vegan

When I first started this blog, one of the very first recipes was a recipe for a pizza crust made with quinoa flour - now; over a year later I still make the same pizza crust because it is still my absolute favourite. I thought that I would make another post with it, this time with step by step pictures.

The one thing I maybe love the most about this recipe is the use of yeast; it gives you that nice fermented taste which at least I always associate with pizza. Sometimes when the crust is rolled very, very thin and I have topped the pizza with a thin layer of cheese, some Parma ham, fresh juicy tomatoes and some black oily olives, I close my eyes and feel the same joy of eating I had when I ate the best pizza on this earth.

It happened during a hot summer day in London, I was out with a friend, shopping, when we decided to stop at some tiny Italian restaurant in Soho; it was so refreshing to get out of the heat into a clean cool restaurant. I looked at the menu and then asked my friend to order for me, since she is and was the expert on Italian food; I just sat back and enjoyed the red wine they had just brought to our table. She ordered us some bruschetta with a thick black olive paste and then some pizza.

I really did not know what kind of a pizza I was going to get, I knew it was probably going to be delicious, but not so delicious that I would remember it for the rest of my life.

When the pizza finally arrived, the first thing I noticed was how crisp and thin the crust was, the second thing I noticed was the layers of Parma ham on top of it and then finally the juicy bright red tomatoes and the plump looking black olives.

I took one bite of that pizza and just closed my eyes; it was so good, I was in my own world for a while with that pizza, just really enjoying each piece - it was such perfection.

Sometimes I make a pizza with a thin fermented quinoa crust, the same toppings, I have some red wine and close my eyes - the experience is never the same as with that one perfect pizza on that particular summer day, but I will always be trying to make something that comes close to that moment of utter food bliss I once had.

A Gluten-Free Pizza Crust With Quinoa Flour

I usually use some powdered psyllium seed husks with this pizza crust - you can buy them on amazon for a very good price. Using eggs as a binder is also one option - I have not tried it - but you could always try adding one egg for each cup of flour and then using a little less water. Xanthan gum is also an option; I personally have great dislike for it, but some seem to tolerate it.

In these pictures my boyfriend is making his pizza and therefore it is very thick, if you want a very thin crust -I always prefer a thin crust - you can place the dough,  with flour so that it does not stick, between two sheets of baking paper and then use a rolling pin to flatten it. If you make your pizza crust thick, you might want to pre-bake it a for maybe 20-30 minutes (or more) before adding the toppings.

Pizza Crust Recipe

-50 grams fresh yeast

-5 dl or 2 cups quinoa flour

-1-2 tsp salt

-3 dl or 1 and 1/4 cups of water

-3 tbls olive oil

-3 tbls psyllium husk powder

Start by warming your water, add your yeast and your salt, mix everything together, and then add your psyllium husk into the mixture, and leave everything to sit for about ten minutes.

After that take your flour and mix it with the wet mixture, start kneading your dough and do it for about 2 minutes, then add your oil, knead again for a little while until you have formed a ball out of it, after that put your dough into a warm and dark place to rise.

When it has doubled in size spread it onto your pizza tray, you can spread it by hand or with a rolling pin, whatever works for you, pat it a little bit after you have stretched it and start applying your toppings.

The dough will look like this after it has risen.

Press it, so that the air comes out of it.

Add some flour on top of it and flatten it with your hands.

When it is the shape and thickness you want, place it on top of a pizza stone (highly recommended) or a baking tray lined with baking paper.

Add the tomato sauce and the toppings you like, I often add some balsamic vinegar, salt and black pepper to the tomato paste. I also like to add a small layer of parmesan on top of the tomato paste.

Some tomatoes and some wild boar salami.

Finally the pizza is topped with some mozzarella and black pepper.

Bake the pizza at 200 C/400 F for 20-40 minutes, the time differs so much because it depends on the thickness of the crust and on your oven. Keep an eye on the pizza while it is baking.

Popularity: 41% [?]

It is apple season here.

I have been eating apples almost everyday - local apples are the best, maybe it is the cold winters and the light during the nights in summer, but I have never had better apples than the ones growing here. Therefore I embrace this time of year and eat locally grown apples as much as I can.

Even the scent of them is intoxicating and heavy; I often walk around shops trying to decide what fruit or vegetable to buy and I always smell them and rely on that one sense to pick up the best tasting ones.

Foreign winter apples do not have any kind of scent compared to these seasonal, tiny and perhaps a little bit bruised local apples.

I wish locally produced food was more appreciated here in Finland; that is certainly not the case at the moment, even though it is much the trend elsewhere. There are many benefits to eating mainly seasonal and local, but the most important thing would be - for me at least - the fact that it tastes, oh, so good.

We just recently got locally produced organic pork; you just can not compare the taste of it to the meat that has been produced with factory farming. The price was also much cheaper than when bought from a supermarket, we paid 4,50 euros per kilogram, when the price is twice that at a supermarket for factory farmed pork meat. It was also nice to be able to see the pigs and have some sort of connection to the food I eat.

It has been many meals now with apples and pork; I still feel that this is the most delicious of meals and I am ever so grateful for the opportunity to eat like this.

Apples boiled with hard cider

I came to make this dessert one evening when we had made some pork chops with cider and there was some left; I was surprised with the intensity of flavour and delighted, this has since become a favourite for us, and it works well as sweet dessert or as a side dish, especially with five spice flavoured pork.

The sugar should be left out if this is used as a side dish for something savoury; as for the cider, I would imagine that using some sharp apple juice might also work, but I have not tried it. If you are into fat-free cooking, just lose the butter, I do not think that the flavour will suffer much. A dairy-free margarine would work just as well as butter.

Make sure your cider is gluten-free if you are celiac.

Apples boiled with cider recipe

serves 4, takes around 15-20 minutes to make

-6 small apples or 4 medium sized

-1-2 cups hard apple cider

-2 heaping tablespoons of butter

-small pinch of salt if you are using unsalted butter

-1 teaspoon vanilla extract or vanilla

-0,4 cup, 1 dl, sugar, I would recommend replacing a part of this with brown sugar or muscovado sugar, or then using 0,2 cup maple syrup. It will taste better than with just white sugar.

Heat a (cast iron) pan on medium heat.

Slice those apples and place on the pan with the butter.

After the apples have gone a little bit soft add the sugar, wait until the sugar has melted and then add the cider.

Make sure the apples are covered with the cider and then let it reduce.

The apples are done when there is only a small amount of the sugar and cider mixture left along with the apples; you don’t want to make this too dry.

Serve hot with some good quality vanilla or cinnamon ice cream.

Tosca apples

This recipe is a nice substitute for a more traditional apple crumble, I think so.

As for variations, replace the butter with some dairy-free margarine for a vegan and casein free dessert. The amount of sugar and also the kind of sugar used can be played with; if you like using just brown sugar or maple syrup, then try it, also some other kind of sweeteners might work.

Tosca apples recipe

serves 4 and takes about half an hour to make

-100 grams almond slivers

-6 small apples or 4 medium sized ones

-1-2 tbls vanilla sugar

-100 grams butter

-1 dl, 0,4 cup, sugar, or 0,2 cup maple syrup, I really recommend trying this with maple syrup

-2 tbls muscovado sugar

-small pinch of salt if you are using unsalted butter

-1 tbls cinnamon

Preheat oven to 170 C 340 F.

Slice the apples.

Take a small saucepan and place it on medium heat. Place the butter in it along with the sugar and let them melt together.

Take a baking pan, or a cast iron pan, grease it and place the apples in it. I would recommend using a cast iron pan here, if you have one of those where you can take the handle off.

Place the apples on the pan and sprinkle some vanilla sugar on them along with the cinnamon.

Sprinkle the almond slivers on top and then pour the sugar and butter mixture on top of the almond slivers.

Bake for 15-20 minutes depending on your oven, the almond slivers should be slightly browned, just slightly, and the apples should be soft when this is done.

Serve with some ice cream.

Popularity: 12% [?]