Blog – Page 30 – The Food Wife

Homemade (Eggless) Pasta

11th January 202111th January 2021
by thefoodwife

Serves 4

If youâ€™re looking for a simple, vegan, pasta recipe, look no further. After about 10 minutes of hard work kneading you will have a pliable dough ready to turn into the pasta of your choice.

I use this dough to make cavatelli, a small shell shaped pasta made without a machine. It might be rustic in appearance but it holds pasta sauces beautifully.

Ingredients:
200g Italian 00 pasta flour
100ml cold water

Plus extra flour for dusting

Step 1: Combine the flour and water in a bowl or on a clean work surface (if doing this on a work surface you will need to make a mound of flour and then create a well in the centre to pour the water into). Use your hand to bring the mixture together and then start to knead it. This is tough and will take about 10 minutes. By which point you should have a smooth dough.

Step 2: Wrap the ball of dough in clingfilm of grease proof paper and leave it in the fridge for half an hour to rest.

Step 3: Once the dough is rested, divide in to quarters and roll each into a long thin sausage shape. Use a knife to cut the sausage into pieces about 8 mm long. Each piece will become a piece of pasta. You need to roll and press each piece with your thumb so that it both flatten and curls (don’t worry if this takes a bit of practise to get right). I use a ridged wooden pasta board to do this as it creates the ridges on the pasta to help the sauce to cling to it. You could just do it on the work surface, but the result will be a smoother pasta shape. Transfer each piece of shaped pasta onto a lightly floured tray and move about so that it gets a light dusting and this will stop them from sticking to each other.

Step 4: Allow to dry out for an hour or two (or you could leave them to dry out completely and then store in an airtight container for a few weeks). When you are ready to cook them, bring a large pan of salted water the the boil and then add the pasta and cook for a few minutes until cooked through (if cooking from completely dried they will take a couple of minutes longer).

Serve with your chosen sauce.

Spiced Biscuit Dominoes

4th January 20214th January 2021
by thefoodwife

Makes 12

Weâ€™ve just made some vegan dominoes biscuits, with a super simple spiced biscuit dough and white icing. It was inspired by an old 90s Safeway magazine recipe my mother recently passed on to me.

Ingredients:
115g vegan baking block, softened
50g caster sugar
175g plain flour
5g mixed spice

Step1: Rub all ingredients together until you have â€˜crumbsâ€™ and then use your hands to bring together into a smooth dough.

Step 2: You can then either roll the dough out until about 1/2cm thick and cut into 12 rectangles, alternatively shape into a rectangular sausage shape, wrap in grease proof and chill until solid. Then simply slice into 12.

Step 3: Place your 12 rectangles on a lined baking tray and bake in a preheated oven at 180c fan for 12 minutes.

Step 4: Allow to cool and then ice with a simple icing sugar and water icing.

Then you can play and/or eat!

Itâ€™s Christmassssss!

14th December 202015th December 2020
by thefoodwife

I thought Iâ€™d do a bumper post with links to some of my favourite recipes for this time of year. There will be savoury and sweet recipes and plenty of ideas for what to do with all that left over turkey!

If you fancy making your own mincemeat, but are looking for a slimmer version, why not try my Fat-Free Bramley Apple and Vintage Cider Mincemeat my latest batch had the addition of amaretto instead of the rum. Delicious. You can use it in my Mince â€˜Pieâ€™ Cupcakes with Custard Buttercream for a festive themed baked treat. On the theme of amaretto, if youâ€™re looking for an alternative showstopper dessert for the big day, take a look at The Food Wifeâ€™s Chocolate and Amaretto Italian Cheesecake. Make ahead and easily made gluten-free.

When it comes to the main event, my favourite part of the Christmas dinner is always the â€˜stuffingâ€™. Here is my take on it with my Pork and Pear Stuffing. This year Iâ€™ll be following the same principles but using dried apricots in place of the pear.

And after the 25th? Well you may well have a lot of left overs. We deliberately buy a bigger bird in order to create some exciting post Christmas meals such as a Vietnamese soup with a post-festive twist, my Turkey Pho or my sticky Korean Turkey Baos. If youâ€™re looking for less fuss then give my Turkey Tagine or Coronation Turkey a whirl.

If Turkey isnâ€™t your bag, then you may have bought a different joint. Pork or Beef will work wonders in my recipes for RagÃ¹.

And finally, wave goodbye to this year and see in the next with my New Year Rocky Road . It wonâ€™t disappoint (the rocky road, that is. I canâ€™t guarantee anything about 2021).

Gingerbread

9th December 20209th December 2020
by thefoodwife

Gluten free and vegan, this is my go to recipe for gingerbread. Today we made glittery Christmas trees and gingerbread people. Easy and quick to make! Perfect to make with your little people. Of course you don’t have to make these gluten free or vegan. By all means use regular flour and butter, if you like.

Ingredients:

125g of vegan baking block
100g light soft brown sugar
65g golden syrup
300g gluten-free plain flour
1 tsp gluten-free bicarbonate of soda
2 tsp ground ginger
1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon.

Step 1: Preheat oven to 180c (fan). Line baking trays with parchment.

Step 2: Melt 125g of vegan baking block with 100g light soft brown sugar and 65g golden syrup. Set to one side.

Step 3: In a bowl mix 300g gluten-free plain flour, 1 tsp gluten-free bicarbonate of soda, 2 tsp ground ginger and 1/2 tsp of ground cinnamon. Add the molten fat and sugar and stir until you have a smooth dough.

Step 4: Allow to cool for a few minutes and then tip out on to a large piece of grease proof paper. Top with another piece and then use your hands on top of the paper to spread the dough out until a few mm thick.

Step 5: Use your chosen cutters to press out shapes and carefully transfer to your lined baking sheets (you will need to be delicate as the dough tears easily at this stage) and then into the oven for 10-12 minutes until golden.

Step 6: Remove and allow to cool (wait about 15 minutes before transferring them to a wire rack to cool fully and then decorate as you wish).

Keep in an air tight container for up to a few days.

Number Biscuits

20th November 202020th November 2020
by thefoodwife

Makes 16-20 biscuits

In an effort to help the first Food Baby (not a baby anymore!) with learning his numbers we spent a wet lockdown afternoon making these fun number biscuits. We made them both gluten and dairy free but you don’t have to. You also don’t have to make them in the shape of numbers!

Made with gluten-free flour (so that The Food Husband could help us out with eating them) they were lovely and powdery soft when eating. We used brightly coloured icing to decorate and went with a more is more approach…

Ingredients:
100g butter or vegetable baking block
100g caster sugar
1 large egg
1 tsp vanilla extract
275g (gluten-free) plain flour
1/4 tsp xanthan gum (if using gluten-free flour)

Step 1: Combine the fat and sugar until smooth, add the egg and vanilla and mix. Add flour (& xanthan gum if using) and mix until a smooth dough is formed.

Step 2: Roll out on a lightly floured surface until approx 1cm thick. Cut into desired shapes.

Step 3: Lie apart on a lined baking sheet and bake for 10 mins at 170c fan. Allow to cool on a wire rack before decorating with icing made using icing (powdered) sugar, a little water, plus any colours you like. Let the icing set before tucking in!