Pasta Perfection

There is some very good gluten free pasta on the market now, but my boy loves filled pasta.  Ravioli or tortellini, it doesn't really matter to my boy, as long as it has a filling he loves it.  Always has and always will.

So just over a year ago I tried making pasta for the very first time.  I was so excited and full of hope, that at last he could have the one thing he really missed. But ultimately, it was such a big disappointment, that I decided to leave it for another day.

Well, having the extra time over Easter, I decided on the Saturday that another day had arrived! I looked at the original recipe, it used just starch flours, so I decided to do a bit of changing and try it.

Well, if I tell you that we made pasta on Saturday and loved it so much we made it again on Monday, maybe you'll get an idea of how fantastic it was!

My not so little boy, providing the power!

We filled them with spinach and cream cheese.

Gluten Free Pasta

100g Rice flour

100g Corn flour

3 tbsp Buckwheat flour

2 tsp Xanthan gum

3 Eggs,  large

1½ tbsp Olive oil

pinch of salt

Blend the dry ingredients together, then add the eggs and olive oil.  Use enough cold water to form a soft dough.  

Kneed until the dough is smooth, then wrap in clingfilm and chill for at least 30 minutes.

Cut the dough into 3 or 4 pieces and using a little corn flour roll out, then pass through a pasta machine, until the dough is silky (normally 5 or 6 passes through the pasta machine). Once the dough is silky roll out to the desired thickness.

Cook in plenty of salted boiling water, for about 3 to 5 minutes depending on the thickness.

We served it with some brown butter and mushrooms, and a lovely fresh spinach salad.

Served with brown butter and mushrooms.

Gluten Free Fruit Tarts

These little fruit tarts are so delicious and easy to make.  They have a lovely crumbly shortbread case and I like to ring the changes with whatever fruit is in season.

For the base                                                        
100g soft butter                                                
50g caster sugar                                                
150g potato flour
                                             
For the filling
150g cream cheese  
150g crème fraiche
icing sugar to taste
1/4 tsp vanilla extract

Fruit of your choice

• Pre-heat the oven to 150°C.
• Put all of the ingredients into a bowl and work together to form a smooth dough. If it is too sticky add a little more flour.
• Wrap the dough in cling film and chill for about 15minutes.
• Unwrap the dough and roll out between two pieces of cling film (this makes it much easier to roll and handle). Cut out using fluted cutters with a diameter slightly larger than that of your bun/muffin tray. Ease into the tray and prick the bases well.
• Bake for about 20-25 minutes, until golden. Leave to cool in the tins for a while and then ease out with a spoon, and finish cooling on a rack.
• Meanwhile mix together the cream cheese, crème fraiche, icing sugar and vanilla until smooth and glossy. Spoon into the tart cases and decorate with fruit.

Living Life Gluten Free

I'm a normal wife and mother, and like lots  of other people, I love to cook and I care  about what my family eats.

In July 2009 my daughter, who was then 9, was diagnosed with Coeliac disease, changing our life over night.  I was devastated by her diagnosis, because I realised immediately just how difficult her life could be, I didn't want her to be that kid at the party who couldn't eat the birthday cake! 

Although I wasn't going into this blind as my mother-in-law had been diagnosed a few years earlier.  Shopping became a challenge, especially as we live in Finland and I was trying to read ingredients in a language I couldn't speak. But my lovely daughter is wise beyond her years, and never complained about the ridiculously expensive, poor excuse for bread and baked goods that I was buying. 

I went on line and found a couple of cookbooks and started to educate myself.  However, at the time I was too busy to try out those books, but when my son and husband were also diagnosed, in 2010, I decided that things needed to change.  I just could not afford to buy a loaf of bread that would only feed the 3 of them for breakfast, nor was I willing to feed them things I wouldn't want to eat, so it was time to take up the challenge.

Cooking gluten free has been a bit of an adventure, somethings I've cooked have been wonderful, some have been a bit weird and some have been just plain disgusting (thankfully, not too many fall into this category).  But I've reached the stage where I want to share what I've learnt, and maybe help others on their journey into gluten free cooking. It has been a long, slow and frustrating task, but I do feel that I am winning and my new mantra has become HOW HARD CAN IT BE. 

Mary