talkhealth Blog

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

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Julie

I am a state registered dietitian and advisor to The IBS Network, the UK charity for people with irritable bowel syndrome. My specialty is dietary treatment of gut disorders such as irritable bowel syndrome, crohns disease, ulcerative colitis, coeliac disease, lactose & fructose malabsorption and complex food intolerances. I also have experience in dietetic treatment of people who have bariatric surgery and weight management.