Gluten Free Lunch

I was originally going to do two separate posts, but I only have one photo and both dishes were for the same meal. I have a friend who's been unwell lately and needed some cheering up. So I made her a tasty gluten free lunch.


Spinach Tart with Potato Rosti Base (Gluten Free Vegetarian)


The trick with a rosti is getting the moisture out of the potatoes. I've got nicola and dutch cream potatoes at the moment. They're nice and waxy, which means they hold their shape when cooked and you get a grated potato cake, rather than a mashed potato cake. The potatoes are grated and left to drain - squeeze as much of the water out as possible. Adding a pinch of salt can help them along. The potatoes were then spread over the base of a flan tin, drizzled with olive oil and baked in a hot oven for 15-20 minutes until it started to go golden and crispy.


To make the tart filing I mixed beaten egg with wilted spinach and caramelised red onion, and seasoned well. I poured this on top of the potato base and dotted with goat cheese (fetta would work well too). I finished with a sprinkling of paprika. Then back into the oven for another 15-20 minutes until just set in the middle (it keeps cooking as it cools). You could make individual versions too if you have the tins.


Crustless Pumpkin Pie (Gluten Free Vegan)

Coconut Yoghurt is very white!

The pie doesn't have pastry, it's in the style of an "impossible pie". I've based it on this recipe, but modified slightly for the ingredients I had available, and halved the recipe for the mini springform tin I have. I was really worried that it would turn out 'pasty' - the raw mix didn't taste that good and had a really strong raw flour taste. 

The final product was delicious and moist, and got the thumbs up for authenticity from my friend (who grew up with the real thing in Canada). We ate it with a dollop of Coconut Yoghurt - something I didn't even know existed (it was lovely!).

1 cup steamed pumpkin (I used jap for its colour)
½ cup coconut cream
1 teaspoon vanilla extract
1 tablespoon macadamia oil
1 tablespoon Orgran No Egg

2 tablespoons coconut palm sugar

2 tablespoons maple syrup

½ cup gluten-free flour

1 tablespoon tapioca starch

1 teaspoon gluten-free baking powder

1 pinch salt
½ teaspoon cinnamon

½ teaspoon ground ginger

¼ teaspoon fresh grated nutmeg

The pumpkin was blended to a puree, then mixed with the maple syrup, vanilla, oil and coconut cream. The dry ingredients were mixed in a separate bowl and then the liquid slowly blended in until smooth. You could also pop everything in a food processor. It was baked at 150 degrees C for approximately 40 minutes until almost firm, and then cooled slowly in the oven (as you would for a baked cheesecake).