Gluten Free / Vegetarian Polenta Pizza

Being Gluten Free and having a vegetarian daughter I am always on the lookout for new recipes as I am getting a bit over lentils!! This polenta pizza base is as good - or dare i say - in my opinion, even better than wheat bases and you don’t feel heavy and full afterwards.

PIZZA BASE (serves 4)

Put the below in a saucepan on medium heat:
3.5 cups boiling water
1 vege stock cube
A generous pinch of Salt (Himalayan pink is the yummiest)
Fresh ground pepper
½ teaspoon oregano
(optional 1 clove crushed garlic)
1.5 tablespoons olive oil

Put on low heat... then add 

1.5 tablespoons of olive oil
1 cup fine polenta
½ cup medium/course polenta

Stir until thick for a good few minutes  ….and don’t stop stirring or it can go lumpy!
Pour out onto a baking paper on a tray.
Let cool down and set properly for an hour (or longer if that suits) which will soften the coarse polenta but it still has a little bit of textural crunch!
Once the base is set cut into pieces. (You can leave it like this covered in the fridge for 24 hours if you like).

When you are ready to make your pizza, preheat the oven to 220 degrees and cook for 20 minutes - turn pieces over and cook for another 10 minutes.

Prepare the toppings while the base is cooking

Toppings (variable)

4 medium onions
100gms spinach
250gms mushrooms
1/2 cup olives (without stone) 
tomato paste
fresh parsley
1 tbsp balsamic vinegar
1 tsp sugar (optional)
a dollop of butter
Salt and Pepper to taste

 

cut the onions in ½ and then thinly slice into ½ rings, cook slowly over a medium heat in a good coating of olive oil, and a bit of butter. When colour starts to turn and onions are properly soft add 1 tbsp balsamic vinegar and 1 tsp of sugar (optional) and cooks for a few more minutes. Add pinch of salt and ground pepper.
Wilt the spinach in a pan with lid on and no added water
Chop mushrooms  and cook in BUTTER - because it tastes good!

Once the base is cooked smear the pieces with a generous amount of tomato paste, then top with the onions, then wilted spinach, mushrooms and olives. Generously cover with grated cheese and sprinkle with salt, pepper and oregano. Everything is hot so just put back into the hot oven but change setting to grill. This sounds like a lot but is pretty quick and easy and well worth the effort. Top with finely chopped parsley and serve with a salad or two.

 

Brown Rice Brekkie  (4 - 6 servings)

 Brown Rice Congee is a rice porridge that makes a delicious winter breakfast for those of us who are GF and crave a warm start to the day.   There are lots of ways to make this but this is what I have found works best for me.

First prepare the rice . . .

1 cup of rice
3 cups water
½ tsp rock salt
1 cinnamon stick

The day before cook in a rice cooker until all the water is absorbed or very slowly simmer on a low heat until all the water is absorbed.  Rice should be on the softer side than usual.   Let the rice cool and put it in the fridge (lasts 2 - 3 days)

 

The next morning . . . 

take out a big heaped serving spoon of rice per person and put in a saucepan with:

½ cup of water per person
1 chopped apple (per 2 people)
Dried raisins / cranberries / apricots
Raw almonds
Sunflower seeds
Pumpkin seeds

Optional

for a bit of a bite: 1 - 2 piece of crystallised ginger per serving chopped into bits
1/2 tsp tumeric per person
1 tsp linseeds per person

Simmer with the lid on over low heat for 5 minutes or so (till the apple is cooked)

Serve

with yoghurt or coconut yoghurt or a little milk or soya.
It is quite sweet so you don’t really need to add sugar but if you are a real sweet tooth I recommend honey or coconut sugar.