesan, robiola cheese, breadcrumbs, egg and chopped herbs, then mix well.
Form patties 3-4 cm in diameter, roll them in rice flour and brown them on both sides in a non-stick pan with a little oil. Now dissolve the saffron in the milk, add a little salt and pour it over the meatballs. Cover and cook, allowing the saffron sauce to thicken well.

Version with gluten of Turkey meatballs with saffron

Replace gluten-free breadcrumbs with standard breadcrumbs.

December 6, 2017/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Vegetable mix au gratin

Secondi piatti

Vegetables are fun, colourful, tasty and healthy. In short, there are many good reasons to use them in the kitchen in the preparation of tasty dishes that can become complete meals. They are never missing from our table, and today I want to propose a perfect recipe for a meal full of that goodness we love so much: Vegetable mix au gratin.

The appearance of the pie will certainly make the vegetables more attractive to the little ones at home, who are generally not very attracted to them, but in this preparation, the presence of other tasty and stringy ingredients will win their aversion… so we will be able to ‘train’ taste so that vegetables become an unfailing companion of all meals. And for this unusual workout, I also recommend the Three-colour flan irresistible!

Vegetable mix au gratin

19.22g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

700g peeled yellow potatoes
100g yellow pepper
100g red pepper
100g smoked semi-hard cheese
60g red onion
60g extra virgin olive oil
50g pitted green olives*
50g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
50g breadcrumbs**
1 egg
extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

Boil the potatoes until soft; mash them with a potato masher and let them cool, then season with grated Parmesan cheese, egg, salt and pepper.
Meanwhile, place the thinly sliced red onion in a non-stick frying pan, or wok, with 30g of oil and brown it. Add the diced yellow and red pepper and let it cook for about ten minutes to soften.
Take an oven dish and form a layer of mashed potatoes with half of the mixture, cover it with the sautéed peppers, the green olives cut in half and the slices of smoked cheese. Cover everything with the remaining potatoes, sprinkle the surface with breadcrumbs and drizzle with 30 grams of extra virgin olive oil.
Finally, place in a convection oven preheated to 200°C for about 20 minutes, the surface should turn golden.

verdure-gratinate-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

Vegetable mix au gratin

Version with gluten of Vegetable mix au gratin

Replace gluten-free breadcrumbs with standard breadcrumbs, no other adaptation is needed.

November 23, 2017/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Gluten-free summer: Legumotti with vegetables

Piatti unici, Secondi piatti

Finding a product that is perfect for both the needs of diabetes and celiac disease is a rather rare occurrence, so discovering Barilla Legumotti on supermarket shelves was more than a surprise: it was a real joy and I decided to cook Legumotti with vegetables.

In fact, the label of Legumotti with red lentils, chickpeas and peas shows only these three ingredients in the quantities of 60%, 20% and 20% respectively. The total carbohydrate value of Legumotti is 48.3g per 100g of dry product, which is then half as much once cooked, as they double their weight by absorbing some of the cooking water. By adding the vegetables, we then provide lots of fibre which will slow down the absorption of the complex carbohydrates from the pulses… and this is what made our day with perfect blood glucose levels!

But all with a truly unexpected treat for the palate: my children expressly asked us to unleash our creativity to bring this ‘mini-pasta‘ (which reminds us so much of the Sardinian fregola that we love, but have never found in a good gluten free version) to the table at least once a week.

I’d say we really like this challenge, since with the kids on summer holiday the need to prepare a midday meal as well needs an extra effort of organisation and imagination!

Legumotti with vegetables

14.94g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

350g courgettes
300g Barilla Legumotti*
200g carrots
100g semi-hard cheese
90g cherry tomatoes
60g pitted black olives
50g onions
1 clove garlic
basil, extra virgin olive oil and salt as needed

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

Chop the onion finely and sauté it with the garlic clove over high heat in a wok or non-stick pan with a little extra virgin olive oil, stirring constantly. In the meantime, cut the carrots into rather small cubes and the courgettes into slightly larger cubes (so that the cooking time is the same, as the carrot generally takes a little longer) and add them to the onion.
Always keep the heat fairly high and stir occasionally so that the vegetables cook quickly without burning. Once ready (they should remain crispy), season with salt, remove the garlic and set aside.
Cook the Legumotti in salted water, drain them and stop cooking by running them under cold water for a few seconds.
Pour the Legumotti into a bowl, add the sautéed vegetables, quartered cherry tomatoes, pitted olives, diced cheese and season with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, chopped basil to taste and a pinch of salt if required.
Serve the Legumotti warm or cold.

Version with gluten of Legumotti with vegetables

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

July 12, 2017/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Rice cabbage rolls au gratin

Primi piatti, Secondi piatti

Cabbage and Savoy cabbage have been with us all winter and have given us an incredible variety of preparations. One of our favourite recipes is Rice cabbage rolls au gratin and it is for several reasons.

First, we like the name in Italian, “Valigini” meaning small suitcases, trolleys, because a small suitcase always contains something we take with us on a trip and maybe even a gift from a faraway place when we return… it gives us a foretaste of surprise. Then, we like it because it is an explosion of colours in a season that is not very lively.

Moreover, it is a delicacy that can be easily served as a one-course meal, both for its satiating power and for its nutritional composition: carbohydrates, vitamins and proteins. And finally, for the delicate but, at the same time, full and rich flavour of those surprises kept in our little suitcases: the sweetness of the raisins enhanced by the unmistakable savouriness of the pecorino cheese, the crunchiness of the cashews and the tenderness of the soft green cabbage that envelops them.

In short, a preparation that makes adults happy and makes kids forget that they are eating the often ‘hated’ vegetables.

Rice cabbage rolls au gratin

13.74g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 4 servings

800g cabbage cooking water
370g green cabbage (the 6 largest outer leaves)
150g purple cabbage
200g Carnaroli rice
50g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
50g raisins
40g red wine
30g cashews or Brazil nuts
30g Pecorino cheese, grated
25g extra virgin olive oil
25g spring onion
10g butter
salt and pepper

Preparation

Take 6 large leaves of green cabbage. Wash them and blanch them in boiling salted water for a few minutes; drain and throw them in cold water. Wait a few moments, drain them well on paper towels and keep the hot cooking water as vegetable stock.
Put a little oil in a pan, soften the thinly chopped spring onion, then add the thinly sliced purple cabbage in small pieces; after lightly browning, add a drop of water and cook the cabbage almost through, allowing the liquid to evaporate.

Rice preparation

Throw the rice in the pan with the cabbage and toast it well. Pour red wine and allow to evaporate, when the smell of alcohol has disappeared, start stirring the rice using the cooking water from the outer leaves. Add the soaked raisins and lightly chopped cashews and continue to roll the rice.

The rice ready for the stir-frying

When the rice is almost cooked, but still rather al dente, cream it with butter and Parmesan cheese; let it cool and spread it out on a rather large plate so that the rice does not brown: in this way, the risotto should be cooked to perfection after gratin.
Take the blanched leaves and cut them in half, removing the harder, thicker central rib. Place a heaped spoonful of risotto on each half and roll the cabbage forming a cylinder.

Preparing the rolls

The rolls before baking au gratin

Place the rolls in an oven dish, sprinkle with grated pecorino cheese and drizzle a little oil on the surface.

Grate under the oven grill at 220°C for about 10 minutes until the pecorino is lightly browned.

The rolls ready to be enjoyed

This recipe participates in the Contest “Rice Food Blogger 2017 – Chef Giuseppina Carboni“

April 28, 2017/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Vegetable and tuna flan

Secondi piatti

Enticing, tasty and rich in nutrients because it combines the delicious flavour of tuna with the wholesomeness of vegetables and the protein of Parmesan cheese.
What about today’s recipe? A Vegetable and tuna flan can become a pleasant main course, or a one-course meal dish if you want a light but tasty meal.

Certainly, this flan is a way to make even the most stubborn children eat vegetables, thus a solution to ‘train’ their taste towards vegetable dishes in which vegetables are even more prominent, as in the Three-coloured flan.

Want some advice? You can easily make double the amount because I am sure your family will not complain eating the dish a second time!

Vegetable and tuna flan

4.28g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

400g aubergine
400g courgettes
200g tuna in oil, drained
60g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
40g breadcrumbs**
2 eggs
20g milk
extra virgin olive oil, parsley, basil, salt and pepper

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

Wash, dry and clean aubergines and courgettes. Using a mandoline, slice the vegetables to a thickness of 2-3mm and cook them sprinkling them with a pinch of salt in a hot non-stick pan until they are soft.

Put the eggs in a bowl and beat them lightly with milk and a pinch of salt. Add chopped tuna, grated cheese, chopped parsley and basil and 10 grams of oil.
Lightly grease a rectangular mould (approx. 24x12cm), form a layer of aubergines, cover with the tuna mixture and then a layer of courgettes. Continue until all ingredients are used up.

Sprinkle the surface with breadcrumbs, drizzle with a little oil and bake in a convection oven preheated to 180°C for 30 minutes.
Serve warm or cold to taste.

Version with gluten of Vegetable and tuna flan

Replace the gluten-free breadcrumbs with standard breadcrumbs.

April 21, 2017/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Easter pie

Primi piatti, Secondi piatti

Easter is getting close, so here is a great traditional classic your family lunch: Easter pie.
Let’s say that it is also the perfect solution to get children to eat vegetables without boring them. Our version does not include egg in the filling as a blending ingredient, as it is used hard boiled to be seen when slices are cut.

Easter pie

19.37g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

510 g brisée pastry** (corresponding to almost 2 rolls of ready made gluten free Buitoni Brisée Pastry)
500g mixed leafy greens
310g ricotta cheese
150g baby spinach
130g string beans
100g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
30g pine nuts
20g extra virgin olive oil
4 hard boiled eggs
salt and egg for brushing

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

Preparation

Blanch the greens and spinach in two non-stick frying pans with a little oil and just the water remaining after washing the vegetables. Allow the water to evaporate well or remove it before chopping the vegetables.
Boil the string beans in salted water, drain and cut into pieces.
Place chopped greens and spinach in a bowl, add the string beans, ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese and pine nuts; finally, season with salt.
Roll out a thin disc of dough on a sheet of parchment paper to cover a 24cm diameter tin, leaving a few centimetres of dough around the edge. Pour in some of the filling and place the 4 peeled hard-boiled eggs in the shape of an X, staying 3-4 cm from the centre (think about how the slices will be cut so that the whole egg can be seen), cover with the remaining filling and try to lightly level everything out; then cover with a second disc then, with the help of a fork, fold the edges, seal them and pierce the surface.
Brush with a little beaten egg.
Bake the Easter pie in a static oven preheated to 200°C for about 20 minutes until the surface is golden brown.

Version with gluten of Easter pie

Replace gluten-free brisée with standard brisée.

April 14, 2017/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Mexican dinner: Vegetarian Chili

Secondi piatti

How about organising a fun Mexican dinner? We have done so and would like to recommend a recipe that is going to be a true success, with intense, spicy flavours suitable for all palates: Vegetarian Chili.

Would you like to accompany the recipe with an aperitif? Try the Guacamole Salsa.

Let’s begin!

Vegetarian Chili

7.41g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

400g tomato sauce
300g yellow pepper
300g red pepper
250g carrots
250g cooked Mexican black beans (about 120g dry soaked in water for at least 12 hours)
200g cooked yellow soy (approx. 100g dry soaked in water for at least 12 hours)
100g water
40g onions
1 piece of chilli pepper
paprika, parsley or coriander, extra virgin olive oil, salt

Preparation

Put the beans in water and cook them for the time necessary for them to remain firm. Once cooked, drain them and set them aside. Repeat the same operation with the yellow soy.
Chop the onion fairly finely and sauté it in a slightly high-sided pan with a little oil, adding the garlic clove and a pinch of chilli pepper according to personal preferences for spiciness.
In the meantime, slice the carrots into rounds and dice the pepper, chop the parsley (in Mexico, coriander is used, but its specific flavour is not liked by all), then add all the vegetables and tomato sauce to the stir-fry, then season with salt and paprika.
Let the vegetables cook for about 15 minutes. Finally, incorporate the soy and beans and let everything gain flavour for another 5 minutes before serving.

Version with gluten of Vegetarian Chili

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

February 28, 2017/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli

Traditional recipes from the world: Gulash

Secondi piatti

You know those evenings when you want to eat something really juicy to treat yourself after the long working day or week?
So, with this in mind, on an afternoon when appetite was king, we decided to prepare Gulash. This is a fantastic way to travel and discover the traditions from other countries, remember.

Are you already anticipating the flavour? We are!

So here’s the recipe!

Gulash

5.8g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

1 kg beef shoulder
400g onions
250g yellow pepper (about 1 trimmed pepper)
250g red pepper (about 1 trimmed pepper)
150g carrots
50g sweet paprika
stock, salt, extra virgin olive oil, chilli pepper

Preparation

Cut the onion and put it in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil, letting it soften slowly for about 20 minutes. Add the chopped beef and let it cook for about 15 minutes.
Add paprika, stir and cook for 1 hour.
Add the chopped pepper and carrot, season with salt, moisten with a little stock and cook for another 40 minutes.
Finally, adjust the flavour with a pinch of chilli pepper to taste and serve with boiled potatoes or polenta.

Version with gluten of Gulash

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

February 21, 2017/0 Comments/by Ilaria Bertinelli