Rustic Garlic & Herb Focaccia

Ingredients – Focaccia

• 2 ¼ cups (560 ml) Gluten free flour
• 60 ml butter flavoured avocado oil
• 30 ml baking powder
• 3 ml sea salt
• 180 ml boiling water

Ingredients – Oil basting

• 30 – 60 ml butter flavoured avocado oil
• 15 ml crushed garlic
• 5 ml dried oregano
• 5 ml dried chives
• 5 ml dried basil

Steps

Preheat oven to 180 degrees Celsius.

• Add all the Focaccia ingredients to a bowl, adding the boiling water last.
• Mix well with a spoon until a dough is formed.
• Divide the dough into pieces (depending on your needs); I usually divide it into 4 to 6 pieces.
• Roll the pieces into balls, and flatten onto a baking tray lined with parchment paper, if you have a pizza tray (with holes in it) – even better. For that rustic look; use your hands and fingers to flatten the focaccias.
• Mix the ingredients for the oil basting, divide it between your focaccias, spreading it all over the tops of the focaccias using the back of a spoon (or a basting brush if you like cleaning up a mess) J
• Pop your focaccias into the oven for 25 minutes.

Enjoy with a fresh salad of your choice.

Chunky mushrooms in coco-cream

Ingredients

400g Mixed mushrooms (brown and white) – quartered or halved if using button mushrooms 1 can (400ml) Coconut cream

5 ml Rosemary and olive seasoning (I use Ina Paarman’s)

Steps

Add all the ingredients to a sauce pan.

Cover and cook over medium-high heat until boiling.

Take the lid off and stir every 3 minutes or so, for 15 minutes.

Serve over rice or pasta with veggies or a salad on the side.

Spinach & Cheez Pasta Casserole

Ingredients:

160 ml Nutritional Yeast

60 ml Corn flour

30 ml Ina Paarman Chicken Flavour Stock Powder

750 - 800 ml Rice milk/soy/almond milk

250 g Gluten free pasta "elbows"/penne

Enough water to cook the pasta according to the instructions on the packet.

3 cups frozen spinach/washed and chopped fresh baby spinach

2 Small onions (chopped)

1/2 Red/yellow/green pepper (chopped)

5 ml Crushed garlic

Oil for sautéing

+/- 3 ml Cayenne/Paprika

Steps:

Preheat oven to 180°C.

Cheez Sauce Steps:

Add the corn flour, nutritional yeast and stock powder to a microwavable jug with measurements indicated on the side (that can hold at least 1 litre).

Add a little milk (+/- 60 ml) and stir until there are no dry clumps left (add a little more milk if necessary).

Now top up with “milk” until you reach the 800ml mark of the jug.

Microwave in intervals of 2 minutes until the sauce starts to thicken. Don't microwave further.

Taste test to see if you would like to add salt and pepper.

Pasta:

Prepare the pasta according to the packet's instructions until al dente - don't overcook as the pasta will continue to soften in the oven.

Veggies:

Sauté the veggies and garlic with a little water or oil in a pan over medium-high heat until almost cooked. Don’t overcook as the veggies will cook further in the oven.

Layering:

You are now ready to layer your casserole ingredients into a prepared casserole dish. I use a square glass dish.

Layer the sautéed veggies and pasta alternating with sauce in-between. Ending with sauce that covers the top layer (you don't want your gluten free pasta to dry out in the oven).

Sprinkle cayenne/paprika over the casserole.

Pop your casserole into the preheated oven for 40 minutes.

Enjoy as is, or serve with a fresh salad.

Add some Vegan Venus Flair:

Arrange a few slices of onion on top of the casserole before putting it into the oven.

Garnish with halved cherry tomatoes and basil leaves just before serving.

Raspberry Butta Spread

Ingredients

• 125 g Vegan Venus Butta / store bought vegan “butter” (soft)
• 125 g Fresh Raspberries
• 15 ml Xylitol / sweetener of your choice

Steps

• Blend all ingredients together (using a stick blender or liquidiser) and transfer to a serving dish.
• Refrigerate until needed.
• Serve on waffles, muffins, scones, toast, pancakes, or bread pops.

Add some Vegan Venus Flair

Spoon the freshly made Raspberry Butta Spread into a beautiful ramekin or sauce pot before serving.

Add fresh raspberries on top of the spread as an edible garnish.

Sweetcorn Bread

{soft cake-like bread}

Ingredients

• 3 ½ (875 ml) cups Gluten free all-purpose flour
• 2 cans Sweetcorn
• 1 cup Vegetable oil (try butter flavoured avocado oil)
• 60 ml Sugar
• 60 ml White wine vinegar
• 4 tsp Baking powder
• 2 tsp Salt
• 1 tsp Bicarbonate of soda

You will also need an angel food cake pan and cooking spray/vegetable oil for greasing.

Steps

1. Pre-heat the oven to 180°C.
2. Combine all the ingredients well, using a spoon.
3. Pour into the Angel Food Cake Pan and press down with the back of a spoon to get rid of big air pockets.
4. Bake for 50 – 60 minutes (this will depend on the flour you are using, and also your oven). Check for readiness after 50 minutes.
5. Let the Sweetcorn Bread cool down for 15 - 20 minutes before turning out onto a plate/serving platter.
6. Serve at a braai (barbecue) or a lunch, with Vegan Butta.

Add some Vegan Venus Flair

Serve with hummus alongside mushroom kebabs, and a fresh salad. 

All Purpose Gluten Free Flour

Ingredients

• 4 cups Brown rice flour
• 2 cups White rice flour
• 2 cups Chickpea flour
• 2 cups Potato starch (not flour)
• 1 cup Corn starch/tapioca starch/a combination of these two
• 6 teaspoons Xanthum gum

Steps

1. Sift all of the flours and starches together in a large air tight container.
2. Combine them well using a whisk.
3. Store in the same airtight container for all your gluten free baking needs.

Gluten Free Pumpkin Fritters

Ingredients

• 1.5 – 2 litres water
• 10 ml sea salt
• 1 kg pumpkin/butternut/a combination of these two (cut into chunks)
• 500 ml gluten free flour (see my Vegan Venus All Purpose Gluten Free Flour recipe)
• 250 ml sugar/xylitol
• 10 drops vanilla extract / 5 ml vanilla essence
• 2.5 – 5 ml ground cinnamon
• 250 ml vegetable oil for frying (I normally use non-gmo canola or sunflower oil)

Steps

1. Boil the pumpkin/butternut in the water and salt until soft.
2. Drain well, and mash.
3. Start heating the oil.
4. Mix the remaining ingredients (except the oil) together with the pumpkin/butternut until well combined.
5. Please be careful when cooking with hot oil. Drop a tiny bit of the pumpkin mixture into the oil to check if it is ready. Once ready, continue with the next step.
6. Drop a spoonful (tablespoon) of pumpkin mixture at a time into the hot oil and fry until brown edges can be seen, flip the fritter over to fry on the other side. Smaller fritters will cook faster.
7. Lift the fritters out of the oil and let them drain in a bowl lined with paper kitchen towel to absorb some of the oil.

Add some Vegan Venus Flair

Serve hot or at room temperature with sweet chilli sauce.