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Mini Easter pies with artichokes: Italian gluten-free Easter

Mini Easter pies with artichokes are my single-serving version of the Easter pie the Easter classic and symbol of rebirth par excellence.

Prepared with the ever-present brisé pastry, in the filling, in addition to Swiss chard, I used artichokes and quail eggs for an irresistible taste.

If the weather and temperatures permit, with Mini Easter pies with artichokes we can also organise an Easter or Easter Monday lunch outdoors, even in the form of a picnic, as the mini pies are very easy to carry and enjoy, whether sitting or standing.

Are you ready to knead? Let us begin and… a Happy Easter to you all!

Mini Easter pies with artichokes  

19.26g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for the brisé pastry

  • 300g gluten free bread flour mix, brand Biaglut**
  • 150g butter
  • 80g water
  • salt

Ingredients for the filling

  • 300g cow’s milk ricotta
  • 200g cleaned artichokes
  • 200g cleaned Swiss chard
  • 100g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
  • 12 quail eggs
  • 1 egg
  • 10g parsley
  • 1 clove garlic
  • salt, pepper

Ingredients for the béchamel sauce

  • 100g milk
  • 10g brown rice flour*
  • 10g extra virgin olive oil
  • salt

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparing Mini Easter pies with artichokes

  1. Mix all the ingredients for the brisé pastry in a planetary mixer or bowl until smooth and even. Cover the brisé pastry with cling film and place it in the refrigerator for the time needed to prepare the filling.
  2. Sweat the Swiss chard in a non-stick pan with a little oil and using only the remaining water from washing. Allow the water to evaporate well before chopping it.
  3. Clean the artichokes by removing the tough leaves and tips, then cut them in half to remove the choke and cut them into wedges. Cook the artichokes in a non-stick pan with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and a clove of garlic (to be removed at the end of cooking), seasoning with a pinch of salt.
le mammole

Mammolas

  1. Prepare the béchamel sauce. Put the milk on the stove and bring it to the boil. In the meantime, mix the oil with the rice flour and when the milk has come to the boil, start adding it slowly into the rice flour mixture, stirring so that no lumps form. Add the milk and put everything back on the heat until the béchamel starts to thicken. Season with salt and leave to cool.
  2. Put the ricotta in a bowl, add the chopped Swiss chard and artichokes. Also chop the parsley, add it to the mixture and season with grated Parmesan cheese, salt and pepper. Finally add the béchamel sauce and mix well.
  3. Roll out a thin disc of dough on a cutting board and cut 12 discs of the necessary diameter to cover tartlet moulds. I used the non-stick 12 muffin mould by Le Creuset and a 12cm diameter pastry cutter. Fill all the mould.
  4. Fill the brisé shells with the artichoke mixture almost to the top and create a hole in the centre of the filling. Break a quail egg in the hole, then cover the egg with more filling.
La preparazione delle pasqualine

Preparation of Mini Easter pies

  1. Cut 12 disks of brisé pastry the size needed to cover and seal each pie using a fork. Finally, beat the egg and brush the surface of all the pies and use a toothpick to pierce the surface of each pie in the centre: the small hole will act as a ‘chimney’ and reduce the risk of cracking during baking.
  2. Bake the Easter pie in a static oven preheated to 180°C for about 25 minutes until the surface is golden brown. Take the pies out of the oven and serve lukewarm or cold.

Pasqualine ai carciofi

Mini Easter pies with artichokes ready to be enjoyed

Version with gluten of Mini Easter pies with artichokes

Replace the gluten free flour in the brisé with an equal amount of wheat flour; no other adaptation is needed.

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Creamy beetroot risotto: welcome spring!

Welcome Spring! And what better way to do this than by preparing a Creamy beetroot risotto to pay homage to the pink colour of the blossoming trees? Because the typical pink colour of the peach tree is given precisely by the beetroot, which we can buy already cooked, perhaps baked, from our greengrocer.

Creamy beetroot risotto: pink on the plate.

The second star of the risotto is one of my absolute favourite cheeses, namely Gorgonzola, the Italian blue cheese par excellence, whose light spiciness gives the slightly earthy flavour of beetroot a boost of flavour.

Furthermore, you know well I love adding a crunchy touch to risottos, the perfect complement to the creaminess of well-roasted and smooth grains, and a very simple and effective idea are slivers of Jerusalem artichoke and slivers of Parmesan cheese.

ingredienti del risotto cremoso alla barbabietola

The ingredients of creamy beetroot risotto

Jerusalem artichoke: a zero-mileage tuber

Despite the name that makes us think it comes from who knows what distant country, Jerusalem artichoke is a herbaceous perennial plant with an underground tuber native to the American continent whose name probably comes from the South American Tupinamba tribe that made abundant use of it.

Like potato and tomato, Jerusalem artichoke has adapted perfectly to the climate of our country where it grows wild and almost weedy, especially along watercourses, and we recognise it by its beautiful yellow flowers on tall, straight stalks. So don’t be afraid to buy this kind of lumpy potato: it will be a constant surprise when you eat it raw, as in this risotto, or cooked as a side dish or cream.

So if you are looking for recipes for Easter, simple but surprising recipes and ideas to colour your table, here is a solution! And to complete the menu, try Easter pie.

Creamy beetroot risotto

25.35g carbohydrates per 100g  

 Ingredients for 4 servings

  • approx. 1.5 litres of previously prepared vegetable stock
  • 320g rice
  • 100g baked beetroot
  • 80g Gorgonzola
  • 70g red wine
  • 40g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
  • 30g shallot
  • 30g butter
  • extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper, Pecorino Romano cheese for crisps

Ingredients to complete

  • 1 Jerusalem artichoke
  • Parmesan shavings
  • 2 slices of baked beetroot

Preparation

Put a little oil in a pan and very slowly brown the thinly sliced shallot and diced beetroot. After a few minutes, add a ladle of stock and let it cook for a few minutes. Transfer this vegetable base to a blender and blend to a cream-like mixture.

Start preparing the risotto. Put the rice in a thick-bottomed pan and toast it dry over high heat (it took me 3 minutes to have transparent rice grains with a white core in the centre). Douse the rice with red wine, allow to evaporate, then start adding the boiling stock. Continue stirring and only add stock when the rice has absorbed almost all the liquid. Five minutes from the end of cooking, add the beetroot cream and Gorgonzola cheese to the rice.

When the rice is still al dente, take it away from the heat and proceed with the creaming. Add 30 grams of butter, stirring the rice well so that the starch is released to form a nice creamy mixture, add the grated Parmesan cheese and continue stirring vigorously until all ingredients are perfectly incorporated. Cover the pan with a tea towel and let it rest for 1 minute.

Serve the risotto on hot plates and distribute some very thin slices of Jerusalem artichoke cut with a mandoline, Parmesan shavings and a few cubes of beetroot on the surface.

Il risotto cremoso alla barbabietola pronto per essere gustato

Creamy beetroot risotto ready to be enjoyed

Version with gluten of Creamy beetroot risotto

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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