Gluten Free - overcoming the challenges!

As many of you may be aware, I have recently been diagnosed as Coeliac. This means I must remove all wheat, rye, oats and barley from my diet. For a keen cook this has provided me with a challenge.

Challenge 1 - create fresh, homemade pasta
After 3 failed attempts (or 3 successful attempts at making hot glue:) I have successfully created home made fettucine. The recipe still needs some tweaking as it did not survive a pasta machine, but after handrolling and cutting the fettucine, the results were very delicious. I will continue to refine the recipe so that I can get the pasta thinner, but here is the simple recipe

TIP: replace all plain and 00 flour (as per previous recipe supplied on my blog) with Orgran pasta flour (gluten free and contains GFG). Only use potato or rice flour for dusting.

Challenge 2 - create gluten free orange and cardemon shortbread for Christmas
First attempt at this looked to be a success, until I moved the shortbraed from the tray to the cooling rack. After 10 minutes, when I returned, the majority of biscuits had crumbled through the racks.

TIP: allow to cool slightly on the tray until beginning to firm, then place on the cooling racks. My "normal" recipe calls for 3/4 cup rice flour and 1 1/2 cups self raising flour. I was successful with 1 cup of rice flour and 1 1/4 cups of orgran self raising flour (contains GFG)

Happy cooking for Christmas :)

Ravioli

Having been inspired by my Organic pasta class (see earlier post), I set out to make some ravioli using a traditional Maltese filling. Myles was heavily involved - he took the photos and was experimenting with his new lighting rig. Overall, it was an exhausting day for us both - but a great way to share an afternoon :)

Maltese Ravioli recipe

1 quantity of pasta dough

1.5 kg ricotta cheese (the fresher the better)

1/2 cup fresh parsley chopped

2 free range eggs

salt and pepper to taste

Mash all filling ingredients together. If the ricotta is more than a few days old, it will be a little dry and an extra egg or alternatively a dash of cold milk may be required. The correct consistency should see the potato masher make a "squelch" noise when lifted from the bowl of filling.

Roll pastry into sheets at size 5 on the pasta machine.

Place tbsp of filling approx 3 cm apart in middle of the sheet. Brush around each sheet with a little water.

Fold each sheet in half to cover filling. press down edge.

Using a scone cutter or tumbler glass, cut the ravioli into individual pieces. Place on a floured tray until ready for the pot.

Add prepared ravioli to boiling salted water. Ravioli will float when cooked (3-5 minutes usually).

serve with napolitana sauce.

Napolitana Sauce

1 onion

1 clove garlic crushed

140 g tomato paste

water

pinch sugar

Fry onion until translucent. Add garlic and cook 1 minute. Add tomato paste, water and sugar - stir until combined. Cook for 10 minutes and serve

Organic cooking class: pasta

Last weekend I joined a class at "Peaceful Gardens Organic Cooking School" located at Koonwarra in East Gippsland, Victoria. The topic of the day was pasta.

Many friends queried why I was doing a pasta class. Despite years of making Ricotta Ravioli with my dad (the traditional Maltese way), I had never made pasta with eggs or used a pasta machine.

Two girlfriends, Carolyn and Rhonda joined in, and in an intimate class of 4, Tina guided us through the intricacies of making Lasagne, ravioli (chicken filling) and fettuccini. In just over 4 hours, we all had shared many cooking tales, swapped recipes and looked forward to dining on the fruits of our labour.

A highlight of the day was the enthusiasm of Tina, our mentor in the benefits of organic produce.

I am now on the hunt for a pasta machine, and looking forward to experimenting with one of my favorite foods - pasta.

Pasta Dough recipe (courtesy: Peaceful Gardens Organic Cooking School)
500g plain flour, 2 eggs, 1 dessertspoon olive oil, water

• Place flour in a bowl and make a well
• Add eggs to centre of the well and slowly mix in the flour
• Add olive oil and a little water
• Knead these together until the dough is uniform in texture and colour.
• Wrap ball of dough in tea towel or cling wrap and let rest for 10 minutes
• Cut the dough into small portions.
• Using one portion at a time, pass the dough through the machine set to number 1. Fold in half and run again through machine.
• Repeat this process through the different thickness settings. Remember to pass the dough through each setting twice, folding the sheet in half before taking it through again.
• When the process is finished, flour your dough so as not to stick. Hang fettuccini over a broom handle to prevent it sticking together. Sheets can be laid between layers of baking paper.
• Repeat with other portions of dough.

To cook: place in boiling water for approx 6 minutes.

NB pasta can be frozen raw, defrosted and cooked as above.