Tag: gluten free

Posted on

Rummo Spaghetti No 3

With a coeliac in the house, we virtually cook with gluten free pasta all the time. Generally I am quite happy with the texture and consistency of gluten free pasta, and I have no problems cooking and eating gluten free pasta.

I have though had a few issues with cooking gluten free spaghetti, and have not been enamoured with the various types I have used. As well as clumping together, I wasn’t that impressed with the flavour and texture.

On a recent visit to Sainsbury’s I saw they were stocking a new Italian brand of gluten free spaghetti, Rummo Spaghetti No 3. I decided I would buy a pack and ut it in the cupboard.

On the Sainsbury’s website the description says:

I always wanted to create a gluten-free pasta that could give you all the pleasure and texture of the classic one. We select brown rice, yellow and white corn, strictly GMO free, then we blend them with a natural and ancient element stream. Thanks to our Laverazione al Vapore Method (Steam processing), we slowly obtain a soft, balanced dough that we extrude through bronze dies so that our pasta is more rough and bonds perfectly with the sauce. The result is Rummo Gluten Free with an incomparable consistency.

So, the other day when cooking a beef bolognaise, I decided I would use the Rummo Spaghetti No 3. I followed the instructions and cooked the spaghetti in boiling water for ten minutes. It did feel quite thin when it as uncooked, but after cooking for the proscribed time, it had expanded, and more importantly hadn’t clumped together.

I was really impressed with the spaghetti; it had a great texture and flavour. Certainly, the best gluten free spaghetti I have cooked with. So, impressed, the next time I was in Sainsbury’s I picked up another pack. It isn’t the cheapest pasta on the shelf, but I think it’s worth the extra cost.

Posted on

Gluten Free Cauliflower Cheese

For our Sunday lunch I made a gluten free cauliflower cheese. It didn’t quite go to plan, but I think I know what didn’t work and so will do it slightly different next time.

For my recipe, I take a spoonful size knob of butter and melt it in a pan. I then take a similar sized spoonful of plain gluten free flour and stir that into the melted butter to make a roux.

I then add milk and whisk. Now at this point the sauce isn’t very thick, don’t be tempted to add more flour, as I found that at some point the sauce thickens very quickly (and thickly).

I did add some more milk, but my sauce was very thick. I seasoned the sauce with salt and pepper, before adding a small handful of grated cheddar cheese. This is stirred into the sauce.

In an ovenproof bowl, add some florets of raw cauliflower. Then pour over the white cheese sauce. Now I had to spoon mine in as it was too thick. Top with more grated cheddar. I also added some grated mozzarella as well.

This is then baked in the oven for about thirty minutes or until the cheese has melted and browned. It was, despite the thick sauce, delicious.

After bemoaning my thick sauce on Bluesky, one recommendation was to make the roux “wetter” by adding more butter. So the next time I make this I am going to try that.

Posted on

Gluten Free Fruit Pancakes

This is a quick and simple method to make small fruit fluffy pancakes. 

I take a cup of self-raising gluten free flour, a cup of milk, one egg, a large spoon of sugar and some vanilla essence. For regular flat pancakes, I would normally use plain flour.

Whisk the ingredients together until you have a smooth batter.

Add some finely chopped strawberries and halved raspberries. I use about two to three strawberries and six raspberries for the batter.

I have a specialist small pancake pan which I can use for cooking these. I brush the pan with some sunflower oil and spoon (not too much) of the batter into the pan. They will spread and expand, so I try not to fill the gaps in the pan and let the batter expand to fill the space. Cook one side and then the other.

You have to take care to ensure that the pancakes cook all the way through, but isn’t overdone (or even burnt) on the surface. I do find turning them can be quite messy, so be careful. My method is two spoons, one to get under the edge of the pancake, and the other to ensure it stays in place. The second spoon usually gets quite messy.

Serve with syrup.

You can of course omit the fruit to have fluffy pancakes.

Posted on

Gluten Free White Chocolate Cookies

Cookies

I have a recipe for gluten free white chocolate cookies which I have been using for a few years now which works really well.

I adapted it from a recipe I had, which didn’t work so well, so I made a few changes.

85g of unsalted butter
100g of light brown sugar
30g of caster sugar
1 teaspoon of vanilla essence
200g of gluten free plain flour
75g of white chocolate chips
1 large egg

Preheat the oven to 180℃ and line two baking trays with baking parchment.

Add the butter to a heat-proof mixing bowl. Melt the butter in a microwave for approx 50 seconds, until just liquid. Ensure it has fully melted. I find that slicing the butter into thin slices speeds up the process.

I once tried melting the butter in a pan, but the butter was too hot so the white chocolate chips I added later then melted. It’s important that the butter isn’t too hot.

Add the brown sugar and caster sugar to the warm butter, stir well.

Now the add the vanilla essence and the egg. Sometimes, depending on the size of the eggs, I replace the single large egg, with two egg yolks.

Mix into a smooth batter consistency.

Sift the plain gluten free flour into the batter and combine into a soft shiny cookie dough. I use to add xanthan gum, but have found it isn’t always necessary.

Add the white chocolate chips

Spoon the dough into small balls onto the baking trays.

Put them into the oven to bake for 10-12 minutes.

They are ready when they are starting to brown slightly but will still be very soft. Leave them on the tray to cool for five to ten minutes before transferring carefully to a wire rack to cool.

This recipe makes about twelve cookies.

Posted on

Gluten Free Pasta Salad

gluten free pasta salad

This is a dish I make on a regular basis.

Firstly I cook the gluten free pasta according to the instructions on the box.

In a separate pan I cook off the onion, peppers, and mushrooms. I prefer to have cooked onion in the salad, but of course you could just add raw diced onions and pepper. Sometimes I add pancetta to the salad. Once cooked I let it cool. I usually do this by removing it from the pan and placing it on a cold plate.

Separately I dice some cucumber and place this in a bowl.

Once the pasta is cooked I drain and then rinse the pasta in cold water to stop it cooking and cool it down.

I then combine the ingredients and dress the salad with salt, pepper, olive oil, and white wine vinegar.

The only downside I have found, is that the gluten free pasta generally doesn’t last, and goes somewhat chewy and tough if you leave it until the next day. I certainly didn’t have this issue when I made pasta salads using wheat based pasta.

Posted on

Gluten Free Pancakes

pancake

I often make pancakes for breakfast on a  regular basis.

Cup of gluten free plain flour

Cup of semi-skimmed milk

One egg.

Spoonful of sugar.

Vanilla essence.

Whisk the ingredients together. I do find that with gluten free flour there isn’t any benefit to which order you add the ingredients, but I generally do the flour first, then add the milk, then the sugar vanilla essence and the egg.

The key is to have a batter that will coat the back of the spoon.

Gluten free batter doesn’t need to be left to stand (as some recipes for normal pancakes call for). When I started cooked gluten free pancakes, I use to make normal pancakes as well using wheat flour. However after tasting both, I realised that there was very little if any difference. So now, and it avoids the risk of cross-contamination, I only cook gluten free pancakes.

I have often heard that the first pancake cooked will not work and therefore should be thrown away. My experience is that the reason the first pancake doesn’t work, is mainly down to the fact that the pan isn’t hot enough. I put my pancake pan on the heat and then make the batter, that way it is hot enough when I am ready to start cooking the pancakes.

I brush the pan with some sunflower oil. Add a spoonful of batter and then swirl the pan so that the batter coats the entire base of the pan. I say spoonful of batter as I usually use a bowl with a lip so I can put the batter direct onto the pancake pan. You can see the batter cooking and once it is cooked, flip the pancake over. Yes you can toss it, but I usually use a fish slice to flip the pancake over.

I use the same recipe for smaller pancakes as well.

Serve with your favourite whatever, be that sugar, maple syrup or whatever.

Posted on

Gluten Free Couscous

Looking for gluten free versions of wheat based dishes was always challenging, but becoming less so.

We have always enjoyed the prepared salads from M&S, but alas most of them contain gluten.

I had been looking for a pack of gluten free couscous for a while, so when I saw a pack of Clearspring Organic Corn Couscous this looked like a solution.

It was really easy to prepare I added 100ml of stock to 65g of the dried couscous and left for five minutes. I then used a fork to fluff the couscous. I added some diced cooked Mediterranean vegetables and seasoned with olive oil, white wine vinegar, salt and pepper.

I was really impressed, it had the texture of couscous and worked really well.

Posted on

Homemade Gluten Free Pizza

Homemade Gluten Free Pizza

I often use the Schär gluten free pizza bases quite often to make pizza.

The process I use is to take the Schär base. This is then topped with tomato. I personally prefer to use passata or other tomato base on my pizza, but my daughter prefers that I use tomato puree. On top of this I use a mix of grated cheese, usually mozzarella and cheddar.

Toppings vary and depend on what we have in the fridge. On this occasion I used salami, pepper, onion, and mushrooms. I usually pre-cook the mushrooms with some garlic butter.

The pizza is then cooked in a hot oven for about ten minutes, until the cheese is cooked and browned.

Posted on

Sin Gluten

Sin Gluten

On our recent holiday to Spain visiting the local supermarket I was impressed with the quantity and types of products that were labelled “sin gluten” or gluten free.

These were mainstream or “normal” products and not products found just in the gluten fee aisle. This made self-catering gluten free so much easier.

The types of things that were labelled included pasta sauces, salami, chorizo, fish, meat and a range of other things. 

I do wish that labelling in the UK was just as clear, yes there are some (mainstream) products labelled gluten free, but normally I am there reading the ingredients list for those that contain gluten.

Posted on

Gluten Free Chicken Strips

This was an attempt to create crispy buttermilk chicken strips.

I took some skinless chicken thigh meat and cut it into chunky strips.

I then coated them in, well I wanted to use buttermlik, but I didn’t have any buttermilk, so I used some crème fraîche. The mix was then left for thirty minutes.

The chicken strips were then coated in a seasoned gluten free flour and deep fried.

Overall, thought they were tasty, I didn’t quite get the effect I was trying to achieve. I think next time I should actually use buttermilk.