I’m getting more and more interested in gluten-free dishes lately. I don’t have an intolerance myself but my daughter has been recently diagnosed with one so I’m looking at ways of cooking that don’t involve wheat flour, yet also without using some of the many processed options out there. I found green pea pasta in Morrisons supermarket recently that came in 250g packs. Also, being pea flour, 100g of this has a whopping 20g of protein in with the bargain. Who can say no to that?
This is a cold dish, but with the peaches being pan-fried you have the option of serving them either hot or cold. For this recipe I have chosen to chill them. Another good thing about this is that it can be made the night before and taken to work the next day to have for lunch.
Prep time: 20 minutes. Cooking time: 25 minutes. Cooling time: 1-2 hours.
Serves 2 as a main, 4 as a side dish.
Ingredients:
For the Peaches:
3 Saturn peaches (those are the flat ones)
1 tbsp olive oil
2 tbsp brown sugar
Juice of half a lemon
For the Pasta Salad:
250g dried green pea pasta
One red Romano pepper, halved, deseeded and finely sliced
1 red onion, halved and finely sliced
1 x 3 inch length of cucumber, diced
1 tbsp flaked almonds
Salt to taste
For the Dressing:
3 tbsp olive oil
1 tbsp cider vinegar
1 tsp wholegrain mustard.
Method:
Bring a pan of water to the boil and pour in the dried pasta. Boil for 8-10 minutes, depending on how firm you like it. 8 minutes is quite al dente, but 10 minutes still keeps it reasonable firm. Once the pasta is done (you can check by taking one out with a spoon and eating it) drain and plunge straight into cold water to completely cool.
Next you want to prepare the peaches. Cut each peach into quarters around the stone and prize apart, exactly as you would an avocado. Heat a frying pan with the tablespoon of oil and cook the peaches for 10 minutes, stirring occasionally, until soft and golden. Add the brown sugar and lemon juice and cook for a further 4-5 minutes. The peaches will become glazed as the sauce evaporates. Set aside to cool.
To make the salad, drain the now cold pasta completely, place into a mixing bowl and add all the other salad ingredients.
In a small dish, blend the olive oil, cider vinegar and wholegrain mustard with a whisk to make an emulsified dressing, then pour over the salad. Add the peaches once they have cooled and mix the salad together. Chill in the fridge for an hour or two before serving.
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