Tag Archive for: cucina senza glutine

Grandma’s Soup with Frue: A Taste of Home

There are recipes that taste of home, affection, and tradition — and Grandma’s Soup with Frue is one of them. With just three simple ingredients — potatoes, pasta, and Frue cheese — it becomes the kind of comforting dish that nourishes body and soul.

I discovered this recipe in Sardinia thanks to a kind lady I met while waiting in line at a local dairy. She told me she was buying Frue, a goat-and-sheep’s milk cheese with a slightly tangy flavour, to prepare this soup for her granddaughter, who said it was her favourite dish. I immediately fell in love with it too.

In summer, you can make it fresher by adding a few chopped tomatoes — a simple twist for a delicious variation.

If you’re a soup lover, don’t miss trying my Pulse Pasta with Rascino Lentils as well.

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Grandma’s Soup with Frue

11g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 4 servings

  • 400g potatoes
  • 120g mixed small pasta or broken spaghetti **
  • 120g Frue cheese
  • chopped herbs of your choice
  • coarse salt
  • black pepper

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Cut the potatoes into ½ cm cubes and place them in a saucepan with water and a pinch of coarse salt. Cook for around 10 minutes, or until tender.
  2. Add the pasta — choose small shapes that cook in the same time, or use short pieces of broken spaghetti. Cook until al dente.
  3. Mash the Frue cheese with a fork in a separate bowl.
  4. When the pasta is ready, remove the saucepan from the heat, stir in the Frue until perfectly combined, then finish with chopped herbs and a grind of black pepper.
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Prawns and Lentils with Vermouth

When I’m looking for a light but nourishing one-dish meal, I like to combine the taste of legumes with that of seafood. That’s how these Prawns and Lentils with Vermouth were born — a balanced, gluten-free, glycemia-friendly recipe. The aroma of the artisanal Vermouth from Acetaia Giusti of Modena gives the dish a refined and surprising fragrance, turning a simple pairing into an elegant, special experience.

You can swap the lentils for chickpeas if you prefer them.

If you like combining shellfish with legumes, try my Prawns with Cream of Cannellini Beans recipe.

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Prawns and Lentils with Vermouth

9.2g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for 4 servings

  • 280g cooked lentils
  • 24 peeled and deveined prawns
  • 5 shallots
  • 100g Vermouth*
  • 2 tablespoons Modena IGP balsamic vinegar (~30g)
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • thyme
  • salt and pepper

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Chop the shallots and sauté them in a non-stick pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil, a few sprigs of thyme and the balsamic vinegar.
  2. Add the cooked lentils, a few tablespoons of water and let them gain flavour for about ten minutes.
  3. Turn up the heat under the pan with shallots and lentils, add the prawns, deglaze with the Vermouth, cook for 2 minutes, season with salt and pepper and serve.
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Sweet potato and artichoke soup with a Middle Eastern touch

This warm and creamy soup is true comfort food. Alongside its excellent nutritional properties, it features a delightful Middle Eastern touch with za’atar. Try my Sweet Potato and Artichoke Soup for a wholesome and flavourful dish!

Let’s take a closer look at the ingredients!

Sweet potatoes, often mistaken for regular potatoes, are actually quite different in both taste and nutritional value. Naturally sweet, they have a lower glycaemic index than regular potatoes, are rich in fibre, and contain a large amount of beta-carotene, ideal for boosting the immune system.

Artichokes, with their delicately bitter flavour, perfectly complement the soup by providing valuable fibre, inulin, and antioxidants, promoting digestive health and intestinal well-being.

What is za’atar? It’s an aromatic spice blend typical of Middle Eastern cuisine, traditionally made with thyme, oregano, sumac, and sesame seeds. In my version, I’ve replaced oregano with pumpkin seeds to create a more nutritionally interesting combination, thanks to their healthy fats.

Sumac is a bright red spice with a fresh, slightly citrusy flavour. It’s made from the dried and ground berries of the Rhus coriaria plant, native to the Mediterranean and Middle Eastern regions. Just a touch is enough to create the perfect balance between tradition and creativity!

Fancy more soups? Try the Chestnut and Grass Pea Soup.

Sweet potato and artichoke soup with za’atar

7g carbohydrates per 100g

Ilaria-bertinelli-vellutata-di-patate-dolci-e-carciofi

Ingredients for 4-6 servings

  • 1 lt ca. vegetable stock* or water
  • 8 cleaned artichokes (approximately 600 g)
  • 2 sweet potatoes (approximately 500 g)
  • 1 shallot (approximately 30 g)
  • Extra virgin olive oil
  • Salt and pepper

Ingredients for za’atar

  • 2 tablespoons pumpkin seeds
  • 2 teaspoons sesame seeds
  • 1 teaspoon dried thyme
  • 1 teaspoon sumac
  • ½ teaspoon salt
  • Extra virgin olive oil

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation 

  1. Finely chop the shallot and sauté it in a saucepan with a drizzle of olive oil. Add the artichokes cut into wedges and the cubed sweet potato. Let them sauté for a few minutes, then cover with water or vegetable stock and cook for about 30 minutes or until the artichokes are perfectly tender.
  2. Blend everything until smooth and adjust with salt and pepper to taste.
  3. Prepare the za’atar. Toast the pumpkin seeds in a non-stick pan with a tablespoon of olive oil. Add the other ingredients and let them sauté for a few minutes, then set aside.
  4. Serve the soup with a spoonful of za’atar.
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QuBìTV: Uno chef per tutti

Starting from 13 January, the day celebrating the Saint Patron of Parma, Saint Ilario (also my name-day) do not miss the weekly appointment with Uno chef per tutti, my TV programme dedicated to recipes for all the people who cannot eat gluten, but also other allergens that I will specify from time to time.

Live on Fridays

To watch the programme live, the appointment is every Friday at 7pm (Rome time) on QuBìTV, but if you do not manage to follow the streaming live, don’t worry because you will find the recording online and on the Youtube channel of the tv platform.

And since we start in a cold month, the first recipe is going to be a fantastic Onion soup au gratin to get a full energy charge and to warm up with the flavour of a great classic of peasant foods.

My “field kitchen” at CUBO

Uno chef per tutti is a fantastic live adventure from what I like defining “my field kitchen”: indeed, cooking at CUBO, the multi-purpose venue in Parma, is evidence of the fact that you just need an induction plate and an oven to prepare many tasty recipes ranging from starter to dessert, and that we can all cook in less than 30 minutes, just allowing some extra cooking time.

So, the programme is a celebration of “free from” dishes with taste, fun and especially the joy of cooking and sharing.

Also watch my video recipes available on the blog!

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