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The Free-From Food Awards Shortlist has just been published. Set up six years ago by Michelle Berriedale-Johnson of freefromfoodsmatter.com, these Awards celebrate the innovation and imagination shown by the food industry in creating foods for the free-from market (ie foods that do not include one or more of wheat, gluten, dairy products, eggs, yeast, soya and sugar.) It’s worth mentioning the website Foods Matter here… Originally a magazine offering information and support both to food allergic/intolerant consumers and to the health professionals caring for them, it went on-line in 2010 and has become the most awesome reference site for people with food allergies/intolerances or coeliac disease (logging over 13 million hits per year!)
I took part in the judging for a day and was hugely impressed with the whole process. There were 11 of us that day and we blind-tasted every entry in our categories in silence, making notes and scoring each one out of ten. Once we had finished, we discussed every entry and then came to our conclusions as a group. This done, we could look at who had produced what. During the day I was there, we covered Breakfast Cereals and Grocery Ambient, including pastas, sauces and condiments.
It was great to taste so many of the entries. Some of them (especially some from outside Britain) I hadn’t come across before. And it was fascinating to sit there, tasting pasta after pasta, cereal after cereal etc against each other. The variety of ingredients, and combinations of those – and the resulting tastes and textures – were really interesting. The results of the awards will be announced in April…
One of the products we tasted was especially interesting. Shortlisted for the Pasta Award, the Slim Noodles were a subject of a great deal of discussion. Recently launched, it is gluten-free and it claims to deliver not only a feeling of fullness, but also an unbelievably low calorie content (7.7 calories per 100g serving). Made from a vegetable extract called Konjac (or Konnyaku) which has apparently been eaten in Asia for centuries because of its health benefits, it expands in your stomach, leading to the sensation of being full for up to four hours. Zero fat, zero sugar, low-calorie and low-carb, it’s currently being hailed (along with a very similar product called Zero Noodles which is made of exactly the same ingredient) as the answer to weight loss for many, many people. What’s more, independent studies apparently show that it can help increase insulin in your blood sugar levels, making it great for diabetics, and can help lower cholesterol. Wow!
Slim Noodles comes in three different guises – Slim Pasta, Slim Rice and Slim Noodles. The Slim Noodles – and Zero Noodles – look very similar to glass noodles and thin rice noodles in that they are white-coloured and very thin. They have a slightly rubbery texture (the Slim Noodles I find more so than the Zero Noodles) and almost no taste. I tested these at home this weekend with a recipe (see below) and they both worked really well with noodle-style recipes, such as stir-frys and Asian-style dishes. I haven’t tasted the Slim Rice yet but the Slim Pasta was very similar to Slim Noodles – just thicker, apparently more like a pasta-shape. I’m not convinced about the concept of Slim Pasta, though, as it doesn’t work for me as something that would work with pasta sauces, such as tomato-based sauces, and there was a slightly ‘fishy’ aroma to these, I thought.
You’ll find both the Slim Noodles and Zero Noodles in health food stores. In Holland & Barrett the Slim Noodles sell for £2.49 and the Zero Noodles (organic) for £1.99. They’re the same size – so go for the cheaper Zero Noodles if you’re looking to try the product!
Steamed Asia-Style Fish with Zero Noodles
gluten-free, dairy-free, soya-free, egg-free, nut-free, seed-free
Serves 2 Preparation time 10 minutes, plus at least 1 hour marinating time Cooking time 12–15 minutes
Ingredients:
- 2 fish fillets, such as salmon, trout or cod
- 2 large salad onions or 6 spring onions, white part finely chopped
- stir-fry vegetables, such as beansprouts, pak choi
Marinade:
- 2cm/¾in piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 large garlic cloves, finely chopped
- 1 lemongrass stick, finely chopped
- 1 large red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 2 large handfuls of coriander leaves, finely chopped
- 3 tbsp olive oil
- 2 tbsp Thai fish sauce
- 2 tbsp tamari soy sauce
- juice of 2 limes
- 1 serving of Zero Noodles, to serve
- Put the fish in a shallow, non-metallic dish. Mix together all the marinade ingredients in a bowl or jug and pour over the tuna. Cover with a lid or cling film and leave to marinate in the fridge for at least 1 hour, preferably longer.
- Spoon the marinade into a large wok and heat over a medium-high heat. Cook for 2–3 minutes until the onion starts to soften and turn translucent. Add the vegetables and then place the fish on the top. Cover with a lid and steam for about 10 minutes, until the fish is cooked through. Serve hot with the prepared Zero Noodles.
Recently I worked with Beverly le Blanc on her brilliant new book, I Love My Slow Cooker, which was published last month. She very kindly gave me one of the slow cookers she’d bought to do all the testing and didn’t need any longer (many thanks, Bev!!) so I’ve been having a lovely time trying out lots of the recipes from her book. My mother didn’t have a slow cooker, and I’d never tried one before, so it was all new to me. But oh wow, are slow cookers great!
The back of I Love My Slow Cooker says “Discover how your slow cooker can transform your life in the kitchen from a frantic, stressful time into a wonderfully calm one”. Sounds like a big claim, doesn’t it? Well I wrote that so now I need to back up my words! Trust me, though, it’s true! I work full-time and my husband stays at home (doing cartoons for The Guardian), so he collects Zoё from school and makes her evening meal for her. For me, one of the fantastic things about the slow cooker is that I can quickly put a recipe together in the cooker before I leave the house in the morning, and by dinner time it can be ready and waiting for Peter to dish up for her. It’s easy to make stews and casseroles that are healthy and full of delicious flavours, that warm Zoё up in this cold weather and give her a lovely comforting meal. The slow cooker can then keep the meal warm until I get home from work and Peter and I tuck in. Great. Truly great. But then you’ve probably heard that sort of story from lots of people…
What you probably haven’t heard is how slow cookers are wonderful for making a whole variety of dishes. Yes, of course, soups, stews and sauces. They’re great, too, for cheap cuts of meat (which you can cook for numerous hours until meltingly tender) and dried beans (which you can leave to bubble away without worrying about them going mushy). But they’re also brilliant for cooking fish. Whether you’re cooking a fish stew fairly quickly, or cooking something like squid on a low heat over several hours, you’ll find that the fish cooks perfectly and doesn’t overcook. And what’s more, the slow, gentle, steam cooking can create superb puddings, too. No need to mess about doing a bain-marie method – you can just put it in a slow cooker.
I have some firm favourites already from this book. And one of them is this Asian-Style Poached Chicken & Pak Choi. I’ve adapted the recipe slightly so that it’s completely gluten-free and dairy-free. But basically, you put a whole chicken in the slow cooker, add the Asian-style ingredients, and 4 hours later it’s bubbling away, ready to be served. I serve it with coconut rice because Zoё loves that (I do equal parts coconut milk and water and a few coriander leaves in at the end) and often add more veggies to the pot. It’s a lovely family meal but it also gets lots of oohs and aahs when people come round.
gluten-free, dairy-free, egg-free, nut-free, seed-free, citrus-free
Serves 4–6 Preparation time 10 minutes Cooking time 4 hours
Ingredients:
- a few coriander sprigs, with crushed stalks, plus extra leaves to serve
- 2 onions, 1 halved and 1 sliced
- 1 oven-ready chicken, about 1.5kg/3lb 5oz, any fat in the cavity removed
- 600ml/21fl oz/scant 2½ cups gluten-free and dairy-free chicken stock, boiling, plus extra if needed
- 125ml/4fl oz/½ cup tamari soy sauce, plus extra to taste
- 4 tbsp rice wine
- 4 garlic cloves, sliced
- 2.5cm/1in piece of galangal or ginger, sliced
- 1 dried red Thai chilli, deseeded if you like
- 2 spring onions, thinly sliced
- 2 pak choi, quartered
- ground Szechuan pepper or freshly ground black pepper
- cooked long-grain rice, to serve
- Put an upturned heatproof saucer in the slow cooker. (Check that the chicken will be able to sit on top of the saucer with the cooker lid in place.) Preheat the covered cooker on HIGH.
- Put the coriander and halved onion in the chicken’s cavity and season with pepper. Secure the opening with wooden cocktail sticks. Put the chicken in the cooker, breast-side down, then pour over the stock, tamari and rice wine. Add extra stock to fill the container, if necessary, leaving a 2.5cm/1in gap at the top of the pot. The chicken will not be completely covered with liquid. Push the sliced onion, garlic, galangal and chilli into the liquid.
- Cover the cooker with the lid. Cook on HIGH for 3¾ hours until the juices from the chicken run clear when the thickest part of the meat is pierced with the tip of a sharp knife or skewer. Remove the chicken from the cooker, wrap in foil and leave to rest for about 10 minutes. Meanwhile, put the spring onions and pak choi in the cooker, re-cover and cook for a further 20 minutes until the pak choi is tender. Remove the pak choi from the cooker, and wrap in the foil with the chicken.
- Pour the cooking liquid into a saucepan and bring to the boil, then boil vigorously for at least 3 minutes until reduced. Add a little more tamari and pepper, if you like. Remove the skin from the chicken and carve. Strain the cooking liquid, discarding the solids. Sprinkle the chicken with coriander and serve with the cooking liquid, pak choi and rice.
Cauliflower works brilliantly with bold, spicy flavours. Its delicate taste and texture when cooked just soaks them in. And it’s a lovely firm vegetable that is substantial – making it a great addition to a gluten-free kitchen.
Here I’ve mixed up a batter, using rice flour, gram flour and cornflour, and then sparkling water as the Japanese do in their tempura recipes to make the batter light. I’ve seasoned the batter with salt and ground chilli, cumin, turmeric and coriander – making them quite fiery. But if you’d like them less full-on, just halve the quantities of those spices. And then I’ve made a coriander-yogurt to dip them into.
gluten-free, dairy-free, yeast-free, nut-free, seed-free, citrus-free
Makes 12 large or about 20 small fritters Preparation time 10 minutes Cooking time 10 minutes
- 1 cauliflower
- 100g/3½oz/heaped ½ cup rice flour
- 50g/1¾oz/scant ½ cup gram flour
- 100g/3½oz cornflour
- ½ tsp crushed sea salt
- 2 tsp ground mild chilli
- 1 tsp ground turmeric
- 1 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 2 large eggs, beaten
- 150ml/5fl/oz fizzy water
- 2 large handfuls chopped coriander leaves
- at least 250ml/9fl oz/1 cup rapeseed oil or olive oil, for frying
Coriander yogurt:
- 300ml/10½fl oz/scant 1¼ cups dairy-free soya yogurt
- 1 large handful finely chopped coriander leaves
- sea salt
- Break the cauliflower into small florets. Put into a steamer and steam over a high heat for 4–5 minutes until the thicker stalks are tender but the cauliflower still has a firm texture.
- Sift the flours into a large mixing bowl and stir in the salt and spices. Make a well in the centre of the flour mixture and add the garlic, egg and fizzy water. Beat slowly with a wooden spoon to draw in the flours to make a smooth batter. Stir in the steamed cauliflower and, using the spoon, mash the cauliflower up into small pieces then add the coriander and mix in well.
- Heat enough oil in a large frying pan to deep fry the fritters over a medium heat until hot. Spoon a couple of large spoonfuls or a few small spoonfuls, depending on the size of fritters you want, into the pan and cook for 1–2 minutes on each side or until golden. Remove from the pan with a slotted spoon and put on a pile of kitchen paper to remove any excess oil.
- Repeat with the remaining batter, keeping the cooked fritters warm. Serve hot with the Coriander Yogurt.
The truth is that I don’t like kale normally. Try as I might, it tastes bitter and unappealing to me. But I know it’s packed with nutrients and fantastically good for you. And it’s wonderfully cheap. So I’ve been experimenting with different flavours to add to it and I think I’ve come up with a winning formula! Bursting with fresh, fiery tastes, this Asian-style version can be served with rice for a light lunch or as a side dish with, say, steamed fish and rice. Enjoy!
gluten-free, dairy-free, yeast-free, egg-free, nut-free, citrus-free
Serves 1 as a main course or 2 as a side dish Preparation time 5 minutes Cooking time 5 minutes
Ingredients:
- 1 tbsp toasted sesame oil
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 1 lemongrass stalk, finely sliced
- 1cm/½in piece of root ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- ½ red chilli, deseeded and finely chopped
- 1 garlic clove, crushed
- 200g/7oz kale, chopped
- 1 tbsp rice wine vinegar
- 1 tbsp agave syrup
- 1–2 tbsp tamari soy sauce
- Heat both of the oils in a wok or large frying pan over a high heat. Add the lemongrass, ginger, chilli and then the garlic and stir-fry for 1 minute, then add the kale and stir-fry for about 2 minutes until the kale is starting to look cooked.
- Mix together the rice wine vinegar, agarve syrup and 1 tablespoon of the tamari and pour into the pan. Cook, stirring, for another 1–2 minutes until all of the kale is cooked but remains quite crunchy. Check the seasoning and add the other tablespoon of tamari if you like. Serve hot.
This recipe is adapted from one in Sunil Vijayakar’s The Big Book of Curries. Sunil is a wonderful food writer and stylist whose understanding of how to cook with spices is inspirational. Here he’s used garlic, ginger, cumin, coriander and chilli, along with fresh coriander, mint and lime – which is a fairly traditional mixture. But what I loved about this recipe was the perfect balancing of these spices – just enough ground cumin and ground coriander to give a lovely pungent base and then a really fresh, vibrant chilli, ginger, herbs and lime mixture. (All I did to adapt it was to substitute dairy-free yogurt for the natural yogurt he uses, and I also used unsalted peanuts instead of the skinless roasted ones he uses, simply to reduce the salt count.)
gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, yeast-free, egg-free, seed-free
Preparation time 20 minutes, plus at least 4 hours marinating Cooking time 10 minutes Serves 4
Ingredients:
- 100ml/3½fl oz/scant ½ cup dairy-free, plain yogurt
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 2 tsp peeled and finely grated root ginger
- 2 tsp ground cumin
- 1 tsp ground coriander
- 1 green chilli, finely chopped
- 1 large handful coriander leaves, chopped
- 1 small handful mint leaves, chopped
- juice of 2 limes
- 800g/1lb 12oz skinless chicken breast fillets, cut into bite-sized pieces
- 2 tbsp chopped unsalted peanuts
- salt
- lime wedges, to serve
- Put the dairy-free yogurt, garlic, ginger, cumin, ground coriander, chilli, coriander and mint leaves and lime juice in a blender and blend for 2–3 minutes until fairly smooth. Season lightly with salt.
- Put the chicken in a large bowl, pour over the yogurt mixture and toss to coat evenly. Cover with cling film and leave to marinate in the refrigerator for 4–6 hours, or overnight, if time permits.
- If using wooden skewers, soak them in cold water for at least 30 minutes before cooking. Preheat the grill to medium-high. Thread the chicken pieces onto the skewers and grill, turning frequently, for 8–10 minutes until cooked through and lightly browned. Sprinkle with the peanuts and serve hot with lime wedges for squeezing over.
This wonderfully delicious recipe is from Beverly le Blanc’s new book, The Big Book of Soups. This book is literally brimming with an incredible variety of soups for all seasons and all occasions – whether you’re looking for a light soup for lunch outdoors on a summer’s day, or a thick, creamy, comfort-soup for when the weather turns cold and rainy.
I love this soup because it tastes great, and is full of nutrient-dense ingredients. Watercress is a true superfood – containing more than 15 vitamins and minerals, including more calcium than milk, more vitamin C than an orange and more iron than spinach! Shiitake mushrooms have been used as both food and medicine in Asia for thousands of years and is currently used in Japan to treat many conditions, including chronic fatigue syndrome. And kombu (in the dashi) is packed with minerals and phytonutrients that help detoxify your body and relieve many ailments.
You can either make dashi yourself (see below for the recipe) or you can buy it ready-made from Japanese stores or from the internet. Just in case you need some instructions because they might only be in Japanese(!) you normally dissolve 2 teaspoons powder in 1.25l/44fl oz/5 cups water. You can get vegetarian versions, made without bonito (fish flakes). This recipes also uses another very Japanese ingredient, daikon, which is a long white crunchy vegetable from the radish family, with a light, peppery punch similar to watercress.
PREPARATION TIME 20 minutes, plus making the dashi COOKING TIME 30 minutes MAKES about 1.25l/44fl oz/5 cups
Ingredients:
- 400g/14oz watercress, any thick stalks or yellow leaves removed
- 280g/10oz thin rice noodles
- 2l/70fl oz/8 cups Dashi (see below) or prepared instant dashi
- 10cm/4in piece of daikon, peeled and finely grated
- 1 red chilli, deseeded and thinly sliced
- 750g/1lb 10oz salmon fillet, small bones removed, and fish cut across the grain into 1cm/½in thick slices
- 12 shiitake mushroom caps
- 280g/10oz firm tofu, drained and cut into 12 cubes
- 200g/7oz enoki mushrooms, stalks trimmed
- salt
- tamari soy sauce, to serve
To make Dashi:
- 25cm/10in piece of dried kombu
- 10g/¼oz/²⁄³ cup bonito flakes
- To make the Dashi, put the kombu and 1.4l/48fl oz/5½ cups water in a saucepan and leave to soak for 30 minutes.
- Bring to the boil, uncovered. As soon as it boils, skim the surface, then add the bonito flakes. Skim the surface again, if necessary. Reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes.
- Strain the dashi into a large bowl and use immediately. Alternatively, leave to cool, then store in the fridge for up to 2 days. Freezing isn’t recommended for more than 2 weeks as it will lose much of its flavour.
- (To make Vegetarian Dashi omit the bonito (fish) flakes in the above recipe. Instead soak 8 dried shiitake mushrooms in 1.4l/48fl oz/5½ cups hot water for at least 30 minutes. Put the mushrooms and the soaking liquid in a saucepan. Add the kombu and leave to soak for 30 minutes. Slowly bring to the boil, uncovered. As soon as it boils, skim the surface, then reduce the heat and simmer, uncovered, for 10 minutes. Strain through a muslin-lined sieve, and use the dashi as above.)
- To make the soup, bring a saucepan of lightly salted water to the boil, and bring another saucepan of unsalted water to the boil. Boil the watercress in the salted water just until the leaves wilt, which will be almost instantly. Drain and immediately rinse under cold running water, then drain again and set aside. Meanwhile, boil the rice noodles in the unsalted water for 6–8 minutes, or according to the packet instructions, until tender. Drain and immediately rinse under cold running water and set aside.
- Put the dashi in a saucepan, cover and bring to just below the boil. Meanwhile, mix together the daikon and chilli in a small bowl and set aside. Just before the dashi boils, reduce the heat to low, add the salmon and shiitake mushrooms and simmer for 5 minutes or until the salmon is cooked to your liking. One minute before the end of the cooking, add the tofu and enoki mushrooms and simmer until the enoki are tender. Season with salt.
- Divide the noodles into bowls and top with the salmon. Use a slotted spoon to transfer the watercress, mushrooms and tofu into the bowls. Ladle the dashi over them and serve immediately with small bowls of tamari soy sauce and the daikon and chilli mixture on the side.
This is show-stopper of a meal – with a wonderful blend of tastes and aromas – and very beautiful.
Laksa recipes can differ hugely – and I’ve made my version with far more peanuts than any laksa I’ve ever eaten. I think it gives it a wonderfully nutty base to the fiery tastes. Don’t be put off by the idea of making your own paste – it’s actually amazingly quick and easy. You simply put the ingredients in a mini-blender or mini-food processor and whiz – and you have a beautifully fresh, aromatic paste which is worlds away from the ready-made pastes you can buy.
gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, egg-free, seed-free
Preparation time 15 minutes Cooking time 20 minutes Serves 4 ⅓
- 250ml/9fl oz/1 cup olive oil or rapeseed oil
- 2 shallots, finely sliced
- 150g/5½oz/1 cup unsalted peanuts
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- 750ml/26fl oz/3 cups coconut cream
- 500ml/17fl oz/2 cups stock made from gluten-, yeast- and dairy-free stock powder
- 4 tbsp Thai fish sauce
- 200g/7oz rice noodles
- 100g/3½oz beansprouts
- 250g/9oz cooked large, king prawns
- 1 large handful coriander leaves, chopped
- 1 handful mint leaves, chopped
- 1 red chilli, finely chopped, to serve
- 2 spring onions, white part finely sliced, to serve
- 2 limes, quartered, to serve
Paste:
- 2 large red chillies, halved
- 3 sticks lemongrass, cut into thirds
- 3 garlic cloves
- 2.5cm/1in piece root ginger, peeled
- 4 shallots, quartered
- 2 tsp turmeric
- 2 tsp shrimp paste
- 1 tbsp agave syrup
- 1 tbsp olive oil
- Pour the oil into a small saucepan and heat over a medium-high heat until hot. Add the sliced shallots and fry for 5–6 minutes until golden brown. Remove with a slotted spoon and put on kitchen paper.
- Heat a wok over a medium-high heat until hot. Add the peanuts and dry-fry for 3–4 minutes until starting to turn brown, stirring frequently. Remove from the pan, put into the bowl of a mini-blender and process until finely chopped. Remove and leave to one side.
- Put the ingredients for the paste into the bowl of the mini-blender or mini-food processor and blend thoroughly until the mixture becomes a paste.
- Pour the oil into the wok and heat over a medium heat until hot. Add the paste and stir in the chopped peanuts. Fry for 2–3 minutes, stirring frequently. Pour in the coconut cream, stock and fish sauce and stir well, whisking if necessary, to mix the coconut cream in thoroughly. Bring to the boil and simmer for 2 minutes.
- Meanwhile, put the rice noodles in a large, heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and leave to stand for 5 minutes until soft. Tip into a colander and rinse well under cold running water.
- Add the rice noodles to the wok, along with the beansprouts and prawns, stir in thoroughly and cook for 2 minutes. Sprinkle in the coriander and mint and stir in gently. Serve immediately with the chopped chilli, spring onions and fried shallots sprinkled over, and served with lime quarters.
The asparagus season has officially started here – yay! (You can get organic asparagus now from Riverford Organic Vegetables.) This recipe is one of Peter’s (hubby’s) favourites – he loves the clean sharp tastes of the chilli and lemon combined with the herbs and seafood (he is Australian, so no surprises there). Gluten-free pasta needs more liquid in the sauce than traditional kinds, so I’ve added fish stock, lemon juice and olive oil. It’s still a fairly minimalist sauce, but enough liquid and flavours to work well with the pasta. You could use other types of seafood such as cooked prawns, crab or squid, and you could use different herbs, too, such as coriander or mint. And if you have home-made fish stock, it will add a delicious depth of the flavours. This recipe from my new book, Simply Gluten-Free & Dairy-Free is so super-easy – just perfect for a holiday weekend like this one, when you want to enjoy gorgeous food without any hassle. Happy Easter!
gluten-free, dairy-free, soya-free, egg-free, nut-free, seed-free
Serves 4 Preparation time 15 minutes Cooking time 15 minutes
- 2 shallots, halved
- 1 red chilli, halved and deseeded
- 2 garlic cloves
- 3 strips of lemon zest
- 7 tbsp olive oil
- 350g/12oz gluten-free pasta
- 350g/12oz asparagus, woody ends removed and stalks cut into thirds
- 100ml/3½fl oz/scant ½ cup gluten-free & dairy-free fish stock or stock made from gluten- and dairy-free stock powder
- 350g/12oz crayfish tails
- 1 large handful of flat-leaf parsley leaves, chopped
- juice of ½ lemon, plus lemon quarters to serve
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
- Put the shallots, chilli, garlic and lemon zest in a mini food processor or spice mill and blend until finely chopped, making sure the zest is coarsely chopped.
- Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and stir in 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the pasta and cook over a medium heat for 8–10 minutes, or according to the instructions on the packet, until soft. Make sure you stir occasionally to ensure the pasta doesn’t stick. Drain and rinse well with freshly boiled water, then drain again.
- Meanwhile, in a large, heavy-bottomed saucepan, heat 4 tablespoons of the remaining oil over a medium heat. Add the shallot mixture and fry, stirring, for about 1 minute until starting to turn golden. Add the asparagus and stir well. Fry for another minute, then add the fish stock. Cook, covered, for 4 minutes, then add the crayfish. Cook for another 2 minutes until the asparagus is tender but still slightly crunchy.
- Add the cooked pasta to the saucepan and mix well. Add the parsley, lemon juice and the remaining 2 tablespoons of olive oil. Season with salt and pepper and serve immediately with lemon quarters for squeezing over.
A beautiful dish for Valentine’s Day, this is delicious – with sweet succulent lobster, deep, rich tomato flavours, fresh herbs and fiery chilli, and soft pasta. I’ve used the traditional flat-leaf parsley, but I’ve also used mint and basil to add extra aromatic, fresh tastes. This recipe does take time to make – and, of course, you could speed it up enormously by not bothering to remove the seeds from the tomatoes and using boiling water instead of the stock, but finessing the tomatoes like this and adding probably the most beautiful stock you’ll ever make(!) deepens the flavours and makes this a seriously gorgeous dish. (And you’re left with a lobster stock that rocks – use it to make a bisque or a risotto that takes a million miles away from a shop-bought one.)
Ingredients:
- 1 large or 2 small cooked lobsters (about 600g/1lb 5oz)
- 1 red chilli, halved and deseeded
- 1 garlic clove
- 1kg/2lb 4oz plum or vine-ripened tomatoes
- 4 tbsp olive oil
- 250g/9oz gluten-free spaghetti
- 1 large handful chopped flat-leaf parsley leaves
- 1 tbsp finely chopped mint leaves
- 2 tbsp finely chopped basil leaves
- sea salt and freshly ground black pepper
Lobster stock:
- 1 onion, chopped
- 1 small leek, white part chopped
- 1 celery stick, chopped
- 1 large carrot, chopped
- 6 parsley stalks without leaves
- 1 bay leaf
- Put the lobster onto a chopping board and flatten the tail. With a heavy knife, cut down the middle of the tail lengthways. Pull off the head and claws and open the claws by breaking the shell with the knife. Remove the flesh from the tail and claws and any from the head. Put the shells in a large saucepan to make the stock and leave the lobster meat to one side.
- Add the remaining ingredients for the stock to the pan, cover with 1.5l/52fl oz/6 cups water and bring just to the boil over a high heat. Turn the heat down to low and leave to simmer, covered with a lid, for 40 minutes. Strain the liquid into a bowl and discard the remaining ingredients.
- Put the chilli and garlic in a mini food processor or spice mill and blend until finely chopped.
- With a sharp knife, cut a cross in the skins of the tomatoes, place in a large, heatproof bowl and cover with boiling water. Leave to stand for 2–3 minutes, then take out of the water, peel off the skins, remove the seeds and chop coarsely.
- Bring a large saucepan of water to the boil and stir in 1 tablespoon of the oil. Add the spaghetti and cook over a medium heat for 8–10 minutes, or according to the instructions on the packet, until soft. Make sure you stir frequently to ensure the pasta doesn’t stick. Drain and rinse well with freshly boiled water, then drain again.
- Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat and add the chilli and garlic. Cook for about 30 seconds then add the tomatoes. Cook for 5–6 minutes until the tomatoes have softened and formed a sauce. Season with salt and pepper.
- Heat the remaining 2 tablespoons of oil in a large, heavy-based saucepan over a medium heat and add the lobster. Cook for a couple of minutes. When the pasta and tomato sauce are cooked, add to the pan and stir in well. Add 3 tablespoons of the hot stock and the herbs and stir in thoroughly. Serve immediately.
This is a great mid-week supper for the family which can be made mostly out of ingredients from your storecupboard. You will need a large wok for this one, though, as you need space to stir-fry the egg at the end.
gluten-free, wheat-free, dairy-free, yeast-free, soya-free, nut-free, seed-free, citrus-free
preparation time 10 minutes cooking time 15 minutes serves 4
Ingredients:
- 250g rice noodles
- 2 tbsp olive oil
- 2 large skinless chicken breasts, cut into thin strips
- a 1cm piece fresh ginger, peeled and finely chopped
- 2 small red chillies, deseeded and finely chopped
- 2 garlic cloves, crushed
- 1 red pepper, deseeded and cut into thin strips
- 2 tsp mild curry powder
- 6 spring onions, finely sliced
- 300g cooked, peeled large king prawns
- 3 tbsp tamari soy sauce
- 2 tbsp fresh gluten-, yeast- and dairy-free chicken stock, or vegetable stock made from gluten-, yeast- and dairy-free stock powder
- 1 organic egg, beaten
- 1½ handfuls chopped coriander leaves
- Put the noodles in a large heatproof bowl, cover with boiling water and leave to stand for 5 minutes until soft. Tip into a colander and rinse well with boiling water.
- Meanwhile, heat 1 tablespoon of the oil in a large wok until hot. Add the chicken and cook over a medium heat, stirring continuously, for 5-6 minutes until lightly browned and cooked through, then remove and put on a plate.
- Rinse and dry the wok and pour in the remaining tablespoon of oil. Turn up the heat and heat the oil until hot, add the ginger, chilli and garlic and stir-fry for 30 seconds, stirring continuously. Add the pepper and continue to stir-fry for 2 minutes, stirring all the time. Stir in the curry powder, spring onions and prawns and stir-fry for a further 2-3 minutes. Add the chicken and noodles and pour in the tamari and stock, and stir in well.
- Push the noodle mixture to one side of the wok and quickly add the egg to the other side. Stir-fry for 1-2 minutes until cooked through, then stir into the noodle mixture. Sprinkle over the coriander and serve immediately.
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