2014 A to Z Blogging Challenge - K is for Kale - Gluten free vegan kale pizza with grilled vegetables

Yes - gluten free and vegan food can taste amazing! 

So I have been looking at this gluten free cauliflower pizza base for a while. Could you do the same with kale, and make it vegan as well? Why not!

Recipe

200g   Raw weight kale with large stalks removed

50g     Silken tofu

25g     Pine nuts

1/4tsp Nutmeg

1/2tsp Salt

Crushed black pepper to taste

 

1. First wash the kale then steam for about 4 minutes till wilted & soft. I do this by removing from the water it has been soaking in to remove any dirt. There should be enough water left on the leaves to steam it when you put a lid on the pan. Once it is cooked leave to chill. 

2. Place kale into a tea towel and squeeze out the water left inside - this helps the pizza base bind together. 

3. Whizz the strained kale in a food processor with the other ingredients till you have a fine texture. 

4. Form into a pizza base shape on a baking tray and non stick baking mat. 

5. Bake the base in a pre-heated oven @ 180 oC for 35 minutes (yes it really does take that long to dry it out). 

6. Take the base out of the oven and add your toppings. 

7. Replace in oven for 5 - 10 minutes to cook the toppings. 

8. Remove from oven and delve in!

For my topping I added neapolitan sauce, caramelised red onion, grilled butternut squash, asparagus, olives and roasted peppers & sprinkled with pinenuts.
Next time I'll try adding a little tapioca flour as well to firm it up a bit more.......

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Kale with pomegranate and toasted cashews

"Whooooosh!" That was the sound of New Year's eve and new years day flying by.

Bit of deja vu - saw NY eve in on the M50 - same place, same time as 2 years before (the year before had been the M40 overlooking the fireworks in High Wycombe on the way back from Highgate, London). Then it was back to the kitchen to clear up the carnage from the 101 cvs we had served and get ready for the last 3 parties of the Christmas season - NY day lunch and 2 dinners in the evening. Oh and an hour's rest.

With all this going on photos were the last priority. I did manage to grab this though (documentary evidence rather than flashy pic) - at lightening speed as we served up New Yrs evening at Hill House. So tasty. It was another thing I had found on Boxing day adapted from this recipe (no yogurt but with grated nutmeg). Pomegranate molasses are now a storecupboard essential (also used with sprouts on Christmas day). At this party we served the kale with seabass and fillet of beef and the other party had it with lamb shank stargazy pie and coq au vin.

Roasting the kale you get lovely crispy bits - that's where the flavour is!

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Meat Free Monday #13 - Marmite XO farfalle poached in miso with shitake and kale - umami fest

The thing I like about Twitter is you get the news just so much faster than any other medium - at least a day or two faster than the newspaper, and even faster than the radio bulletins.
Before Marmite XO had even gone on sale it was being tweeted by one particular marmite lover as it was being served at the first Underground Midnight Feast - note: pays to be one of the marmarati. The Marmarati? Well they also seem to have converted Donal to the 'dark' side (i.e. the marmite side). So it was time to try it out. I had read the underground midnight feast post while I was letting some pasta dough rest in the fridge. I went back to rolling out the dough thinking of marmite. Marmite. Pasta. Marmite pasta? Now there was an idea. But google marmite pasta and all you come up with is pasta with marmite sauce (a student classic by the sound of it) but what about mixing it in the pasta dough - after all you can do it with everything else - beetroot, nettles, blue curacao, squid ink, spinach, saffron, chocolate to name a few (though not at the same time).

Well last Monday I picked up a jar of XO and had a go.

200g OO flour
2 eggs
1 heaped tsp Marmite XO (I saw you licking that spoon!)

It comes out the colour of gjetost and you get marmite flavour hands as you knead the pasta dough - yum!

Marmite as we all know is rich in umami so what about a umami fest - a real pick-me-up? That is what I ended up with - miso, shitake mushrooms and kale also being rich in umami.

I had been wanting to try farfalle for a while. Unfortunately no sign of the fluted pasta wheel (so many venues, so many kitchens - it gets confusing), so after rolling out the pasta to thin lasagne-like strips I just cut them into rectangles and pinched them in the middle. If you cook them in the miso they soak a bit of the flavour too hopefully, and any marmite flavour they release is kept - best of both worlds. Oh and and its saves time and washing up - not that these things matter ;)

Related posts

Other Meat Free Monday dishes

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