The New Zealand Gluten-free Cookbook

The New Zealand Gluten-Free Cookbook 

Jim Boswell

Penguin Books  RRP $44.99

In this attractive new book, New Zealand’s ‘Gluten-Free Chef’ Jim Boswell shows you how you can bring fun and flavour back into your diet.

A proud Kiwi with Italian/Sicilian heritage, Jim loves his bread and pasta and is passionate about gluten-free food that tastes great and is easy to prepare. After discovering several years ago that he had an intolerance to gluten, Jim found it much better to avoid it altogether than to put up with the discomfort his body experienced. He also had friends and relatives who were gluten intolerant so it became his mission to cook and entertain at home without his guests even knowing that the food they were eating was gluten-free. In The New Zealand Gluten-Free Cookbook Jim shares his delicious recipes for once-forbidden foods such as fresh pasta, pizza, tortillas, focaccia and sponge cake . . . as well as fabulous meal ideas that include Lasagne with Sicilian Tomato Sauce and Lemon-Orange Meringue Pie.

Chapters include Basics, Brunch, Starters, Mains, Vegetables & Salads and Desserts, plus notes on setting up a gluten-free pantry, so readers will have everything they need to eat like a king without forsaking their gluten-free diet.

Polenta Chips with

Lemon Pepper coating

These chips are delicious. The secret is to let the polenta settle before you cut the chips.

Serves 4

200 g fine ground polenta

2 tsp chopped fresh rosemary

¾ cup Tastes Divine Lemon

Pepper Coating

2 tbsp olive oil

Mix the polenta as per the packet instructions. If using bulk polenta, combine 1 cup polenta with 2 cups water. Add rosemary and stir to combine.

Pour the polenta into a shallow baking tray lined with baking paper. Smooth the top and let it set for 30–45 minutes.

Remove polenta from the tray and cut into chip-like slices. Lightly coat the polenta chips with lemon pepper coating. This gives the chips a nice zing and helps to stop the chips from ‘spitting’ while you fry them. They should colour up well.

In a frying pan, add the olive oil and heat to a moderate temperature. You do not want it to smoke. Add a few of the chips at a time and shallow-fry until golden brown. Don’t cook too many chips at once as the oil temperature will drop and you will end up with a soggy result – have the pan about two-thirds full at most.

Drain chips well and place on a tray in a warm oven as you fry the rest. Add more oil to the pan if needed.

Serve with lemon wedges on the side, if desired.

Tip: If you can’t find Tastes Divine Lemon Pepper Coating, use any gluten-free brand.

Reproduced with permission from The New Zealand Gluten-Free Cookbook by Jim Boswell. Published by Penguin Group NZ. RRP $44.99.

Copyright © Jim Boswell, 2012. Copyright photography © Sean Shadbolt, 2012