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An alternative breakfast: Vegan muffins with almond butter.

For some of the ingredients I use in my recipes, I now have my absolute trusted suppliers and one of these is Andrea, the greengrocer who patiently accommodates my requests, including the most unusual ones!

Having now made my passion for cooking his own, Andrea often sources products that he brings from his wonderful homeland, Sicily. So I manage to have wonderful sheep’s ricotta for preparing Cassata my own way and other wonderful sweet and savoury preparations, fresh and mature Caciocavallo, oregano, cherry tomatoes, anchovies and a little gem produced by his cousin in Agrigento, the Mennulataa butter made from 100% almonds.

I must admit that I have used it in many preparations, but always around lunch or dinner time so I never managed to take a photo before my family had eaten everything up!

This time I am finally able to share a recipe that is a little unusual for me because it is vegan, but very interesting and tasty for those who do not want to give up a sweet breakfast while avoiding butter and eggs.

Vegan muffins with almond butter

36.30g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 9 muffins

  • 120g almond and rice milk* (or another type of plant milk)
  • 75g plant yoghurt*
  • 50g fine corn flour*
  • 50g dark chocolate*
  • 45g buckwheat flour*
  • 40g Mennulata almond butter*
  • 35g rice oil
  • 30g brown sugar
  • 27g corn starch*
  • 25g finely grated coconut*
  • 25g coconut sugar
  • 8g baking powder*
  • a pinch of salt

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

Preparation

  1. Pour the yoghurt into a bowl and mix it with the sugars and almond butter. Gradually add the flours, continuing to stir so that no lumps form, and when the mixture starts to feel rather thick, add the rice oil and the almond and rice milk; finally, add a pinch of salt, baking powder and the dark chocolate pulverised in a food processor.
  2. Place the paper cups inside a silicone or metal muffin tin, fill them ¾ full, then bake the muffins in a static oven preheated to 180°C for 20 minutes.
  3. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
  4. They are a great breakfast, especially cut in half and enriched with a teaspoon of raspberry jam.

muffin-vegani-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia

Version with gluten of Vegan muffins with almond butter

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

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.

You need to organise a dinner with friends and you don’t know what to prepare as an appetiser or aperitif? Bruschette assortment is the solution for you!

Colourful, tasty and perfect for delighting the palate with different flavours, delicious ingredients and enjoyable combinations, Bruschette assortment is made with fragrant buckwheat bread topped with ingredients ranging from pulses such as chickpeas, to vegetables such as aubergines and peppers, to cheeses such as Fontina, Robiola  and even pears and cooked ham.

Ready? Then let’s begin.

Bruschette assortment

33.64g carbohydrates per 100g of plain bread

La preparazione delle bruschette fantasia

Preparing the Bruschetta assortment

Bruschettas with chickpea hummus and aubergine

  • Buckwheat bread**
  • Chickpea hummus*
  • Sautéed diced aubergines
  • 1 pinch of paprika

Bruschettas with hummus and peppers

  • Buckwheat bread**
  • Chickpea hummus*
  • Grilled peppers without skin
  • 1 ground pepper

Bruschettas with Fontina cheese and pears

  • Buckwheat bread**
  • Fontina cheese
  • Pears
  • Walnuts
Le bruschette fantasia

Bruschetta assortment

Bruschettas with Robiola cheese and peppers

  • Buckwheat bread**
  • Robiola cheese
  • Grilled peppers without skin
  • Oregano

Toast-like Bruschettas

  • Buckwheat bread**
  • Cooked ham*
  • Cheese that melts easily

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

So many ingredients, and so many types of Bruschetta, but only one simple and quick method of preparation.
That’s right, because once all the toppings have been prepared, all you have to do is lightly toast the buckwheat bread slices, assemble the different Bruschettas and put them in the oven for a few minutes so that they warm up and acquire even more flavour. Obviously, where cheese is present, it is advisable to wait for it to melt on contact with the heat before serving.

Version with gluten of Bruschetta assortment

Replace gluten free bread with standard bread