Tag Archive for: recipes for diabetics

Tuna loaf with green sauce

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Tuna loaf with green sauce is the dish that answers my question ‘what to cook for dinner in the summer‘. If there are many cold dishes that can bring us pleasant relief when the heat is almost unbearable, tuna loaf does it very well (here is how to prepare it).

To prepare it, you need six ingredients and they are all ingredients that I generally have in my pantry at home: tuna, anchovies, capers, olives, egg white and Parmesan cheese.

It also meets dietary requirements: all ingredients are naturally gluten free and the amount of carbohydrates is well below 1g per 100g of finished recipe. Furthermore, the recipe is lactose free (Parmesan is lactose free, but remember that in case of dairy protein intolerance you will have to buy Parmesan matured for at least 36 months), so it is also suitable for those who cannot consume dairy products.

As it is suitable for using creativity when plating, this recipe is perfect if you have guests. You can also prepare it the day before so you can devote yourself to other dishes and then slice the meatloaf at the last moment.

Finally, the green sauce is very quick to prepare and is also excellent to accompany other dishes or to be used as a dip for vegetables!

  

Tuna loaf with green sauce

carbohydrates per 100g negligible

 Ingredients for the tuna loaf for 4-6 servings

    • 400g tuna in oil
    • 2 egg whites
    • 20g anchovy fillets
    • 20g pitted green olives*
    • 20g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
    • 10g salted capers
    • pepper

    Ingredients for the green sauce

    • 50g extra virgin olive oil
    • 30g pitted green olives*
    • 10g parsley leaves

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

    Preparation

    1. Drain the tuna and put it in a blender or robot with the egg whites, capers fully desalted under running water, anchovy fillets, olives, Parmesan cheese and lemon peel. Blend everything together to obtain an even mixture.
    2. Take a sheet of baking paper, wet it and wring it out, then roll it out and pour the tuna mixture in the middle, forming a kind of cylinder. Wrap the cylinder with paper and close it at the ends with two metal hooks.
    3. Put the meatloaf on a baking dish, cover it completely with water, then bring it to a gentle boil and cook over a low heat for 45 minutes. Pour off the water and let the meatloaf cool down.
    4. Meanwhile, prepare the sauce. Put parsley and olives on a cutting board or in a food processor and chop everything to the desired size. Transfer the mince to a small bowl and coat it with extra virgin olive oil.
    5. Slice the meatloaf, arrange the slices on a serving platter, season with a teaspoon of sauce and serve with fresh vegetables or pickles.

Polpettone di tonno con salsa verde affettato

Version with gluten of Tuna loaf with green sauce

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

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Stuffed picnic baguettes

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Stuffed baguettes are a great idea not only for a picnic, but also for a lunch at work. Unlike what you may think, a sandwich can be healthy and complete, as well as tasty, as in this recipe full of fresh vegetables. These Stuffed picnic baguettes are therefore a solution for young and old, and for all tastes!

If you decide to take them for lunch at the office or for a picnic and you don’t have time to prepare fresh bread, you can freeze the loaves and stuff them as soon as they have softened slightly after taking them out of the freezer, so when it is time to eat them, they will still be soft and fragrant.

The other feature I love about stuffed baguettes is that they have a hearty and succulent filling, but because of the way they are prepared, they are easy to transport and store and the risk of dirtying the basket or other container you put them in is reduced.

And the stuffing? Have fun, dear friends, this is just one idea among thousands possible!

Stuffed picnic baguettes

65.81g carbohydrates per 100g unstuffed baguette

Ingredients for the baguette starter dough

  • 400g water
  • 330g flour mix for bread, brand Caputo Fioreglut**
  • 170g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 5g brewer’s yeast

Ingredients for the baguette dough

  • 200g flour mix for bread, brand Nutrifree**
  • 110g water
  • 50g buckwheat flour*
  • 40g milk
  • 10g brewer’s yeast
  • 10g salt
  • brown rice flour* for dusting
  • extra virgin olive oil

Ingredients for stuffing

  • 9 slices of Primosale cheese
  • 9 lettuce leaves
  • 1 tomato
  • 1 avocado
  • ½ lemon
  • 1 bunch of parsley
  • tuna in oil (optional)
  • salt, pepper, extra virgin olive oil to taste

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

    1. Knead the ingredients for the starter dough to obtain an even mixture; place it in a large bowl, cover it with cling film and place it in the refrigerator to rise for 12 hours.
    2. Take the starter dough and mix it with all the ingredients for the dough; knead well, if possible in a planetary mixer, then cover again with cling film and leave to rise for 1 hour in a warm place.
    3. Place the dough on a lightly floured cutting board and divide it into 9 pieces.
    4. Flatten each piece into a rectangle of about 10x15cm, roll it from the short side to form a cylinder; brush the mini-baguettes with extra virgin olive oil.
    5. Let the mini-baguettes rise for another 30 minutes, then bake them in a convection oven preheated to 200°C for about 35 minutes.
    6. Let the mini-baguettes cool down and prepare the avocado sauce. Put the pulp of a ripe avocado in a blender, add the juice of half a lemon, a small tuft of chopped parsley, salt and pepper, then blend to a smooth, even sauce.
    7. Take the mini-baguettes, cut them in half, remove the crumb from both halves and start stuffing the lower half of the baguette.
    8. Come tagliare le baguetteCome svuotare le baguetteBaguette svuotate pronte per essere farcite
  2. Put a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on the lower half, a pinch of salt, a grinding of pepper; form a layer with a slice of tomato, cover it with the avocado cream, place a slice of Primosale on top, put another layer of avocado sauce and a slice of tomato.
  3. Now take the top of the mini-baguette without crumb, lightly drizzle it with extra virgin olive oil and flavour with a pinch of salt and a grinding of pepper. Cut a slice of lettuce into strips and compress it well inside the baguette cavity; if you decide to put tuna fish, place it on top of the lettuce; close the mini-baguette and seal it with a string or foil so that it is tight.
  4. Let the mini-baguettes rest tightly sealed until ready to eat, when you can cut them in half to see the contents and be able to bite into them easily.

Baguette farcite

Version with gluten

For the starter dough, replace the Caputo flour and rice flour with a bread or pizza flour and mix it with 275g water; for the dough, replace the Nutrifree flour and buckwheat flour with 100g water without adding milk.

 

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Basmati rice with curry, tuna and peppers

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Even though the air is still cool, I have now entered the mood of summer and colours and I can’t go back to grey, neither with my clothes nor with my food! Basmati rice with curry, tuna and peppers fully expresses this feeling.

And it is nature that helps us to be colourful, because going shopping at the greengrocer’s is a real feast for the eyes with all the vegetables in season. Peppers always make me very happy, not to mention the first cherry tomatoes from the south of Italy.

So I decided to add another splash of colour to the vegetable palette: curry, a spice that everyone in the family loves and that I buy from some Indian friends when they return from their country.

The carbohydrates in the dish come almost exclusively from basmati rice (remember that the cooked peppers are also counted in the preparation as they have 24.3g carbohydrates per 100g of product once cooked), a long-grain rice with an intense aroma and a slightly lower glycaemic index than the types of rice more suitable for risottos… not surprisingly, it does not release the starch that is essential to give creaminess to Italian risotto.

Have fun preparing this one-course meal, a kind of rice salad, a perfect summer recipe that will brighten up your table, your palate and certainly your well-being too. If you like curry, also try the Cous cous with prawn and courgette curry.

Riso basmati al curry con tonno e peperoni

Riso basmati al curry con tonno e peperoni

Basmati rice with curry, tuna and peppers

12.92g carbohydrates per 100g


Ingredients 

  • 300g tuna in oil
  • 300g vegetable stock
  • 220g yellow pepper
  • 220g green pepper
  • 200g Basmati rice
  • 200g peeled tomatoes
  • 15g spring onion
  • 1 teaspoon curry powder*
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper

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

Preparation

  1. Cut the peeled tomatoes, remove the seeds and cut the rest into cubes, which you place in a bowl with the chopped tuna, sliced spring onion, a pinch of salt and 20g of oil. Wash the peppers, cut them, remove the seeds and white filaments and dice them, setting them aside.
  2. In a saucepan, heat 20g oil, toast the rice for a few minutes, add the curry, stir well, then add the hot stock, put the lid on and leave to cook for 5 minutes. Add the peppers without stirring, put the lid back on and cook (another 5 minutes or so until the liquid has been completely absorbed).
  3. Divide the rice into 4 single-serving bowls, let it cool and top with the tomato and tuna mixture.

 

Version with gluten of Basmati rice with curry, tuna and peppers

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

 

 

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Crostini with non-liver pâté

Why Crostini with non-liver pâté? Tuscany is the home of liver pâté and Florence has become our adopted city because it is in this splendid city that Gaia and Nico are followed by the Meyer Hospital diabetology department, directed by our splendid Doc., Sonia Toni, who is always present, even at a distance, with timely information and medical and psychological support when worries prevail.

Not surprisingly, Dr. Toni is present in this blog to answer any questions about diabetes that you may have.

So, every three months, we go to the beautiful Medici city for my children’s regular check-ups and we always try, given the distance we cover and the fact that the day cannot include other commitments, to include a little visit to the city centre and maybe a lunch of Tuscan cuisine, which we love!

On one of many occasions, I went with Gaia to Trattoria Cammillo (https://www.facebook.com/Cammillo-201813633167651/) which, despite its name, is a fairly elegant and not exactly inexpensive restaurant in the centre of Florence, very close to the Arno river with a gluten free menu. Since Gaia had never tasted the typical Crostini with liver pâté and having finally found them gluten free, I recommended that she order this dish: I must say that Gaia and livers are not exactly in the same taste sphere! I’ll spare you the tale of some difficult moments at the table, and it’s a good thing I like Crostini so much, so with a quick exchange of dishes we got out of the impasse.

So I thought I would prepare some Crostini that are in every way similar to this Tuscan speciality, except for the ingredients used in their preparation: lentils! And I must confess one thing in all honesty: they did not make me miss the original!

Crostini with non-liver pâté   

16.29g carbohydrates per 100g

 Ingredients

  • 160g mixed lentils (red, yellow and green) (will be about 400g cooked)
  • 100g red wine
  • 50g sheep’s milk ricotta
  • 50g onions
  • 30 g butter
  • 1 bunch of aromatic herbs (sage, rosemary, parsley and thyme)
  • 1 truffle (to taste)
  • salt and pepper
  • bread (e.g. these gluten free rustic loaves)

Preparation

  1. Rinse the lentils, put them in a pot with the bunch of aromatic herbs, cover with water and boil for about 1 hour until the lentils are soft enough to mash.
  2. Chop the onion finely and sauté it in a pan with butter; add the wine and cook for about ten minutes. Put the onion and lentils in a food processor, add the ricotta and blend to a cream; season with salt and pepper.
  3. Place the pâté in a bowl sprinkled with truffle shavings and serve with bread croutons.

Version with gluten of Crostini with non-liver pâté

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

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Healthy eating: Romanesco broccoli cream

Cold we do not fear you! When the days start to get shorter and the evening air gets crisper, we warm up with something tasty and healthy, just like a Romanesco broccoli cream.

Velvety, fragrant and delicious, here is this very easy recipe to prepare a creamy vegetable soup.

In addition to its characteristic cauliflower flavour that is generally milder than common cauliflower, the Romanesco broccoli looks like a sculpture of oriental art: its florets are so perfect that they are bewitching, and the bright green colour completes the effect.

Try it with just a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil for seasoning and some croutons for full satisfaction. For other soups, have a look at this lentil recipe.

Romanesco broccoli cream

1.57g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 1 litre of water
  • 650g Romanesco broccoli
  • 165g onions
  • extra virgin olive oil, salt and (optional) curry

Preparation

  1. Put the sliced onion in a pan with oil, then add the broccoli florets and, if you want a spicy flavour, half a tablespoon of curry powder.
  2. Let it season for a few minutes, cover with water and cook for about 30 minutes until the vegetables have softened. Blend everything, adjust salt and serve with a drizzle of oil and some croutons.
Crema di cavolo romanesco

Romanesco broccoli cream

Version with gluten of Romanesco broccoli cream

This recipe is naturally gluten-free, so it needs no adaptation.

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Vegetable and tuna flan

Enticing, tasty and rich in nutrients because it combines the delicious flavour of tuna with the wholesomeness of vegetables and the protein of Parmesan cheese.
What about today’s recipe? A Vegetable and tuna flan can become a pleasant main course, or a one-course meal dish if you want a light but tasty meal.

Certainly, this flan is a way to make even the most stubborn children eat vegetables, thus a solution to ‘train’ their taste towards vegetable dishes in which vegetables are even more prominent, as in the Three-coloured flan.

Want some advice? You can easily make double the amount because I am sure your family will not complain eating the dish a second time!

 

Vegetable and tuna flan

4.28g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 400g aubergine
  • 400g courgettes
  • 200g tuna in oil, drained
  • 60g Parmigiano Reggiano cheese, grated
  • 40g breadcrumbs**
  • 2 eggs
  • 20g milk
  • extra virgin olive oil, parsley, basil, salt and pepper

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Wash, dry and clean aubergines and courgettes. Using a mandoline, slice the vegetables to a thickness of 2-3mm and cook them sprinkling them with a pinch of salt in a hot non-stick pan until they are soft.

sformato-di-tonno-e-verdure-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia-ph-chiara-marando

  1. Put the eggs in a bowl and beat them lightly with milk and a pinch of salt. Add chopped tuna, grated cheese, chopped parsley and basil and 10 grams of oil.
  2. Lightly grease a rectangular mould (approx. 24x12cm), form a layer of aubergines, cover with the tuna mixture and then a layer of courgettes. Continue until all ingredients are used up.

sformato-di-tonno-e-verdure-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia-ph-chiara-marando

sformato-di-tonno-e-verdure-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia-ph-chiara-marando

sformato-di-tonno-e-verdure-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia-ph-chiara-marando

  1. Sprinkle the surface with breadcrumbs, drizzle with a little oil and bake in a convection oven preheated to 180°C for 30 minutes.
    Serve warm or cold to taste.

sformato-di-tonno-e-verdure-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia-ph-chiara-marando

sformato-di-tonno-e-verdure-senza-glutine-uno-chef-per-gaia-ph-chiara-marando

Version with gluten of Vegetable and tuna flan

Replace the gluten-free breadcrumbs with standard breadcrumbs.

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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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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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Broccoli and cauliflower velouté

The New Year has arrived and with it the cold that has brought us to enjoy the warmth of home these days, perhaps snuggled up on the sofa in front of a good film. And you know that for us cold temperatures equate to tasty, wholesome soups, to be enjoyed perhaps accompanied by croutons and a good glass of wine, just like the Broccoli and cauliflower velouté.

Today, we recommend a recipe that is light, easy to prepare and perfect for delighting children and adults alike with healthy seasonal vegetables.

If you like soups, you can also try my Pulse and vegetable soup.

Here’s what you need to prepare it!

Broccoli and cauliflower velouté

4.41g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 400g cauliflower
  • 400g broccoli
  • 400g potatoes
  • 200g onions
  • 1.2 litres of water
  • extra virgin olive oil and salt as needed

Preparation

  1. Put the sliced onion in a pan with oil, add the broccoli and cauliflower florets, the diced potatoes and finally cover with water.
  2. Bring to the boil and cook for 40 minutes until the vegetables have become soft. Blend everything, adjust salt and serve with a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and possibly some croutons.
  3. Simple, isn’t it? 🙂

vellutata-di-broccoli-e-cavolfiore-uno-chef-per-gaia

Version with gluten of Broccoli and cauliflower velouté

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

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From Tuscan tradition, Ribollita

You know, we like to fight the cold at the table with dishes rich in flavour and able to warm even the coldest winter days, and Ribollita is always one of the first choices.

Here is our recommendation today, a great classic coming from the Tuscan gastronomic tradition: Ribollita, an irresistible speciality prepared with simple and wholesome ingredients, as its peasant history dictates.

And Ribollita is so good that it will win over even the most stubborn vegetable detractors, just like the Vegetable mix au gratin.

Ribollita

3.25g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 400g canned cannellini beans*
  • 200g carrots
  • 180g courgettes
  • 150g kale
  • 150g savoy cabbage
  • 150g potato
  • 100g onions
  • 100g leek
  • 70g herbs
  • 300g ripe tomatoes or tomato sauce
  • 1 clove garlic
  • 1 bunch of herbs
  • 1 potato
  • water, extra virgin olive oil and salt as needed
  • bread croutons**

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation of Ribollita

  1. Wash and chop the vegetables. Put a little oil in a large saucepan, add onion and leek (let them sweat), then carrot, potato, courgette, Savoy cabbage, herbs and tomatoes.
  2. Cover with water (about 2 litres) and add salt; prepare a bunch of herbs tied with string and add it to the vegetables; finally, add garlic. Let it cook for a long time, add the beans and continue cooking.
  3. When the vegetables are perfectly cooked, set 1/3 of the vegetables aside and blend the rest.

ricetta-ribollita-uno-chef-per-gaia

  1. Serve the soup with slices of stale bread and a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil.

ricetta-ribollita-uno-chef-per-gaia

Version with gluten of Ribollita

The recipe contains only naturally gluten-free ingredients, while you may have to replace the gluten free bread croutons with standard ones.

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