Gluten-Free – Page 3 – The Food Wife

Meatballs

3rd March 2025
by thefoodwife

Serves 6

A plate of comfort! This is a family crowd pleaser. Using a combination of the fatty sausage meat and lean beef mince creates a great tasting meatball.

The fennel and chilli flakes are optional but do make a great tasting sauce, but leave one or both out if you like.

Ingredients:

The meatballs:

300g lean beef mince

340g herby pork stuffing mix/sausage meat (ensure this is without gluten if you are making it gluten free)

The sauce:

2 tbsp olive oil

2 red onions, diced

4 cloves garlic, minced

1 red pepper, diced

4 tsp fennel seeds (optional)

2 tsp chilli flakes (optional)

1 litre passatta

2 tsp balsamic vinegar

Salt and pepper to taste

To serve: 500g Pasta (gluten free if necessary) and parmesan

Step 1: Start by making your meatballs by combining the 2 meats in a bowl and mixing well (although messy youâ€™ll get the best results by using your hands, which are going to get messy in the next step anyway!)

Step 2: Roll small amounts of the mixture between your two hands to make balls (the mix will make about 35 small balls although you can make them bigger if you wish).

Step 3: Place the balls on a baking tray and put in a preheated oven at 200c for 25 minutes (bear in mind if you make bigger balls theyâ€™ll take longer).

Step 4: Whilst the meatballs are cooking, make your sauce. On a medium heat, add your oil to a pan and your red onion, garlic and red pepper. Soften for 3-4 minutes, stirring every so often, to make sure the garlic and onion do not burn. Add your fennel seeds and chilli flakes (if using) and stir for a minute or two, before adding your passatta and balsamic vinegar. Season to taste. Cook the sauce on a low heat for 10-15 minutes. Whilst this is simmering cook your pasta according to the packet instructions.

Step 5: Remove your meatballs from the oven and add to your sauce.

Step 6: When you are ready to serve, add cooked pasta to the sauce and coat evenly. Use some of the pasta cooking water to loosen if necessary. Serve with freshly grated Parmesan.

Spring Onion and Cheese Loaded Jackets

3rd March 2025
by thefoodwife

Makes 8 halves

Creamy and cheesy with that onion hit, these filled potatoes taste great.

Serve two halves for an adult and one half for a childâ€™s portion. Great with a coleslaw or salad on the side!

Ingredients:

4 baking potatoes

250g full fat cream cheese/200g crÃ¨me fraiche

1 bunch of spring onions, finally sliced

100g Cheddar or Red Leicester, grated

Oil

Salt and pepper

Step 1: Preheat the oven to 180c (fan). Prick the potatoes all over with a fork. Place on a baking tray and drizzle with a little oil and a pinch of salt and pepper. Use your hands to rub the oil and seasoning all over.

Step 2: Bake for an hour and a half.

Step 3: Remove from the oven and slice each potato in half. Use two spoons to carefully scoop the flesh out of each potato half into a large bowl. Add a large pinch each of salt and pepper, the cream cheese or crÃ¨me fraiche, spring onion and half the grated cheese. Mix well until combined and smooth. Taste for seasoning.

Step 4: Load the creamy filling back into the skins on the baking tray. Top with the remaining cheese.

Step 5: Refrigerate until ready to bake or bake straight away. They will need 25-30 minutes at 180c until fully heated through, and the cheese on top is golden.

Snicker-dates

18th February 2025
by thefoodwife

Makes 16

These arenâ€™t new, weâ€™ve probably all seen some version of them, but they are delicious. Chewy dates, crunchy peanut and salty dark chocolate. A winning combo, especially for anyone who loves a sweet treat but wants to cut down on refined sugars.

Plus theyâ€™re so rich youâ€™ll probably only want one or twoâ€¦

Ingredients:

16 Stoned dates

Crunchy peanut butter (ideally one made with only peanuts)

100g dark chocolate (I used 74% cocoa), melted

Flaky sea salt

Step 1: Line a tray or tin with grease proof paper, and ensure you have space in the freezer for it to fit.

Step 2: Fill each date with about 1/2 a teaspoon of crunchy peanut butter, bringing the ends of the date back together as best you can (sometimes they wonâ€™t meet but make it as neat as possible).

Step 3: Carefully submerge each filed date into the molten chocolate, using a spoon to turn and coat it. Then transfer each coated date, with a spoon, to the lined tray. Sprinkle a little of the flaky salt on top.

Step 4: Repeat with the remaining dates. Try to make sure they arenâ€™t touching each other on the tray (you can always break them apart after theyâ€™ve set if they do touch but their edges will be messier).

Step 5: Transfer the tray carefully to the freezer until the chocolate has set (10 minutes should do it) and then move them carefully to a tub or freezer bag and keep them in the freezer until you eat them to keep them extra chewy!

Hot Honey Halloumi Pasta

13th February 2025
by thefoodwife

Serves 2+

I see hot honey everywhere, I recently had it as a drizzle on a pizza, but felt like Iâ€™d like to try it with pasta. This is a super quick make so perfect for busy weeknights.

Iâ€™d recommend serving this with a dressed salad as the vinegar helps cut through the sweetness of the honey in the pasta.

Scale up as required.

Ingredients:

150g pasta, cooked according to the packet instructions (gluten-free if required)

Olive oil

200g Halloumi, cut into 1cm cubes

1 fat garlic clove, finely chopped

Chilli flakes

Runny honey

Step 1: Get your pasta on to cook in boiling salted water and then start heating a frying pan to get your halloumi cooking.

Step 2: Add a dash of olive oil to the frying pan and add the cubes of halloumi. Let it cook for a few minutes undisturbed. Initially liquid will come out of the cheese, and you want this to cook off before moving the cheese in the pan, so it browns nicely.

Step 3: Start turning the cheese when the liquid has evaporated. Add a dash more oil if needed and then add the chopped garlic and chilli flakes (to taste – I used a decent sprinkle).

Step 4: Stir for a minute or two and then add the honey to the pan. Start with a tablespoon. Stir until everything is glossy and coated evenly. When the pasta is cooked, drain and add to the hot honey halloumi in the frying pan. Add a small amount of the cooking water to help everything along. Stir well. Taste to check if you need to add a bit more honey, or chilli flakes.

Serve immediately with a dressed salad.

Greek-inspired Chicken and Rice

30th January 2025
by thefoodwife

Serves 2 (easily scaled up)

Sometimes when itâ€™s cold outside we need to bring some sunshine to our table. This Greek-inspired one pan chicken and rice dish, is perfect for just that. The rice and chicken cook together so the chicken stays juicy and the rice takes on all the wonderful flavours and stays a little crispy on the top. This is easily scaled up, just make sure the dish you cook it in has enough space for the chicken not to overlap.

Ingredients:

4 chicken thighs (bone in, with or without skin)

150g basmati rice

Lemon (zest and juice)

1 tsp dried oregano

Salt and pepper

300ml hot water or stock (chicken or vegetable)

(Lemon infused) olive oil

Step 1: Pre-heat the oven to 180c (fan). Take a deep baking dish and pour in the rice. Spread evenly over the base of the dish and then make four gaps for the chicken thighs to nestle in. Sprinkle over the oregano and lemon zest, along with pepper, salt and a drizzle of olive oil. Gently pour the hot stock (or water) over the rice, avoiding the top of the chicken. Cover the baking dish with foil and bake for 30 minutes.

Step 2: After 30 minutes remove the foil, careful use a fork to fluff the rice a little and return, uncovered to the oven for a further 15 minutes.

Step 3: Remove from the oven, squeeze over the lemon juice and serve.

This is delicious served with a garlic and mint yoghurt and a Greek salad.