pasta – Clinical Alimentary

Orecchiette con Cima de rape – Low FODMAP

This recipe was in a newspaper supplement but wasn’t really Low FODMAP friendly so I decided to give it an update and make it suitable for those with food intolerances. It is a traditional Puglian recipe using broccoli tops (Cima de Rape), which is a winter vegetable in Italy but is a really refreshing recipe for spring in the UK using broccoli tops makes it a suitable low FODMAP version.

The other problem is that there is no suitable gluten free Orecchiette pasta that is available in the UK, so fresh gluten free pasta has to be made if you want an authentic dish. The other point to note is that only if you find cooking relaxing should you attempt to made home made gluten free pasta. An important factor is not making more work for yourself if you don’t find cooking relaxing and dried pasta is suitable for this dish.

I have decided to make a longer recipe today as it is Bank Holiday weekend and the forecast suggested that it was going to rain although it hasn’t done yet. I have also posted some bluebell images from this weekend – bluebells are everywhere at the moment and are quite a spectacle.

Ingredients

Pasta (wheat free)

250g Pure maize flour (wheat contamination free if you are coeliac)

50g Gluten free bread flour

2 Eggs

Salt

1/2 Teaspoon xanthan gum

Enough water to bring the dough together

Stock

1 Ladle of pasta cooking water – top up to 500ml with water

20g Carrot chopped

30g Celeriac

1 Bay leaf

Small amount of salt and 6 peppercorns

Sauce

1 Head of broccoli (250g) stalks removed

1 Anchovy

1 Lemon

20g Parsley

20 Bay leaves

20g Rocket

30g Parmesan

3 Tablespoons of garlic infused olive oil

25g Butter

100ml White wine

Salt to taste

Method

Pasta

Weigh the flours into a bowl and add salt and xanthan gum. Mix the dry ingredients well before adding any liquid to the mix. Add the eggs and start to mix the flour, then add water to bring the flour together into a dough. Add just enough to ensure a soft mix – it is not possible to give a volume as this will depend on the fineness the flour mix you use. Once the dough is formed work it well to incorporate it together and make a smooth mix. This will take time, don’t worry about over working – this is not the same as making standard pasta. Roll out logs of the dough to the thickness of you thumb and then slice finely. To make the orecchiette shape press your finger into the centre of the disc. Bring a pan of water to boil and add salt and the pasta. Cook till the pasta rises in the pan remove and drain.

Zest the lemon and juice.

Chop the broccoli tops, celeriac, carrot, anchovy finely and add to separate bowls.

Then chop the basil, rocket and parsley and add to a bowl with the rest of the lemon juice.

Make the stock adding the pasta cooking liquor, carrot, celeriac, bay leaves and pepper to a pan and cook for 10 minutes, drain and save the stock. You could add the carrot and celeriac to the main dish but remove the bay leaf and peppercorns.

Add the olive oil to a pan and add the broccoli, anchovy and the zest of 1/2 the lemon and cook for four minutes then add the stock, wine, 1/2 the parmesan and butter and simmer for 10 minutes until the broccoli is soft.

Add the herbs and the rest of the lemon zest to the pan and then gently mix in the pasta to warm through. Serve and finish with a tablespoon of the lemon juice and the rest of the parmesan.

Serves two

May 6, 2019

Jules_GastroRDLeave a comment

Spaghetti Cabonara -low fodmap

Whilst reading the Guardian newspaper recipe booklet this weekend I decided to have a go at one of the recipes in the pasta special and reduce the parmesan and low fodmap modify it. OK – this recipe scared me, adding egg to freshly cooked pasta – surely a recipe for scrambled egg, right? This is a classic Italian dish and no cream in sight and is a rich dish that is suitable for a low fodmap diet. It is easier to make than I first anticipated and much to my surprise, no scrambled egg in sight. This is a really creamy dish without adding cream and a tasty supper for chilli winter evenings.

I used bacon rather than pancetta as it is slightly leaner and 2/3 of the parmesan. Sometimes pecorino cheese is used instead – it really doesn’t matter. Having bacon occasionally is fine – I can’t actually remember the last time I did eat bacon, but obviously not a choice that should be included in your diet regularly and certainly not every day. This recipe was so easy but it could be included in an Italian themed dinner party or a relaxed meal with friends – it doesn’t take much effort at all – so give it a try.

Ingredients

4 egg yolks

6 rashers of lean bacon

60g parmesan

400g of gluten free spaghetti

2 tablespoons of olive oil

Freshly ground black pepper

Method

Bring a pan of water to the boil and cook the spaghetti according to the instructions on the packet – make sure that you follow the instructions carefully as this is the key to cooking the perfect gluten free pasta.

Whilst the water is boiling separate 4 egg yolks from the white (you can use the egg white to make meringue later) and beat.

Grate the parmesan

Add the olive oil to a pan and fry the bacon.

Drain the water from the pasta sauce saving a cup full.

Add the pasta to the bacon, off the heat and ensure the pasta is coated with the oil.

Add the eggs and cheese to the pasta with some of the pasta water and stir well till combined. The heat of the pasta will cook the sauce.

Add some freshly ground black pepper before serving and serve on warmed plates.

That’s it – serves 4.

November 11, 2017

Jules_GastroRDLeave a comment

Chicken and pesto pasta – low fodmap

I am trying again with Kale, using kale is a way of getting more cruciferous brassica vegetables into the low fodmap diet. Why should that be important? These vegetables contain sulphur compounds such as glucosinolates, compounds that have been implicated in the prevention of colon cancer (1). These vegetables are also rich in nutrients such as vitamin C and folate – unfortunately these vitamins are water soluble so will be reduced by boiling in water. This is a bit of a problem as most kale is exceptionally tough to eat and needs a good amount of cooking! It does contain the fat soluble vitamin K, beta-carotene and leutine, which is retained. It is really important to eat a wide a variety of foods as possible when following the low fodmap diet to get as much good nutrition as possible. The following recipe is a good start! If you really don’t want to try kale in this recipe other low fodmap cruciferous vegetables are Bok Choy, white and red cabbage, turnip, swede, watercress and radish – not all suitable alternatives for this dish, though. Enjoy!

Ingredients

200g Gluten free dried pasta

60 g grated parmesan cheese

2 heaped tablespoons of pine nuts

1 packet of basil leaves

100g Kale

100ml oil

2 chicken breasts

seasoning

Method

Make the pesto – blend together the pine nuts, basil, olive oil and parmesan.

Chop the chicken – take care not to contaminate surfaces with raw chicken – clean down well after chopping it, or buy chicken strips.

Add the chicken to a pan with 3 tablespoons of the pesto and cook till the chicken is cooked through

Start to cook the pasta in boiling salted water and add the chopped kale to the pan.

The trick with cooking gluten free pasta is to use the packet cooking instructions – overcooking will turn it to mush.

Drain the pasta and kale.

Combine the ingredients, add seasoning if needed the parmesan is quite salty so additional may not be needed

Serve, contains 2 portions

2014;66(1):128-39. doi: 10.1080/01635581.2014.852686. Epub 2013 Dec 16.

Cruciferous vegetables and risk of colorectal neoplasms: a systematic review and meta-analysis.

Tse G¹, Eslick GD.

September 30, 2017September 7, 2019

Jules_GastroRDLeave a comment

Sausage and watercress conchiglie pasta – gluten free and low fodmap

This dish is really easy to make and can be incorporated into your low fodmap recipes for working week nights, plus you don’t need to use fresh herbs – dried are just as good but maybe use a little less as the flavour is more concentrated in dried herbs. I don’t eat sausages often, and I do find gluten free ones generally have a higher level of meat so you tend to get what you pay for. Pricking and grilling them does remove some of the fat but they are still relatively high in fat – although 1 1/4 sausages for each serving is not too much! Check the sausages are gluten free but also free of onion – sometimes local butchers are the best option to buy.