Tag Archive for: carb count

Gluten-free summer: Legumotti with vegetables

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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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. Cook the Legumotti in salted water, drain them and stop cooking by running them under cold water for a few seconds.
  4. 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.
  5. Serve the Legumotti warm or cold.

legumotti-alle-verdure-barilla

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.

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Easter pie

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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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

torta-pasqualina-gluten-free-uno-chef-per-gaia

Version with gluten of Easter pie

Replace gluten-free brisée with standard brisée.

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Recipes from the world: Cantonese rice

Today we want to try a speciality of Asian cuisine, a light but tasty dish that combines rice with vegetables, fish and spices.
In short, an irresistible one-course meal: Cantonese rice.

If you like oriental flavours, how about a curry preparation? We love Couscous with prawn and courgette curry!

Here’s the shopping list!

Cantonese Rice

20.48g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 300g long-grain rice
  • 150g shelled prawns
  • 150g yellow pepper
  • 150g red pepper
  • 100g peas
  • 50g spring onion
  • 50g soy sprouts
  • 2 eggs
  • 1 piece of fresh ginger
  • 2 tablespoons of soy sauce
  • extra virgin olive oil

Preparation

  1. Cook the rice in plenty of salted water, drain and set aside.
  2. Chop the spring onions and sauté them in the wok with a few tablespoons of oil together with the diced pepper and soy sprouts.

riso-alla-cantonese-uno-chef-per-gaia-ph-chiara-marando

  1. Add the peas and chopped ginger after 5 minutes. Let the vegetables cook for about 10 minutes, then add the shrimps and let them warm up well. Remove the mixture from the wok and keep it warm.

riso-alla-cantonese-uno-chef-per-gaia-ph-chiara-marando

  1. Whisk two eggs in a bowl, put 2 tablespoons of oil in a hot wok and add the eggs by scrambling them with two chopsticks (the kind used in Chinese restaurants).

riso-alla-cantonese-uno-chef-per-gaia-ph-chiara-marando

  1. Once the egg is finally done, add it to the rice and vegetables, top with 2 tablespoons of soy sauce and serve piping hot.

riso-alla-cantonese-uno-chef-per-gaia-ph-chiara-marando

Version with gluten of Cantonese rice

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

 

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After-eight egg pasta triangles

Sweet and savoury together, but also mint and chocolate coming together, our recipe today is a mix of flavours and contrasts: After-eight egg pasta triangles.
A pleasant pasta enclosing a soft filling with an intense flavour. In short, an appetising first course to surprise with something new and unexpected.

If you love fresh pasta, also try Sardinian Culurgiones a work of art of workmanship and taste!

 

After-eight egg pasta triangles

29.48g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for the egg pasta for 8 persons

  • 500g fresh pasta flour mix, brand Molino Dallagiovanna**
  • 5 eggs
  • 15g bitter cocoa powder*
  • 40g water
  • 20g extra virgin olive oil
  • 3g salt

Ingredients for stuffing

  • 400g boiled and mashed potatoes 300g freshly grated sweet Pecorino cheese
  • 30g grated medium-aged Pecorino cheese
  • 30g extra virgin olive oil
  • 10g chopped mint
  • 1 clove of garlic, finely chopped
  • milk and salt as needed

** Ingredients specific for celiacs

Preparation

  1. Prepare the dough by mixing flour, eggs, cocoa, water, oil and salt by hand or in a planetary mixer. In no time, you will obtain a smooth and elastic dough. Wrap it in cling film and let it rest.
  2. Meanwhile, prepare the filling.
    Put the grated cheese and the mashed potatoes in a bowl and mix well until an even mixture is obtained. Heat the olive oil in a small pan and as soon as it is hot, add the chopped garlic and stir; turn off the heat and add the chopped mint. Let it rest for a minute, then pour the aromatic oil over the potato and Pecorino mixture. Mix well, add salt to taste and, if the mixture is too thick, soften it with a few tablespoons of warm milk.
  3. Now, take the dough and roll it out with a pastry cutter to the penultimate or third last hole; with a toothed cutter, cut 8cm squares.
    Using a teaspoon, or your hands, place the filling in the centre of the square, then close forming a triangle and pinching the edges together to seal the ravioli tightly.
    Bring the water to the boil, salt it lightly and gently toss in the triangles. After a few minutes, drain them and dress them with melted butter together with a few mint leaves and grated Parmesan or Pecorino cheese.

Triangoli-di-sfoglia-after-eight-ph-chiara-marando

Version with gluten of After-eight egg pasta triangles

Replace gluten-free flour with wheat flour and reduce the amount of water used to 15g.

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Pumpkin and lentil soup with paprika

Dense, creamy and delicious! Definitely Pumpkin and lentil soup with paprika is a tasty way to get children to eat vegetables and pulses.

The sweetness of pumpkin, combined with the unmistakable flavour of lentils, makes this soup perfect also for children, while if you want to give a twist to sweetness, paprika or, why not, chilli pepper, will be the ideal solution.

A light, balanced and tasty meal!

Do you love soups and creams? Try my Cabbage, potato and shallot soup.

Pumpkin and lentil soup with paprika

3.75g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 1.3 litres of water
  • 700g pumpkin
  • 375g onions
  • 50g lentils
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 2 bay leaves
  • 1 tsp sweet paprika
  • ½ tsp turmeric (optional)
  • 1 pinch of chilli pepper
  • extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper to taste

Preparation

  1. Cut the pumpkin and onion into small pieces, season with oil, salt and pepper and place in a baking dish covered with parchment paper; bake at 200°C for 20 minutes and set aside.
    Put water on the stove with garlic, bay leaf and lentils; cook for about ten minutes. Now add the baked pumpkin and onion, keeping a few pieces aside to decorate the dishes.
  2. Finish cooking the lentils and vegetables, remove the garlic and bay leaf, then blend and season with spices, salt and pepper. Finally, add the vegetable pieces left whole.
  3. Serve with a drizzle of oil and croutons to taste.

vellutata-di-zucca-e-lenticchie-alla-paprika-uno-chef-per-gaia-ph-chiara-marando

Version with gluten of Pumpkin and lentil soup with paprika

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

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Aperitif time: Guacamole Salsa

Aperitif is more and more an Italian ritual, a way to enjoy some food with a good drink with family and friends. So, even early in the week, we may be thinking about the Friday night aperitif and, this time, we have decided it will be homemade.
So we share with you a recipe for an appetising salsa to enjoy with crispy nachos: Guacamole Salsa. You can also accompany it with Teff crackers.

Do you like the idea? We are already anticipating it.

Guacamole Salsa

1.86g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 200g avocado (the pulp of 1 avocado)
  • 30g lime or lemon juice
  • 10g onion or spring onion
  • 3g salt
  • 2g coriander or parsley
  • 1-2 g finely chopped garlic
  • pepper, chilli and chopped tomato to taste

Preparation of Guacamole Salsa

  1. Place the avocado pulp in a blender, add the lime or lemon juice and blend well. Then add all the other ingredients chopped very finely.
  2. Season with salt, pepper and chilli and, if you want, add a chopped tomato.
    Serve the guacamole salsa with nachos or use it to stuff tortillas together with tasty Chilli con carne.

salsa-guacamole-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia-ph-chiara-marando

Version with gluten of Guacamola Salsa

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

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Mexican dinner: Vegetarian Chili

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

  1. 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.
  2. 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.
  3. 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.
  4. 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.

Chili-vegetariano-senza-glutine-uni-chef-per-gaia

Version with gluten of Vegetarian Chili

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

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Soy and pumpkin patties

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Soy and pumpkin patties are a nice appetiser, a tasty dish that is hard to give up, a dish that comes when hunger starts to set in and prepares for the upcoming meal. That’s why it must certainly be appetising but, at the same time, balanced so as not to weigh you down and allow you to fully enjoy the following courses.

Soy and pumpkin patties fulfil all these characteristics: they are light, healthy and tasty. And to continue having fun with patties and meatballs, dive into the Patties and meatballs section: you will find a solution to make young and old happy.

And if you are looking for a salad to go with these patties, try this Dominican salad or just prepare a mixed green and tomato salad.

Ready to start cooking?

Soy and pumpkin patties

12.20g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 300g pumpkin cooked in the oven
  • 150g boiled yellow soy
  • 50g breadcrumbs**
  • 30g leek
  • parsley, extra virgin olive oil, salt, pepper and nutmeg

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

Preparation

  1. Slice the leek thinly and put it in a pan with a little oil, brown it and add soy and pumpkin.
  2. Season with herbs and spices, add salt and blend in a food processor until creamy.
  3. Form into patties (we had about 14) and roll them in breadcrumbs. Brown in a non-stick frying pan with a little oil, then serve with fresh vegetables.

Polpettine-di-soia-e-zucca-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

Version with gluten of Soy and pumpkin patties

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

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Perfect for children: Cauliflower patties

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How to get children to eat vegetables? Simple, try using them as the main ingredient to prepare tasty Cauliflower patties. Because we know that patties are always very popular with children, so they won’t be able to say no to this vegetarian version.

The only challenge is to handle these patties gently because they are softer than their meat-based sisters, which you can still use to hide other vegetables, as is the case with my Spinach meatballs.

Cauliflower patties

7.79g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 400g cauliflower
  • 60g Pecorino cheese, grated
  • 40g breadcrumbs**
  • 30g capers
  • 30g extra virgin olive oil
  • 20g parsley
  • 1 egg
  • 1 clove of garlic
  • salt, pepper and olive oil

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Boil the cauliflower in salted water until soft. Drain and sauté it in a pan with extra virgin olive oil and garlic. Let it cool, then remove the garlic and blend the cauliflower in a food processor with capers and parsley. Add egg, Pecorino and Parmesan cheese to obtain a rather firm mixture.

polpette-di-cavolfiore-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

  1. Put a few tablespoons of oil in a non-stick frying pan, form patties, roll them in breadcrumbs and brown them on both sides.

polpette-di-cavolfiore-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

They are excellent served both hot and cold.

polpette-di-cavolfiore-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

Version with gluten of Cauliflower patties

Replace the gluten-free breadcrumbs with standard breadcrumbs.

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Three-colour flan: all the taste of vegetables

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Vegetables are the biggest challenge for us as parents: preparing them in a tasty and appetising way to win children over is not always easy. The Three-colour flan can be a winning idea as it contains some of children’s favourite vegetable ingredients, namely potatoes, pumpkin and carrots.

Given the richness of potatoes and pumpkin in carbohydrates, as well as the presence of cheese and egg, the Three-colour flan can be eaten as a one-course meal, quenching even the most insatiable appetites.

Furthermore, you can also use this wonderful dish as a side dish or, why not, a main course to propose during a dinner with friends with vegetarian preferences, perhaps combined with a Ratatouille.

Three-colour flan

9.54g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 800g potatoes
  • 700g courgettes
  • 400g pumpkin
  • 300g carrots
  • 100g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
  • 25g butter
  • 10g breadcrumbs**
  • 1 egg
  • to taste salt, pepper, oil

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

Preparation

  1. Boil the potatoes and mash them in a potato masher, then season with a knob of butter, half of the Parmesan cheese and egg. Boil the carrots and mash them too. Steam the pumpkin and thinly sliced courgettes with a little oil and salt. Once the pumpkin is cooked, repeat the operation with a potato masher, add the carrots, a little Parmesan cheese, salt to taste, and complete the mixture with some mashed potatoes.
  2. Form a layer of courgettes on the bottom of an oven-proof dish and sprinkle with the remaining Parmesan cheese. Cover everything with the pumpkin mixture, press well and top with a layer of mashed potatoes.
  3. Dust the surface with a little breadcrumbs, put a few tufts of butter on top and bake au gratin in the oven at 200°C for about 20 minutes, until a nice crust has formed. Serve the flan warm or lukewarm.
Tortino-ai-tre-colori-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

Three-colour flan

 

Version with gluten of Three-colour flan

Just replace the gluten-free breadcrumbs with standard ones.

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