Vegan Gluten Free Pizza

So, one of my friends asked me to help her with a vegan gluten-free dough recipe and I said that I will accept the challenge. Well after lots of research and experimentation, I managed to come up with this delicious, tasty millet based dough. It is a very good alternative to wheat if you are gluten intolerant and/or follow a vegan diet. The amounts of the ingredients are for 1 pizza so you have to increase the amounts if you are doing more than one pizza. When it comes to toppings I used what I had in my fridge/pantry and again feel free to use anything you like or prefer. Millet flour is sometimes marketed as Bajra/Bajri flour which is the Indian flour for millet, I made my own and ground some millet seeds in my spice grinder. I also added some ground golden flaxseed/linseed but it is optional if you cannot find it.  It is quite easy and quick to prepare, just throw the ingredients in a food processor and voilà. for one pizza you will need...

For the dough

• 215g millet flour
• 65g coconut oil
• 100ml boiling water
• ½ teaspoon rock salt
• 1 tablespoon ground flaxseed/linseed

For the topping

• 3 tablespoons kalamata olive hummus
• 1 small yellow pepper, de-seeded and cut into rings
• 2 slices white onion, separated into rings
• 1 mushroom, thinly sliced
• 2 smoked garlic cloves, thinly sliced
• Harissa paste, to taste
• Pinch dried oregano
• Extra virgin olive oil
• Freshly chopped dill

How to...

1. Preheat the oven to 240°C/475°F.
2. Prepare the dough, in a food processor  put the millet flour, coconut oil, salt and flaxseed, if using, and blitz until the mixture resembles breadcrumbs. With the motor running, add the boiling water tablespoon by tablespoon until you get a smooth dough. I used nearly all of the 100ml. 
3. Now, place a large piece of greaseproof paper on the kitchen top and dust with some millet flour. With your hands take the dough and shape into a ball on top of the greaseproof paper and with a rolling pin slowly roll out into a pizza base about 5mm thick. Don't worry if it is not round!! 
   
4. Spread the pizza base generously with the hummus and spread evenly the sliced pepper, mushroom, onion and smoked garlic. Dot with harissa paste to taste, sprinkle with dried oregano. Carefully transfer onto a large oven tray together with the greaseproof paper.
5. Bake into the preheated hot oven for 15-20 minutes.
6. When cooked take out of the oven, drizzle with extra virgin olive oil and sprinkle with freshly chopped dill. Slice into 8 pieces and serve immediately.
   

Enjoy!!

R&A

Shiitake Mushroom & Asparagus Risotto

"Well, that was worth the lifetime wait" That is what I said as soon as I finished my last spoonful of this risotto. The reason behind that saying was the fact that I never had a proper risotto before and also I had never cooked one before yesterday. For some strange reason I never felt confident enough to cook a risotto, always thinking that I'm going to mess it up. But hey, as they say, I nailed it!! I was browsing as usual and found this recipe which I adapted to our own taste. The recipe says to use dry white wine but we used a good Spanish dry sherry, which has the same colour and dryness as white wine but a fruitier crisper taste, in my opinion, but if you do not have it feel free to use a dry white wine. This recipe is completely vegetarian as well. I actually found out that the secret to the perfect risotto is patience, in fact you have stir calmly for nearly 20 minutes but do not be put off by this, it is certainly worth the effort. So here it goes, for 4 people you will need...

• 1.5 litres boiling water
• 2 vegetable stock pots (or cubes)
• 250g (1 ½ cups) Arborio rice
• 150g asparagus, ends discarded and chopped into 3 pieces
• 60g dried Shiitake mushrooms, soaked in boiling water for about an hour
• 1 onion, finely chopped
• 120ml (½ cup) Spanish dry Sherry
• 1 tablespoon olive oil
• 60g (½ cup/½ stick) butter
• 50g grated Parmigiano Reggiano

How to...

1. In a pan add the boiling water and vegetable stock pots. Bring to the boil and throw in the asparagus and simmer for 4 minutes. Take out of the stock and put into ice cold water to stop the cooking process completely. Drain and set aside.
2. Now prepare the mushrooms. Start by discarding the steams and slicing the mushroom caps thinly. Heat the olive oil in a small pan and add the mushrooms, sauté for 5 minutes stirring frequently. Set aside. 
3. In a large heavy based frying pan or pan (I prefer a frying pan because it spreads the heat evenly during cooking) heat up half the butter and add the onion and cook covered on medium to low heat until soft and transparent. When onion is cooked, increase the heat to medium, add the rice and cook, stirring frequently for about a minute. 
4. Now add the sherry and simmer whilst stirring until it is absorbed, this will only take about a minute. Now add a cup of the vegetable stock whilst constantly stirring until all stock has been absorbed by the rice, this takes about 2 minutes.
5. From now on, keep adding the remaining stock ½ cup at a time, always adding the next one when the previous one has been completely absorbed by the rice. Keep doing this until you used all the stock or until rice is looking creamy. It is very important that you keep stirring the rice constantly to ensure an even absorption. This will take about 20 minutes. 
6. When done, take off the heat, stir in slowly the remaining butter and half the cheese. Now stir in carefully the cooked asparagus and Shiitake mushrooms. Serve immediately with extra grated Parmigiano.

Enjoy!!

R&A

Chicken & Mushrooms in a Creamy Sauce

I want to share with you this recipe that reminds me of my brother Stephen, reason being that when he was a little kid he used to lick the plate empty, nearly eating also the bones. He absolutely loves this recipe and is one of our favourites as a family. My mother used to do this a lot, it is one of the brilliant recipes from a 1970's recipe book written by the great Marguerite Patten which was/still is an inspiration to hundreds of thousands of cooks around the world from Mediterranean housewives (my mother) to world renowned chefs like Jamie Oliver. Simple home-made food, that is what Marguerite Patten was all about! The peas and sweetcorn add texture to this creamy chicken dish. My favourite part of this dish (apart from eating it) is getting a chicken and jointing it into pieces but obviously feel free to use thighs, breast or whole legs even to prepare it. Give it a go and you will do it again. You can serve it with crusty bread (that's what we did) or even mashed or roast potatoes. For about 4 people you will need...

• 3 large chicken breast, cut into large chunks
• 4 tablespoons flour
• salt & pepper
• 300g white mushrooms, sliced
• 1 can sweetcorn
• 100g frozen peas, defrosted
• 250ml whole milk
• 250ml water
• 2 tablespoons dry sherry
• Vegetable oil, for frying

How to...

1. Start by tossing the chicken pieces in 2 tablespoons of flour seasoned with salt & pepper. Shake off any excess flour.
2. Heat the oil in a large heavy based frying pan and fry the chicken pieces turning frequently until nearly cooked and brown. This will take about 20 minutes.
3. Take the cooked chicken pieces out and put on a plate with paper towel.
4. Add some more oil and cook the mushrooms, covered for about 2 minutes.
5. Now add the cooked chicken, peas and sweetcorn. Add the sherry and stir well.
6. In a measuring jug, mix the milk with the water and the remaining 2 tablespoons of flour. Mix well to avoid any lumps and this mixture to the mushrooms, chicken and simmer whilst stirring until the mushroom sauce thicken to your desired consistency.
7. Season with salt & pepper. Serve hot with potatoes & salad.

Enjoy!!
R&A

#Ramandalicious