Rustico

By Diane

I have been a bit lazy and busy in writing, it sometimes happens that I have so many ideas in my mind and won’t conclude any of them, because I am unable to choose which is more important than another. But now I am trying to be more organized and plan my week upfront so I can have more time to write my recipes and share my findings while cooking.

Lately, I have decided it was time I lose weight, some kilos, about 8 kg. I went to a nutritionist and asked for help, because, as a lover of good and tasty food, this is nearly impossible. I got the meal plan, and it has been hanging over my desk for a few days now. I have run through it to understand, which are going to be the new rules from now on, and I have not taken time to read it properly and do the shopping. How do you handle a diet? Are you on a constant diet? I hate them because I think I have restrictions on what to put on my plate. On the other hand, if I don’t start from there, I can forget about losing those kilos and feel fit like I wish. I have been overweight since about 5 years ago, then during my pregnancy, I lost about 20kg! when I stopped breast-feeding, I slowly gained some kilos back. Up to this point where I have those 9/10 to lose.

While I am still thinking about how I am going to handle my new diet, let me share a new recipe I have tried today. My daughter loved it and so did I. It is a salty cake, that you can have for a brunch or lunch. It goes along with some green salad wonderfully. The original recipe used flour, but I went for gluten-free flour, like chickpea and/ or rice flour.

Rustico:

150 g of chickpea flour

200 g of rice flour

150 gr of hard cheese (sliced in small cubes)

3 eggs

200 gr of sliced and smoked pancetta

150 gr of peas

1 cup of milk

½ cup of vegetable oil

1 pack of yeast

2 spoons of Parmigiano

Salt and pepper as you like

Precook the peas (I used frozen peas) and the pancetta in a different saucepan. Put them aside, mix the eggs with milk and the flours, add the yeast, oil, and Parmigiano. You should have a smooth dough. More slurry than hard. Add salt, pepper and the peas, cheese, and pancetta.

Put everything in a preheated oven, up to 200°, and leave to cook for about 30 mins. Remove from the oven and serve it warm with a side salad. And Enjoy it.

Let me know how you liked it.