Tag Archive for: senza glutine

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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Torta soffice di mele e cannella

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In addition to bread and jam, one of my favourite breakfasts is with Soft apple and cinnamon cake, although I love any baked desserts made with this fruit that accompanies us all year round and which – especially at this time of spring when we are waiting for the great gifts of the warm season in terms of fruit – is one of the few seasonal products of Italian origin.

Although I like all apple desserts, for breakfast soft cakes are definitely the ones I enjoy the most, combining them with yoghurt, granola and my ever-present strong coffee: a pampering that I find really indispensable to get the day off to a good start.

I suggest you use cinnamon in the recipe, do you know why? Have you ever wondered why in all cultures of the world there are so many sweets containing cinnamon? This is by no means a coincidence.

In fact, this spice slows down gastric emptying time, which also slows down the absorption of blood sugar immediately after meals, i.e. cinnamon has a ‘hypoglycaemic’ function. This does not mean that the consumption of cinnamon can be considered a therapy for diabetes, but there are numerous studies showing its favourable effect on blood glucose control in people with diabetes, especially type 2 diabetes (for some more information, you can read this article). So in addition to giving our preparations an unmistakable aroma, cinnamon also has a positive effect on our well-being!

Torta soffice di mele e cannella

Soft apple and cinnamon cake

 Soft apple and cinnamon cake   

40.10g carbohydrates per 100g

 Ingredients

  • 350g Granny Smith or rennet apples already cleaned and peeled (2 apples)
  • 200g brown sugar (+ 20g for sprinkling, optional)
  • 125g low fat plain yoghurt
  • 100g gluten free multi-purpose flour mix, brand Massimo Zero**
  • 100g corn starch*
  • 80g almond flour*
  • 70g butter
  • 30g coconut milk*
  • 3 eggs
  • 1 lemon
  • 16g baking powder*
  • a bit of vanilla from the pod
  • cinnamon powder

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Peel and core the apples and sprinkle them with the juice of half a lemon so that they do not get dark.
  2. In a planetary mixer, whip the eggs with the brown sugar until white and frothy, then add the creamy butter, vanilla and the powder ingredients, i.e. almond flour, corn starch and the Massimo Zero mix; add the yoghurt, a pinch of salt and finally the baking powder and coconut milk. Remove the mixture from the planetary mixer and complete with grated lemon zest.
  3. Wet a sheet of baking paper and line a 24cm-diameter hinged cake tin. Pour in the mixture, level it and start covering it with the sliced apples, creating a pattern on the surface so that all the apples are used.
  4. To complete and if you wish, mix 30g brown sugar with a teaspoon of cinnamon, then sprinkle the apples with the mixture before placing the cake in a static oven preheated to 180°C for 40 minutes.
  5. Remove the cake from the oven, allow it to cool, then take it out of the mould, remove the baking paper and place it on a cake tin. Watch the video recipe!

Version with gluten of Soft apple and cinnamon cake

Replace the Massimo Zero flour mix with an equal amount of conventional cake flour and do not add 30g of coconut milk.

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Flaxseed dark bread

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I had promised you a journey into gluten free bread, so the must stop is this Flaxseed dark bread. In addition to using a preparation rich in fibre and sunflower seeds, I thought I would also add flax seeds to benefit from all the qualities they contain. Taking care of oneself by eating good bread seems a good solution to me.

Flaxseeds are rich in Omega 3, 6 and 9 essential fatty acids, promote the expulsion of LDL cholesterol and promote the synthesis of HDL good cholesterol, thus preventing the onset of cardio-vascular diseases. They also help control triglycerides, keeping arteries clean and regulating blood pressure. And finally, they contain vitamins B, vitamins C and E, minerals and essential fatty acids: in short, real natural food supplements.

The important thing to emphasise is that in order to be able to digest flaxseeds and thus reap their full benefits, it is essential to break and/or blend them as their extremely hard outer part makes it impossible to digest them if swallowed whole.

At this point, let’s start kneading and wait for the house to fill with the unmistakable fragrance of freshly made bread. Watch the video recipe here.

Le pagnotte di pane nero con i semi di lino

The loaves of dark bread with linseeds

Flaxseed dark bread  

40.37g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 450g gluten free wholemeal bread flour mix, brand Massimo Zero**
  • 370g water
  • 40g linseeds* (soak in 100g water)
  • 20g extra virgin olive oil
  • 17g brewer’s yeast
  • 5g salt
  • brown rice flour* for dusting
  • extra virgin olive oil to brush the surface

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Soak the linseed in 100g of water, let it soak for about ten minutes and whisk it lightly.
  2. Pour the dark bread mix into the bowl of the planetary mixer, add the blended flaxseeds then mix for a few minutes at low speed.
  3. Dissolve the brewer’s yeast in the lukewarm water and pour into the planetary mixer. Mix at medium speed for about 5 minutes, then add salt and oil and mix for a few more minutes. When the dough is smooth and homogeneous, stop the planetary mixer and place the dough on a lightly floured cutting board.
  4. Again with the help of a little brown rice flour, flatten the dough slightly and let it rise, i.e. pre-rise, directly on the cutting board for about 15 minutes.
  5. With the help of a rasp, divide the dough into two parts, lightly roll each half to form a sort of cylinder and put it to rise in a rising basket in a warm place for about 1.5 hours.
  6. Once the bread has risen, tip the two loaves onto a baking tray covered with baking paper or a perforated silicone mat. Brush the surface with extra virgin olive oil, make a cross cut and bake in a static oven preheated to 230°C for 10 minutes. Lower the temperature to 200°C, then bake, leaving the bread in the oven for a further 35 minutes, checking the bread because the baking time varies slightly depending on the oven.
  7. Remove from the oven and let the bread cool before cutting it.

Version with gluten of Linseed dark bread

Replace the Massimo Zero wholemeal bread with Petra 9 flour or QB Multicereale flour and mix it with 300g water instead of 370g.

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Viva l’Italia vegetarian Supplì

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What is Supplì? A rice ball containing succulent fillings that will satisfy any palate. And why this Viva l’Italia vegetarian Supplì?

Viva l’Italia vegetarian supplì for the SuppliTiamo contest

Those of you who have followed me over the years know of my rice-related adventures and especially of the Risate & Risotti event from which my first participation in a cookery competition started, the stages of which became the leitmotif of my book ‘Food bloggers in viaggio’ (read here some stories and recipes that were featured in the contest “Rice Food Blogger Contest Chef Giuseppina Carboni”).

Since the initiative could not be organised this year due to the Covid emergency, a very nice contest was launched called SuppliTiamo dedicated, as the name itself reveals, to Suppli and in which this recipe participates.

What are Supplì? Supplì are a kind of elongated rice ball, stuffed and fried just like the Sicilian Arancini. Its name comes from the French surprise because such is the feeling one gets from eating it: the suprise of the filling contained within its crunchy shell. Supplì is a rustic speciality, typical of Roman cuisine, that has been popular since its origins: what better solution could there be for the soldiers’ ration than to have a single dish in ‘pocket’ size?

While the original recipe called for a ragout prepared with chicken giblets, the seasonings have since become more and more creative, although a classic of Roman cuisine remains ‘Supplì al telefono‘ (meaning Supplì on the phone) prepared with mozzarella cheese inside and amusingly named so to describe the moment when it breaks in half to be eaten, forming a long, stringy mozzarella dripping that is reminiscent of the telephone sets before the advent of wireless devices.

My proposal

So here is my Supplì which I wanted to dedicate to our country to which, never more than now, we must show a sense of belonging and support. So my Supplì ‘Viva l’Italia’ wants to wish all of us who live in this country to find the positive energy we need in this moment of restart. And you know who I wanted to give it to? To my friend Lucia, companion of adventures and help in my cooking classes, the friend who made me find shopping bags right in front of this gate in the most difficult moments of our quarantine.

Il supplì regalato alla mia amica Lucia

The supplì given to my friend Lucia

I made my Supplì using a delicious tomato risotto (drawing inspiration from my Mediterranean Risottowith a few minor changes) which I cooked by doubling the amount so that I would have half to make 8 Supplì. The other change was the cooking: in order to avoid fried food, which in our house should be eaten in moderation, I cooked the supplì in the oven under the grill and they turned out delicious!!!!

I supplì al pomodoro farciti di pesto di rucola e formaggio filante

Tomato supplì stuffed with rocket pesto and stringy cheese

Viva l’Italia vegetarian supplì  

24.35g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients for the risotto for 8 supplì

  • approx. 2 litres of previously prepared vegetable stock
  • 360g Vialone nano rice
  • 300g tomato sauce
  • 60g grated Parmesan cheese
  • 40g butter
  • 30g carrots
  • 30g leek
  • 20g extra virgin olive oil
  • 15g celery
  • 1 egg
  • salt, pepper, chilli

Ingredients for the stuffing

  • 240g buffalo Bergamino cheese (or any cheese melting easily)
  • 160g breadcrumbs** (20g per supplì)
  • 70g rocket
  • 50g almonds, peeled
  • 2 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. Put the extra virgin olive oil in a saucepan with the chopped leek, carrot and celery. Let the mince soften and brown, then add the tomato sauce, a pinch of salt and a ladle of stock; let it cook for about 15 minutes, then whisk to obtain an even sauce and set it aside.
  2. Start preparing the rice. Put a little oil in a pan and toast the rice on a high heat (it took me 3 minutes to get the grains well transparent with the white central part). Start adding the boiling stock. Continue stirring and add stock only when the rice is almost dry. After about 5 minutes, add the tomato sauce and continue to cook the risotto. When the rice is still al dente, turn off the heat and start stirring by adding the butter and grated Parmesan cheese and continue stirring until the rice is completely blended and creamy. Let the risotto cool down, then add the whole egg and mix thoroughly; let it cool down.
  3. Meanwhile, prepare the rocket cream. Put a saucepan of water on the stove, add salt and bring to the boil; blanch the rocket for 30 seconds, drain it (retaining the cooking water) and throw it into ice water.
  4. Put the peeled almonds in a blender and blend them to a flour; add the drained rocket, 2 basil leaves, a few tablespoons of extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and blend to a cream, adding a tablespoon of cooking water from the rocket if necessary.
  5. Assemble the supplì. Lightly grease your hands with extra virgin olive oil, place a layer of tomato risotto on the palm and fingers of one hand, place a heaped teaspoon of rocket cream in the centre of the rice, spreading it over almost the entire length of the layer, and on top place two pieces of cheese, amounting to about 30g. Using lightly greased fingers, take more risotto to cover the supplì and form the cylinder, sealing it well. Coat it in breadcrumbs and place it on a perforated baking tray covered with baking paper. When you have finished all the rice (I made 8 supplì), put a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil on the breaded surface and bake them in a preheated oven at 230°C under the grill for 10-15 minutes until they are perfectly golden.
  6. Serve them hot and… don’t eat too many!

Version with gluten of Viva l’Italia vegetarian supplì

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

 

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Assortment of white bread

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During National Coeliac Disease Week, I couldn’t help but share a recipe for a wonderful gluten-free assortment of white bread, the food that is the main challenge in the daily lives of those who cannot eat gluten.

My choice went to a fibre-rich preparation, Preparato Universale per prodotti da forno Massimo Zero, because fibre is a valuable ally in controlling blood sugar levels when we consume gluten free bread, which is generally high in carbohydrates and low in fibre.

While the presence of fibre in the mixture is very useful from a nutritional point of view, it makes it slightly ‘harder’ to work with, so having a kneading machine or robot at hand makes the task easier and ensures really good results.

This is precisely why I thought that sharing a video recipe could be extremely useful to prepare a tasty bread without any difficulty. So enjoy viewing and cooking!

Assortment of white bread  

44.19g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 500g gluten free multi-purpose flour mix, brand Massimo Zero**
  • 240g water
  • 240g milk
  • 50g mixed seeds* (to be soaked in 50g water)
  • 40g extra virgin olive oil
  • 17g brewer’s yeast
  • 5g salt
  • brown rice flour* for dusting
  • extra virgin olive oil to brush the surface
  • water to soak the mixed seeds

Preparation

  1. Put the mixed seeds in a small bowl and barely cover them with water, then let them rest while you knead the bread so that they completely absorb the liquid.
  2. Shake the bag of mix well before pouring it into the jar of the planetary mixer, then run it for a few minutes at low speed with the flour mix alone.
  3. Dissolve the brewer’s yeast in warm water, pour it into the planetary mixer and add the remaining water and milk. Mix at medium speed for about 5 minutes, then add salt and oil. Stop the planetary mixer to detach the dough from the sides of the pot and run it at high speed for a few seconds so that the oil is perfectly incorporated into the dough. When the dough is smooth and homogeneous, stop the planetary mixer and remove half the dough by placing it on a lightly floured cutting board.
  4. Add the seeds to the remaining dough in the planetary mixer and mix at high speed so that they are fully incorporated.
  5. Shape into loaves or braids of the desired size (I formed 4 loaves with the white dough and 5 braids with the dough with seeds), differentiating the shape according to the type of dough. Brush the surface with extra virgin olive oil and leave to rise in a warm place for about 2 hours or in the oven with the proving function for about 1 hour and fifteen minutes.

Shaping the dough

  1. Bring the oven to 200°C, brush the surface of the bread with oil again and bake. Let it bake for about 40 minutes, keeping an eye on the baking time, which varies slightly depending on the oven and, above all, the size of the bread.
  2. Remove from the oven and let the bread cool before cutting it.
  3. Portate il forno a 200°C, spennellate nuovamente la superficie del pane con olio e infornate. Lasciate cuocere per circa 40 minuti tenendo controllata la cottura che varia leggermente in base al forno e, soprattutto, alla pezzatura del pane.
  4. Togliete dal forno e lasciate intiepidire il pane prima di tagliarlo.
L'interno dei panini

The bread crumb

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Pink chickpea hummus

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We finally have a chance to get out of the house and enjoy nature, the temperatures have risen and the colours around us charge us with energy, so the plates get coloured too: Pink chickpea hummus with chickpea Sfogliette.

This is the effect that colours have on me. Chickpea hummus turns pink to accompany a gift from Sarchio: delicious chickpea Sfogliette that have only good qualities as they are organic, gluten free, baked in the oven and with just the right amount of carbohydrates for a snack or a nice aperitif with friends.

I barely finished taking the photos after recording the video recipe before the family gathered around the small bowls to fill the little crispy sheets with creamy hummus, impatiently waiting for dinner.

Remember also that you can indulge in ‘colouring’ the hummus with your favourite flavours by using vegetables or spices to make it even tastier.

 

Pink chickpea hummus with chickpea Sfogliette

10.64g carbohydrates per 100g

67g carbohydrates per 100g Sarchio chickpea Sfogliette


Ingredients 

  • 230g cooked or canned chickpeas
  • 60g water
  • 40g tahini (sesame seed cream)*
  • 30g extra virgin olive oil
  • 20g red beet
  • 20g lemon juice
  • chives, optional
  • salt and pepper
  • Sarchio chickpea Sfogliette*

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

Preparation

  1. Take the red beet and cook it in boiling water for about 40 minutes or until soft when pierced with the tines of a fork. Take a small amount for this preparation, while keeping the other to use as a side dish to season with oil, vinegar and salt.
  2. Put the chickpeas in a blender with all the other ingredients and blend until smooth and even.
  3. Complement this beautiful and colourful hummus with chives or other spices to taste.
  4. It is ideal to serve as a dip or topping for croutons and Bruschetta.
Il colore brillante dell'hummus di ceci

Il colore brillante dell’hummus di ceci

Version with gluten of Pink chickpea hummus with chickpea Sfogliette

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

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Soft potato focaccias

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Soft potato focaccias for me are indelibly linked to my paternal grandmother. In fact, for many years, the tradition in our house was to make bread once a week, in large quantities, to be baked in the wood-fired oven on the farm.

The thing I remember most pleasantly is the time when we could eat ‘Torta del forno‘, a version of soft potato focaccias that my grandmother prepared by adding a boiled and mashed potato, extra virgin olive oil and salt to a loaf of bread. The new small dough (or sometimes large dough for everyone’s desire to eat this amazing food) was rolled out with a rolling pin, cut into strips of about 15x7cm and thrown onto the bricks of the wood-fired oven to test its temperature. Indeed, our wood-burning oven never had a thermometer, so based on the colour of the surface of the bread strips we could tell if the oven was too hot, and so we had to wait to bake the bread, or was not hot enough, and so we had to burn more wood inside.

These scones are a tribute to that flavour, although baking in a wood-fired oven certainly gives different aromas and flavours. However, I can assure you that my grandmother really liked this version.

Soft potato focaccias

43.66g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 400g water
  • 300g potatoes
  • 220g gluten free multi-purpose flour mix, brand Massimo Zero**
  • 170g flour mix for bread, brand Caputo Fioreglut**
  • 60g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 30g buckwheat flour*
  • 40g extra virgin olive oil
  • 16g yeast
  • salt, oregano, cherry tomatoes, olives, rice flour for shaping

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Boil the potatoes, peel, mash and let them cool.
  2. Knead the remaining ingredients, form a dough ball, brush it with a little oil, cover it with cling film and let it rise for 1.5 hours or until doubled in volume.
  3. Knead again with the planetary mixer adding the mashed potatoes, mix quickly well, then take spoonfuls of the mixture, roll it out first with your hands, then with a rolling pin using plenty of rice flour, and with a pastry cutter cut out discs about 2 cm thick and 10 cm in diameter. Place them on a baking tray covered with baking paper and let them rise again for about 30 minutes.
  4. Brush the surface with a little oil and season to taste with oregano, olives, tomatoes, etc.
  5. Bake in a preheated oven at 200°C for about 40 minutes.
  6. To watch the video recipe, click here

Version with cluten of Soft potato focaccias

Replace the Massimo Zero and Caputo flours with wheat flour and reduce the amount of water to 300g.

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Crispy bread in casserole

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Do you know the irresistible texture of bread baked in a wood-fired oven? When the crust, under the blade of the serrated knife, makes that unmistakable sound that already gives you a foretaste of the pleasure of the taste of bread? Crispy bread in casserole is a gift for the senses: it is for the sight, because the colour of the bread is just right golden; it is for the smell, because the fragrance has the irresistible fragrance of bread; it is for the taste, because in addition to the flavour, the crunchy texture of the crust and the softness of the crumb are simply perfect. And everything is gluten-free!

If we want to find some faults, well, we cannot deny that it requires a lot of resting time, even though we can easily knead it the day before and ‘forget’ it in the refrigerator, and moreover, baking it requires a little more energy than bread baked in the usual way. Yet, if you have a cast-iron casserole dish, my advice is to try it right away because it is a bread that has nothing to envy the products of the best bakers in our towns.

Crispy bread in casserole

46.55g carbohydrates per 100g

Ingredients

  • 500g water
  • 450g flour mix for bread, brand Nutrifree**
  • 50g buckwheat flour*
  • 20g extra virgin olive oil
  • 5g brewer’s yeast
  • 5g salt
  • rice flour* for dusting and extra virgin olive oil for brushing

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Dissolve the yeast in warm water; place the Nutrifree mix and buckwheat flour in the planetary mixer and start mixing the flours together, then gradually add the water with the yeast while continuing to knead. After kneading for at least 5 minutes, add the salt and extra virgin olive oil and mix for a few more minutes. Transfer the dough into a bowl, brush with a little oil, cover with cling film and refrigerate for 15 hours.
  2. Remove the dough from the refrigerator and place it on a cutting board dusted with rice flour. Again using rice flour, fold the dough 5-6 times at least, then give it the round shape of a loaf and leave it to rise for about 2 hours covered with a cloth.
  3. Bring the oven to 230°C with a cast-iron casserole inside (I use my Le Creuset casserole) with a lid. When the oven has reached the set temperature, remove the casserole from the oven by placing it on a trivet because of the very high temperature. You can cut a cross on the surface of the loaf and drop it, literally, into the casserole to avoid burning yourself.
  4. Place the casserole in the oven closed with its lid and bake for 45 minutes.
  5. After this time, take out the casserole from the oven, open it with the help of an oven glove or potholders and turn the loaf upside down. Put the whole thing back in the oven and bake at 210°C for another 30 minutes.
  6. Remove the casserole from the oven and take out the bread; if you feel that the bread is still slightly heavy, place it in the oven without the container for another 10 minutes. Let it cool and enjoy it while listening to the sound of the crust under your teeth!

Version with gluten of Crispy bread in casserole

Replace the Nutrifree bread mix with wheat flour, but mix it with about 300g water.

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Gluten-free Colomba Pasquale

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For ten years I have invariably cooked traditional dishes on the celebration days of our Catholic culture, but this is the first time that a large-sized leavened dessert has satisfied me 100 per cent! I have never tasted a soft and fragrant gluten-free Colomba Pasquale like this one, prepared with simple (albeit numerous!) ingredients and a mix containing only naturally gluten-free ingredients.

You can imagine the joy of seeing the dough rise without any hesitation inside the warm oven: you know what that means for those who have to deal with flours that are always a bit temperamental like gluten free ones.

The other advantage of this Colomba is that it stays good for several days, although to fully enjoy the softness after the first day, it is best to heat the slices for a few seconds in the microwave or in a conventional oven for a few minutes.

Do you know what the only flaw is? That it has to rise at least six hours and therefore it takes a whole day with its waiting… but maybe that’s good because otherwise I think I would bake one every week.

I wish you a very happy Easter that we will certainly remember for the events that have changed our lives without warning, but I hope you will also remember it a little for my Colomba. And in the video recipe you can follow how to prepare Colomba step by step.

Colomba pasquale

49g carbohydrates per 100g

 Ingredients for the poolish

  • 75g unsweetened almond milk or soya drink*
  • 50g gluten-free multi-purpose flour mix, Massimo Zero**
  • 25g wholemeal rice flour*
  • 10g acacia honey
  • 10g brewer’s yeast

Ingredients for the dough

  • 100g gluten-free multi-purpose flour mix, Massimo Zero**
  • 95g sugar
  • 95g butter
  • 85g sultanas or candied fruit
  • 4 eggs
  • 35g tapioca starch*
  • 30g rice starch*
  • 25g rice flour
  • 25g acacia honey
  • 20g liqueur to moisten the raisins
  • 2g guar gum
  • 1g xanthan gum
  • zest of 1/2 lemon
  • 1 vanilla pod
  • orange flower water (optional)
  • tonka bean (optional)
  • salt

Ingredients for the icing

  • 40g egg white (corresponding to 1 egg white)
  • 30g icing sugar
  • 30g almond flour
  • 10g corn starch
  • 10g granulated sugar
  • almonds in their skins

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

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

Preparation

  1. Mix the flours for the poolish in a planetary mixer with the honey and warm milk in which the brewer’s yeast has been dissolved. You will obtain a soft dough that you will have to put to rise at room temperature for about 3 hours covered with cling film.
  2. After 3 hours, put the poolish in the planetary mixer, add the Massimo Zero mix, starches, rice flour, sugar, guar and xanthan gum. Knead by adding the eggs, one at a time, then add the very soft butter gradually so that it is absorbed. To knead in the planetary mixer, you can use the dough hook or the leaf mixer and when the dough starts to stick to the hook, it is ready to be put to rise.
  3. Let the dough rise directly in the bowl of the planetary mixer in the oven set on proving  function for 1 hour.
  4. Soak the raisins in liqueur.
  5. Put the planetary mixer bowl back in place with the hook and add the last ingredients: grated lemon zest, vanilla bean, grated Tonka bean, orange flower water and finally honey and a pinch of salt. Stir the whole mixture and complete by adding the soaked raisins and the soaking liquid.
  6. Pour the mixture into a 500g Colomba mould and put it to rise in the oven at 30°C for at least another 2 hours.
  7. Meanwhile, prepare the icing. Whip the egg whites until stiff by adding the icing sugar, then add the almond flour and corn starch. Stir well and when Colomba is ready to be baked, sprinkle the icing over the surface of the cake and top with whole almonds with the peel and granulated sugar.
  8. Heat the static oven to 165°C and bake Colomba for 1 hour and 15 minutes (depending on the oven, it may be ready even 10 minutes earlier), preferably with the cake placed in the lower part of the oven. You can add a small pan of water in the oven to keep it slightly moist. After the first 15 minutes, cover the surface of the cake with tin foil to prevent it from browning too much.
  9. Once removed from the oven, place the Colomba upside down by poking it with two Chinese food sticks and let it cool for 1 hour.
  10. Once completely cold, store the Colomba in a well-sealed plastic bag.

colomba-pasquale

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Gluten-free from the world: Dominican salad

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I promised you that I would return from my Caribbean holiday with some new recipes! Here is the Dominican Salad, a gluten free proposal from another part of the world. In fact, our holiday diet relied almost exclusively on vegetables and fruit, perfect companions in high temperatures, and the ‘winter ingredients’ in hot countries are much more similar to the produce we can get in summer here in Italy.

In this Dominican Salad (which I prepared several times in the kitchens that hosted us on our trip to the Dominican Republic), the ingredients are available practically all year round even in Italy, except for the cherry tomatoes that I bought out of season even though they come from the greenhouses of our Sicily.

One aspect that struck me in Dominican salads was the presence in large quantities of red onion , and I was especially surprised that it was very sweet and did not leave the characteristic smell in the mouth that we are familiar with and which is certainly a deterrent to its consumption when raw, at least for those who, like me, love it in all ways.

Here, then, is a way to eat the onion almost raw, but treated in such a way as to remove the essential oils that cause the smell to remain once eaten: blanch it three times in boiling water, each time clean water, for a few seconds and you’re done. Of course, you will taste the intensity of its flavour a bit less, but you will be able to enjoy it without worrying too much about social life!

Furthermore, in our suitcase we still had a packet of gluten-free taco shells purchased from one of the rare supermarkets we found on the way on our travels, which was an invaluable accompaniment to the salad that nicely solved a fog-shrouded dinner with a touch of nostalgia for the turquoise colour.

Dominican salad

9.3g carbohydrates per 100g

without taco shells

Ingredients

  • 500g already cooked chickpeas
  • 300g avocado
  • 300g cherry tomatoes
  • 80g onions
  • ½ lemon
  • extra virgin olive oil
  • salt and pepper
  • taco shells or tacos**

**Ingredients specific for celiacs

Preparation

  1. Take the onion and cut it into slices about half a centimetre thick. Put a small saucepan on the stove with a little water so that it can quickly come to the boil. When the water boils, throw in the onion slices and leave them for about ten seconds, then drain them. Throw away the water from the saucepan and put clean water back in; bring it back to the boil and blanch the onion again for 10 seconds. Repeat the operation a third time, then drop the onion into cold water for one minute and finally drain it.
  2. Drain the chickpeas and place them in a bowl, add the peeled and chopped avocado and the cherry tomatoes cut into 4 pieces; drizzle with the juice of half a lemon, extra virgin olive oil, salt and pepper and finish with the well separated onion rings.
  3. Serve the salad with corn tacos, tortillas or simply home-made bread.

And if you like salads, try my Chickpea and octopus salad with balsamic vinegar.

L'insalata dominicana pronta per essere gustata

The Dominican salad ready to be enjoyed

Version with gluten of Dominican salad

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

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