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Homemade sofficini: irresistible gluten-free

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It is indeed true that there are some recipes that are simply irresistible, and homemade Sofficini are a perfect example.

Simple, versatile, mouth-watering, in short, the tasty dish whose only problem is that you can never get enough and would never stop eating it. In addition, homemade Sofficini are perfect to let our imagination run free in stuffing them to suit any season and, why not, whatever ingredients are available in the fridge at home.

Remember that using béchamel sauce as a ‘wild card’ ingredient to keep the filling soft without it leaking out during cooking (as is easily the case when using a melting cheese) is a good solution. Watch the video about how to prepare homemade Sofficini step by step so it will be even easier to cook them.

And if you want to accompany them with a delicious salad, try this Dominican Salad.

sofficini fatti in casa

Homemade Sofficini   

32.40g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 15 pieces

Ingredients for the dough

  • 250g gluten free bread flour mix, brand Nutrifree**
  • 210g water
  • 40g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 30g extra virgin olive oil
  • 7g brewer’s yeast
  • 5g salt
  • rice flour* for dusting

Ingredients for the filling

  • 200g milk
  • 120g cooked ham*
  • 80g breadcrumbs*
  • 40g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
  • 1 egg
  • 3 cherry tomatoes
  • 20g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 15g extra virgin olive oil
  • a pinch of salt
  • extra virgin oil to cook the Sofficini

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Put the flours in a planetary mixer and add the water with the dissolved brewer’s yeast. While mixing the ingredients, add salt and extra virgin olive oil. Continue mixing until the mixture is even and fairly compact, pulling it away from the sides of the planetary mixer from time to time.
  2. Place the dough in a bowl and cover it with cling film; leave it to rise in a warm place for about 2-2.5 hours or until it has doubled in volume.
  3. Prepare a firm béchamel sauce. Pour the extra virgin oil into a saucepan, mix it with the rice flour, then dilute with milk gradually so that no lumps form. Put the saucepan on the heat and let the sauce thicken. Remove from the heat and season with a pinch of salt and grated Parmesan cheese.
  4. When the Sofficini dough has risen perfectly, take pieces of dough and roll them out to a thickness of about 2mm. Cut discs 10cm in diameter and stuff them with cooked ham, 2 pieces of seedless dates and 1 teaspoon of béchamel sauce.
  5. Put a bit of water in a small bowl, dip a finger in it and wet half the circumference of each filled disc with it. Fold each disc in half so that the edges coincide and form a half-moon, pressing well to seal the Sofficini perfectly.
  6. Beat 1 egg in a bowl, dip the Sofficini in it, then cover them with breadcrumbs.
  7. Put a little oil in a non-stick frying pan and when it is hot, brown Sofficini on both sides. Wipe the non-stick pan well with paper towels between cooking different batches of Sofficini so as to remove breadcrumbs remaining in the pan that may burn.
  8. Lay the Sofficini on kitchen paper and serve hot.

sofficini fatti in casa

Version with gluten of homemade Sofficini

To prepare homemade Sofficini with gluten, replace the gluten free flour with an equal amount of wheat flour and reduce the amount of water in the dough so that it is firm and not sticky, about 160g of water should be sufficient.

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Summer recipes: Creamy Passatelli with crispy vegetables

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Do you fancy a homemade pasta, but want it perfect for summer? Creamy Passatelli with crispy vegetables is the perfect summer recipe for a light, vegetable-based dish that is tasty, unusual, but also simple to prepare and if you don’t believe me, watch the video.

Furthermore, prepare a vegetable soup with the vegetables you have available in the garden at home or in the fridge or freezer: it will be a way to offer vegetables to the little ones at home in an unusual way.

If you like stronger flavours and you are not a vegetarian, you can also complete the dish by adding ham, guanciale, speck or bacon sautéed in a non-stick frying pan until crispy.

And nutritionally, this dish lacks nothing, so enjoy!

Creamy Passatelli with crispy vegetables

36.9g carbohydrates per 100g of plain Passatelli

Ingredients for creamy Passatelli for 4 servings

  • 110g  Parmigiano Reggiano, grated
  • 100g gluten free bradcrumbs, brand Nutrifree**
  • 60g gluten free pasta flour mix, brand Molino Dallagiovanna
  • 2 whole eggs
  • meat or vegetable stock to wet the bread
  • nutmeg, salt and pepper

Ingredients for vegetable soup

  • 800g water
  • 500g mixed vegetables
  • salt

Ingredients to complete

  • 140g courgettes (corresponding to 1)
  • 40g salted ricotta
  • a few basil leaves
  • 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)

Preparation

  1. Prepare the vegetable soup by cooking the vegetables in water with a pinch of coarse salt: this can also be prepared the day before. Once the vegetable soup is cooked, let it cool, then blend it to a cream.
  2. Prepare Passatelli. Heat the stock. Put the breadcrumbs in a bowl and wet them with the hot stock, being careful not to pour too much: the bread should be slightly moist, but not doughy. Once cold, add the remaining ingredients, namely flour, grated Parmesan cheese, eggs, nutmeg, salt and pepper. Mix well until you obtain a rather firm dough. Let it rest wrapped in cling film for as long as it takes to prepare the courgettes.
  3. Take the courgette, trim it and cut it into thin julienne strips; also cut the salted ricotta into julienne strips, mix ricotta and courgette together and dress them with salt, pepper and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
  4. Put a pot of water on the stove and bring it to the boil, then add salt.
  5. Put about half the Passatelli mixture into the potato masher, press the potato masher directly over the boiling water and when the Passatelli are the desired length, about 4-5 cm, cut them with a knife dropping them directly into the water. Stir them and let them boil for a few minutes.
  6. Put about 1/3 of the blended vegetable soup in a pan and heat it up; with a slotted spoon, remove the Passatelli from the cooking water and throw them into the pan with the sauce, sautéing them over a high flame for a few minutes.
  7. Pour a ladleful of the cold, blended soup in each serving dish, top with Passatelli, the courgette and ricotta salad, a basil leaf, a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and serve.

Passatelli in crema e verdure croccanti

Version with gluten of Creamy Passatelli with crispy vegetables 

Use standard breadcrumbs and flour, however, when preparing Passatelli with gluten, it is often not necessary to add flour to the breadcrumbs. Only add flour if the mixture of breadcrumbs, cheese and eggs is too soft.

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Radimonio: Pinzimonio with Radicchio Variegato

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How to prepare a Pinzimonio that no one can say no to? A cream of Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco and grilled Parmigiano Reggiano rinds for a recipe that is also anti-waste.

Radimonio? A cream made with Radicchio Variegato to make Pinzimonio irresistible 

The journey to discover the products protected by the Consorzio Tutela del Radicchio di Treviso PGI and Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco PGI, true ‘winter flowers‘ because of their splendid shape. To represent my region of origin, Emilia Romagna, and my family tradition, that of Parmigiano Reggiano production, I thought of a custom of peasant cuisine that I have always loved because it is an expression of respect for food and the commitment behind its preparation: the use of grilled Parmigiano Reggiano rinds.

All the work behind Radicchio made me inevitably associate it with the product my family has always been dedicated to. Radicchio is marked by long waits in the countryside and Parmesan cheese has to wait years for nature to take its course to give us unique and unrepeatable flavours. That is why I believe it is a crime to waste even a small part of the product, and farming culture teaches us never to do so.

A modern interpretation thus inspired me to come up with a way to enjoy a truly unusual snack or aperitif because it sees Radicchio variegato, normally eaten raw, cooked for a few minutes in a pan and a ‘scrap’ of cheese turned into a very tasty crunchy stick to scoop up a cream that also carries the aromatic note of another great product of the Veneto region, Recioto wine. Furthermore, the blade-shaped leaves of late Radicchio are ideal to complete the tasting experience.

Trying is believing.

What Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco PGI looks like

Il radicchio variegato di Castelfranco

Radicchio Variegato di Castelfranco: a beautiful rose

Its beautiful rose shape and the play of colours of its leaves makes us associate it with a very special flower because it blooms when others are asleep, i.e. in winter. Its origin is a hybrid between radicchio and escarole from which Variegato takes a combination of characteristics.

The product bears the name of the town where the country culture of its cultivation is rooted in the history of a plain characterised by long, harsh winters during which families found shelter from the cold by gathering in the stables. It was in the stables, protected by straw, that chicories were stored to protect them from frost and, as often happens, an extraordinary method was discovered to make the plants even tastier: the forcing technique.

What is the forcing technique?

This is the technique whereby the plants are left in the dark (in ancient times under straw, today under special cloths) so that they lose their chlorophyll, the whitening process we also saw in Radicchio Tardivo. In addition to taking on their unmistakable colour, the bitter taste of the chicories fades and the leaves acquire an extraordinary crunchiness.

To enjoy Radicchio Tardivo in a slightly unusual way, try the Strozzapreti with Radicchio and pumpkin fondue.

Radimonio, my Pinzimonio with a Radicchio Variegato dip

2.2g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 4 servings

  • 300g Radicchio variegato di Castelfranco PGI
  • 150g Crescenza cheese (I used goat’s milk cheese)
  • 100g shallot
  • 50g Recioto wine
  • 1 clove garlic
  • rinds of Parmigiano Reggiano cheese
  • leaves of Radicchio di Treviso tardivo
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • pepper
  • salt

Preparation

  1. Cut the shallot into thin slices and sweat it slowly in a pan with a little extra virgin olive oil for about 10 minutes.
  2. Wash the radicchio, cut it into strips and add it to the shallots. Cook it for a few minutes over high heat while continuing to stir it with a wooden spoon. Douse Radicchio with the Recioto wine and end cooking without allowing the Radicchio to dry out too much: overall cook for about 6-7 minutes.
  3. Transfer the Radicchio into a blender or food processor, blend it to a cream, add the Crescenza cheese and blend again to make the mixture smooth and even. Season with salt and pepper.
  4. Take the Parmsan rinds remaining after eating up the cheese, scrape them with a knife to clean the outside. I like to leave them slightly thick, about 5mm, so that the inside is also slightly softer.
  5. Place a grill on the stove and heat it up to a high temperature; lay the Parmesan rinds on it and grill them on both sides until they acquire a dark golden-brown colour.
  6. Place the cream in a bowl and serve it with the warm rinds and the Radicchio tardivo leaves, both of which can be used as ‘spoons’ to scoop up the Radicchio cream.
Radimonio con croste di parmigiano grigliate e radicchio tardivo

Radimonio with grilled Parmesan rinds and Radicchio tardivo

Version with gluten of Radimonio

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

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Talent for food: What would you have prepared?

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For a foodie, what could be nicer than getting to know the products of an area? This is the purpose of Talent for Food, the event designed to put bloggers from all over Italy in contact with companies producing and processing food, wines, spirits and liqueurs from the provinces of Padua and Treviso, of which Valdobbiadene, recently recognised as an intangible heritage of Unesco, is the best known expression.

Talent for Food: discovering the products of an area

How can you say no to such an extraordinary opportunity? So, I too submitted my application to participate in the initiative and after a few weeks I received the Mystery Box containing the 18 products to choose from to make a recipe… mouth-watering!

You can imagine that every time I embark on these wonderful adventures, there is always the fear that I cannot use most of the ingredients because of the presence of gluten… so bated breath until the mysterious box arrives!

I must admit that the first impact was… shocking, do you know why? Because the box had been damaged in transit, causing a bag of Agugiaro&Figna Molini organic wholemeal flour (one of their mills is just a stone’s throw from my house!) to break, which, of course, covered everything like a fine snowfall. What to do? Panic in the ranks! In the end, I decided to separate the gluten free products and subject them to a nice bath in the garden to try to remove all the flour from the waterproof packaging to avoid contamination of their contents when opened.

Having overcome my fear, I was finally able to ‘see’ the gifts from the land of Padua that I could use. Are you curious? Drum roll and here are the products to choose from for my gluten free proposal:

Agricola Grains high oleic sunflower oil https://www.agricolagrains.it/

Bbovis granulated stock preparation https://www.bovis.it/

Dialcos rice and quinoa pasta https://www.dialcos.it/

Molino Favero lentil flour http://www.molinofavero.com/

Goppion Native Coffee http://www.goppioncaffe.it/

Italdroghe saffron powder https://www.italdroghe.it/

Lazzaris strawberry mostarda https://www.lazzaris.com/

Serbosco artichoke cream https://www.serbosco.it/

Well organic stock https://www.brodowell.it/

My first idea of making a pie with a lentil crust, rice and quinoa pasta topped with artichoke sauce and saffron cream vanished in front of the packet of Dialsì pasta, which I found damaged, thus contaminated by the broken bag of wheat flour. I had to find an alternative quickly.

What would you have made with these ingredients?

What would you have prepared with these ingredients considering that the regulation required at least 5 ingredients to be used amongst the ones provided? One of my favourite desserts immediately came to mind: saffron panna cotta! All that was left for me to do was to think about how to use at least four more ingredients in the preparation and, despite the somewhat daunting premise, it only took a moment to come up with my dessert!

Saffron panna cotta is a bit of a workhorse of mine and I usually serve it by simply accompanying it with crumbled amaretti biscuits (super quick version), so I simply had to replace the amaretti biscuits with something similar, but more interesting: a lentil flour crumble. For this crumble, pre-cooked lentil flour and sunflower oil were two perfect allies. In fact, pre-cooked flour allows for better workability and texture, as well as shorter cooking times, and the high oleic oil is a perfect substitute for butter, but allows you to use half the amount.

Another ingredient I chose was coffee. I love coffee and its aroma paces my days, generally associating it with moments of pleasure and tranquillity, so pairing it with a dessert, the quintessential expression of pleasure, was almost a must. A nice coffe pot on the stove and voilà: I could replace water with coffee in a chocolate icing to obtain a coffee-flavoured chocolate sauce for an unforgettable treat.

The unexpected touch to the dish is the spicy sweetness of the strawberry Mostarda: Lazzaris often accompanies my cheese-based desserts (of which, as a good daughter of Parmigiano Reggiano producers, I am very fond), but never before has it accompanied a classic dessert: I’d say it passed the test very well!

Before I unveil the recipe, I’ll give you a smile: I decided to prepare the panna cotta in single portions (whereas I usually prepare it in a large version to be sliced) because I wasn’t sure about the plating…coffee chocolate cream on top or underneath? crumble on top or on the side? and the strawberry? So, with all these doubts, I prepared 8 single portions and set the whole family to work, asking each person to serve their favourite version of this panna cotta. We had a lot of fun and, above all, we ate up all the panna cotta we had prepared as a test! Fortunately, I kept a few aside to photograph and our favourite version is the one I’m sharing with you!

These are the official hashtags for Talent For Food: #talentforfood, #t4f, #aifbt4f, #aifb and this is anoter Panna cotta if you like this type of dessert.

Saffron Panna cotta with lentil crumble and strawberry mostarda

Panna cotta 20.22g carbohydrates per 100g

Crumble 46.83g carbohydrates per 100g

Coffee flavoured chocolate sauce 31g carbohydrates per 100g

Preparation time: 35 minutes

Cooking times: 30 minutes

Rest time: 6 hours

Ingredients for 8 servings

  • 500g fresh cream
  • 250g milk
  • 150g sugar
  • 2 sachets of saffron powder
  • 15g gelatine sheets* (3 sheets)

Ingredients for the crumble (you will have some left over to use as granola for breakfast)

  • 55g red lentil flour Bio Miks*
  • 40g almonds
  • 40g Demerara dark sugar
  • 30g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 20g organic high oleic sunflower oil Agricola Grains
  • 1 egg
  • 15g pine nuts

Ingredients for the coffee flavoured chocolate sauce

  • 150g fresh cream
  • 100g Goppion Coffee
  • 100g sugar
  • 75g dark chocolate*
  • 50g bitter cocoa powder*

Ingredients to complete

  • Lazzaris strawberry mostarda*

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

Preparation

  1. Soak the gelatine in cold water.
  2. Mix cream, milk and sugar and put them on the stove in a saucepan. Stir to melt the sugar and when the mixture is hot, add the saffron and squeezed gelatine; stir until the gelatine is completely dissolved.
  3. Leave to cool and pour the mixture into 8 single-portion moulds of the desired shape. Put the moulds in the refrigerator for Panna cotta to solidify and cool for at least 6 hours.
  4. Prepare the crumble. Coarsely chop the almonds, leaving some whole, and mix them with the lentil flour, rice flour, pine nuts and sugar; then add the oil and egg to moisten the mixture and when it forms large crumbs, spread them out on a sheet of parchment paper and bake in a static oven preheated to 180°C for about 15 minutes or until the crumbs are golden brown. Remove from the oven and allow to cool.
  5. Prepare the chocolate sauce. Prepare 100g of coffee; put the cocoa powder in a small pan, pour in the coffee and stir with a whisk to obtain a lump-free cream, then add the cream and sugar and put on the heat for 5 minutes, stirring well with the whisk (if you have a thermometer, the temperature should be between 70 and 80 degrees, if you do not have a thermometer, keep the mixture just below the boiling point).
  6. Turn off the stove and add the lightly chopped chocolate, stirring with a whisk so that it melts completely, then leave to cool, stirring occasionally. Once the sauce has cooled, keep it in the refrigerator until it is time to serve the Panna cotta.
  7. To complete the Panna cotta, unmould each single-portion on the serving platter, top with the coffee chocolate sauce, sprinkle with crumble and complete with a Lazzaris strawberry.
Gli ingredienti della mia ricetta per Talent for Food

The ingredients of my recipe for Talent for Food

Version with gluten of Saffron Panna cotta with lentil crumble and strawberry mostarda

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.

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Chicken with peppers and goji berries

This is the second recipe dedicated to the 70th anniversary of the National Carmagnola Pepper Fair and is one of our favourites when we are very hungry, have little time and want something tasty and light: Chicken with peppers and goji berries, naturally gluten free and with very few carbohydrates. If you want to look at the first recipe again, here it is: Gazpacho of yellow tomatoes, peppers and crispy prosciutto.

Pepper is a typical summer vegetable, particularly popular in hot countries, although it is now cultivated all over the world. Its versatility in cooking is extraordinary, and from a nutritional point of view it is rich in vitamin C, even richer than oranges, which are often considered the champions in ‘this speciality’.

Well, by combining peppers with goji berries, which by the way belong to the same family, we can enjoy their countless health benefits. Goji berries are to be consumed with caution for those with diabetes because they have a high carbohydrate content, as much as 64g per 100g of product, and also calories, but at the same time are rich in protein, sodium, calcium, phosphorus, potassium, manganese, lipids such as omega 3 and omega 6, magnesium, chromium, vitamins C, E and B1, carotene, amino acids, fibre, lutein and germanium.

Eating a dish like this one that is a joy for the eyes, for the palate and for our well-being seems to me the best way to celebrate a very respectable birthday!

Chicken with peppers and goji berries

3.49g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 4-6 servings

  • 700g chicken breast
  • 380g yellow, red and green peppers
  • 80g leek
  • 30g goji berries
  • 1 sachet of saffron
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt

Preparation

  1. Soak the goji berries in lukewarm water for 30 minutes.
  2. Cut the chicken into strips, mix with the saffron and leave to season for about 30 minutes.
  3. Cut the leeks into thin rounds and the peppers into strips for sautéing. Heat a wok, pour in a few tablespoons of oil and sauté the leek alone first, then add the peppers; season with salt and cook over a high flame for 5 minutes, stirring often. Set them aside.
  4. Put another 3 tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil in the wok and stir-fry the chicken for 5-6 minutes, then add the goji berries, season with salt and continue cooking for 1 minute.
  5. Remove the chicken from the heat, mix it with the peppers and serve hot or lukewarm accompanied by a mixed salad.

 

Version with gluten of Chicken with peppers and goji berries

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

 

This recipe was submitted to the Contest ‘Carmagnola Pepper: 70 years in 70 recipes’

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Gazpacho with yellow tomatoes, peppers and crispy prosciutto

Why a Gazpacho with yellow tomatoes, peppers and crispy prosciutto? For the memories and for my love of Spain and peppers.

The first time I heard about the Carmagnola pepper was a few years ago when my neighbour gave me a jar of pickled peppers prepared by her parents who used to travel to Piedmont every year in September to buy the raw material.

I have never forgotten those peppers: the bright colours, the sweet but firm flavour and the crunchy texture made me fall in love at first taste. It was that taste that prompted me to find out where this delicious fruit of the earth came from.

Carmagnola and its pepper

Its land of origin is precisely the Carmagnola area in Piedmont and there are various types (the one I tasted was the ‘Corno di bue’, perfect for preserves). The pepper arrived in this area at the beginning of the 20th century and today it represents a fundamental resource for agriculture and the local economy and is a foodstuff known and appreciated in Piedmont and Italy for its intense yellow or bright red colour, its aroma and its wholesomeness.

Every year, in early September, Carmagnola hosts the National Pepper Fair, the largest in Italy dedicated to an agricultural product, offering 10 days of gastronomic, cultural, artistic events, and creative and engaging experiences for all senses and all age groups. Well, this year the fair reaches an extremely important milestone, namely its 70th anniversary, which is being celebrated by collecting recipes that feature pepper as their star. This fresh and fragrant Gazpacho is my way of wishing long life to a product of the earth that often graces our table with its flavours, aromas and colours. All the best, then!

Try also this recipe with Carmagnola peppers: Chicken with peppers and goji berries.

Gazpacho with yellow tomatoes, peppers and crispy prosciutto

12.58g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 4 servings

  • 500g yellow tomatoes
  • 3 peppers, 2 yellow and 1 red (approx. 270g when cooked and peeled)
  • 100g sandwich bread** or these Rustic loaves
  • 100g sliced Parma ham
  • 100g vegetable stock
  • basil leaves
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • chilli, salt and pepper

** Ingredients specific for celiacs

Preparation of Gazpacho with yellow tomatoes

  1. Clean the peppers, cut them in half, remove the stalk, seeds and white filaments, then place them in the oven under the grill at 200°C until the skin is slightly dark. Seal the peppers in a paper bag and when they are cold, peel them and set them aside. Cut ¾ of the red pepper into strips and keep aside.
  2. Place the tomatoes, bread, stock and peeled peppers (except for the red pepper in strips) in a blender to obtain a cream; season with chilli, salt and pepper.
  3. Place the Parma ham in the microwave oven on medium power and short time, and repeat the operation until the ham is crispy.
  4. Prepare small bowls with the tomato gazpacho, pepper strips, crispy ham pieces, a few basil leaves and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.
Il Gazpacho di pomodori gialli, peperoni e crudo croccante

The Gazpacho of yellow tomatoes, peppers and crispy prosciutto

Version with gluten of Gazpacho with yellow tomatoes, peppers and crispy prosciutto

For the version with gluten of the recipe, replace the gluten-free sandwich bread with conventional bread.

This recipe was submitted for the Contest ‘Carmagnola Pepper: 70 years in 70 recipes’

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Vegan muffins with almond butter

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.

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Gluten-free lavender biscuits: scented treats

Why make lavender biscuits? Simply because we met Francesca D’Ambrosio , who on the hills of Parma, precisely in Bazzano, runs the farm Orto di Coccinellewhere she grows organic lavender and saffron, tending them by hand and in complete harmony with nature. It is a corner of paradise where butterflies, ladybirds and birds reign supreme. With these biscuits, we close our eyes and relive the experience of so much peace, beauty, fragrance and taste.

If you love biscuits, try also these Rice and buckwheat biscuits.

Lavender biscuits

50.33g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 170g flour mix for bread, brand BiAglut**
  • 130g butter
  • 110g almonds, peeled
  • 100g sugar
  • 45g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 35g blue corn flour**
  • 1 egg
  • 2 g organic lavender flowers
  • a pinch of salt

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. In a food processor, grind the almonds to a flour. Add the other flours, sugar, butter, egg and salt and mix to incorporate all ingredients well. Finally, add the lavender flowers.
  2. Take pieces of shortcrust pastry weighing 20g each, form them into balls, then flatten and place them on a baking tin covered with parchment paper, spacing them at least 2cm apart. Bake them in a static oven preheated to 180° for about 15 minutes.
  3. They are irresistible biscuits both for breakfast and for an afternoon tea or to accompany coffee at the end of a meal.
I biscotti alla lavanda pronti per essere gustati con un tè

Lavender biscuits ready to be enjoyed with tea

Version with gluten of Lavender biscuits

Replace the BiAglut flour with an equal amount of conventional cake flour.

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Buffalo ricotta gnocchi with saffron and Egyptian walking onion

What are Egyptian walking onions?

I must admit that my curiosity could not resist such a bizarre name for an onion cultivated mainly in western Liguria, so I expressed my interest to receive a book entirely dedicated to this subject, as well as to receive Egyptian walking onions to experiment with in the kitchen.

First of all, the name. In reality, the adjective ‘Egyptian‘ has nothing to do with the Egyptian civilisation, so much so that it is also known to the world by many other names, a fact which, in addition to its ease of cultivation, has made it somewhat mysterious, favouring its spread from the 1600s onwards. Already at that time, the onion was present in Russia and particularly in Siberia where it withstands even the cold winter temperatures. This capacity has meant that it has become a valuable source of nutrition for local populations, mainly due to its high vitamin C content, which is not easily available in areas with such hostile climatic conditions.

Yet, the Egyptian onion is also perfectly adapted to the Ligurian climate where, planted in the soil, it is able to produce several onions overhead and for long periods of time. The small bulbs develop in place of the traditional flower and are buried to give rise to other plants that grow easily and without requiring much attention.

If the bulbs are not harvested, the long stems on which they grow bend under their own weight and end up touching the soil where they root, giving rise to new plants. Hence the name of ‘walking onion‘. Economically, this onion has three types of harvest: the green leaves, the underground bulbs (which are left for the following harvest) and the topsets.

Size: a surprise

Reading about all these rather unusual characteristics, my imagination started working on what I could prepare with these perfect strangers, but since onion soup is one of my favourite dishes, my first thought was to use them in this way. But what did I discover when the envelope containing 7 little treasures arrived? First of all, they are really tiny so the thought of soup was instantly erased.

A second aspect that had struck me was reading that in many preparations the long leaves are used, so this time I had thought of a recipe in which the lush, green part was emphasised. My choice? I had thought of empanadas filled with vegetables, including Egyptian onion leaves, and served with a few fried leaves and a grating of hard sheep’s milk ricotta.

You can therefore imagine that, having received the bulbs without the green part, my second idea also tragically stalled. So, having to prepare dinner for two hungry teenagers and a husband well past his teens, but with the same appetite, I decided to use the bulbs as if they were precious little truffles, grating them raw, fragrant and succulent, over freshly made buffalo ricotta small gnocchi. A curiosity: one of the reasons why the Egyptian onion is so popular in cooking is that, even raw, it does not leave its scent in the mouth once consumed!

I don’t know how the other recipes I had thought would turn out, but this use of onion met with our approval. And you know what? I used 4 and planted the remaining 3 in the vegetable garden, so I am hoping for a small harvest in a few months to continue the experimentation!

Would you like some more gnocchi recipes? Try these Gnocchi with hare.

Buffalo ricotta gnocchi with saffron and Egyptian walking onion

carbohydrates 14.8g uncooked plain gnocchi

 

Ingredients for 4-5 servings

  • 600g buffalo ricotta
  • 200g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
  • 160g pasta flour mix, brand Petra 03** or bread flour, brand Nutrifree**
  • 10 cherry tomatoes
  • 2 eggs
  • 50g milk
  • 4 Egyptian onions
  • 0.25g saffron
  • basil, 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)

Preparation

  1. Mix ricotta cheese, Parmesan cheese, flour and egg, adjust salt and, when even, place in the refrigerator for 15 minutes.
  2. Form cylindrical strips and cut out small gnocchi.
  3. In the meantime, put a few tablespoons of oil in a non-stick frying pan and sauté the cherry tomatoes cut into quarters and with the seeds removed. Season with salt and set aside.
  4. In a pan, large enough to hold the gnocchi once cooked, pour in the milk and dissolve the saffron together with a few tablespoons of the gnocchi cooking water and a pinch of salt.
  5. Cook the gnocchi in slightly salted boiling water for a few minutes and as soon as they rise to the surface, remove them with a slotted spoon and place them in the pan with the saffron; allow the sauce to thicken and the gnocchi to gain flavour over medium heat.
  6. Assemble the plates by placing the saffron gnocchi, sautéed cherry tomatoes, a few basil leaves, a grated or very thinly sliced Egyptian onion (I used a Microplane grater to make this sort of carpaccio) and finally freshly ground pepper.
  7. It is a tasty and aromatic dish and above all fresh and perfect for summer.

 

gnocchi-cipolla-egiziana-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia-

Version with gluten of Buffalo ricotta gnocchi with saffron and Egyptian walking onion

Replace the gluten free flour with 180g conventional flour.

 

“This recipe was submitted to the MA CHE CIPOLLA D’EGITTO! 2018″ contest

logo cipolla logo edizioni zem

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Gluten-free baking: Desert roses

You know those old-fashioned sweets, the ones that smell of good food and tradition? We love them and thought we would prepare a simple but very tasty recipe, biscuits that are a temptation to enjoy on their own or to accompany tea: gluten-free Desert Roses.

Their shape is unmistakable, their texture crispy and their taste delicately enveloping, in short, they are perfect for breakfast or a snack during the day, perhaps even accompanied by tea or coffee. Have a look also at my Coffee biscuits if you want to enrich your choice!

If you are short on time and do not like to cut biscuits, this is definitely the right recipe for you.

Desert Roses

48.5g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 80g almonds, peeled
  • 70 g organic cornflakes Sarchio**
  • 60g raisins
  • 50g flour mix for bread, brand BiAglut**
  • 50g corn starch*
  • 50g sugar
  • 45 g butter
  • 1 egg
  • a bit of vanilla from the pod
  • 4g baking powder*
  • a pinch of salt

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Soak the raisins in lukewarm water.
  2. In a food processor, grind the almonds to a floury mixture, then add the flour, corn starch, butter, egg, vanilla, salt, sugar and baking powder; mix to incorporate all ingredients well. Finally, add the squeezed raisins.
  3. Pour the cornflakes onto a sheet of baking paper. With a teaspoon, take an amount of dough the size of a large walnut and roll it over the cornflakes so that they adhere to the surface.
  4. Place the desert roses on a baking tray covered with parchment paper and bake them in a static oven preheated to 180° for about 20 minutes.
Rose del deserto senza glutine

Gluten free desert roses

Version with gluten of Desert roses

Replace the BiAglut flour with 50g wheat flour and use standard cornflakes.

 

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