Gluten-free Ravioli

Ok then, sticking in another dietary blog post. I'd been putting this off for awhile, but the daughter asked me to make her homemade ravioli. I've been wanting to cut down on her gluten as well, so even though I'm content for the moment with my brown rice pasta, I decided to go gluten-free for hers.

She can have eggs, so I decided to make egg pasta using quinoa flour. 1 cup quinoa flour, 2 eggs and just a little water, then a bit more flour to work it in. I put it through my pasta maker, but I couldn't get it any thinner than the #5 setting, so you don't really need one. Just roll it out as thin as you can. I cut it with a tart cutter.

I filled each one, dampened the edges just with water, folded and sealed. I made the filling with sauted mushrooms, peppers, garlic, basil and a little already cooked natural beef. Make your filling of whatever you like!

Then I smothered the little raviolis in tomato sauce, again, your choice, and baked in a 350 oven for half an hour. The "cheese" on top is actually vegan cheese. I'm not actually positive it's gluten-free, but it's dairy-free ~ also an issue. But I'll have to check a new package to see if it has gluten. But again, sauce of choice!

My daughter had it for supper. Yes, she liked it. :)

Peach~Blueberry Bundle

Here's a gluten-free recipe that worked... at least my fam thinks it's good. :) It's that time of year for fresh peaches and wild blueberries, so that's what I used. Here's what I did:

Fruit mixture:

5 or 6 fresh peaches, peeled and cut up

1 and 1/2 cups blueberries

about 1/4 cup brown sugar, or to taste (or sub honey or maple syrup to taste)

3 tbsp. tapioca starch

2 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 lemon, squeezed (about 2 tbsp. juice) [Reserve other half of lemon for crust.]

Stir it up to blend everything.

Crust:

1 cup almond flour

3/4 cup whole bean flour

3/4 cup sourghum flour

2 tbsp. sugar (any kind, to help it rise, or a bit of honey,but cut down a bit on fat)

1 tsp. cinnamon

1/2 tsp. sea salt

1 tsp. baking soda

1/3 cup shortening

1/2 cup milk alternative (or real milk if you can have it)

1/2 lemon squeezed (or 2 tbsp. juice)

Preheat oven to 425 degrees. Stir the flours to blend. Add sugar, salt, soda, cinnamon and stir. Now, I recommend vegetable shortening cut into the flour mixture, but I used safflour oil because I just spring-cleaned my kitchen (better late than never) and couldn't find where I now keep that shortening (I know I have some. I'll no doubt find it when I'm looking for something else.) Anyway, you need 1/3 cup neutral fat cut into the flour mixture till it's crumbly. Pour 1/2 cup milk alternative (I used soy, but almond would go great with this, rice is fine, etc.) Add lemon juice to the milk to sour. Leave it sit a few minutes, then stir. Add it all at once to the crumbled flour mixture and stir until milk is absorbed. Do not overwork. Drop by spoonfuls into greased baking pan to coat bottom of pan. Spoon fruit mixture evenly on top. Bake in 425 degree oven for 30 minutes.

Serve with a little ice cream or whipped cream of some kind if you like. :)

This is a healthy, hearty, fruity, yummy dessert or breakfast food ~ also gluten-free with all the best of the season. Of course, you can substitute apples or other fruit as your family likes. I just like to enjoy peaches and blueberries in season. :) I may even try a fall version of this with pumpkin, to replace that pie I'm not going to make this year. ;o)