Gluten-Free Italian Recipes
Italian food is much more than pasta and bread. Risotto, polenta, chickpeas, beans, slow-cooked meats, roasted vegetables and many traditional desserts are naturally free of gluten. These gluten-free recipes from our cooking vacations in Tuscany include artichoke risotto, cecina chickpea flatbread, eggplant parmigiana, arista roast pork, peperonata, panna cotta, budino and an almond-based orange and chocolate cake.
Our pasta sauces are gluten-free too: serve them with your favorite gluten-free pasta. Stock cubes, baking powder and chocolate can contain hidden gluten, so always check the label. If you cook for someone with celiac disease, also take care to avoid cross-contamination in the kitchen.
Tuscan cauliflower with tomato, rosemary and fennel seeds
Even self-professed cauliflower haters will love this dish, if you can convince them to try it.
Spring minestrone: light Tuscan vegetable soup with beans
A slow-cooked minestrone made with fresh seasonal ingredients and served with good bread is a healthy and delicious dinner or lunch.
Flourless orange and almond cake with dark chocolate
This is a typical Sephardic Passover cake, which has various versions, made throughout the Mediterranean.
Dairy-free lemon custard (crema de llimona)
Made without milk, this lemon custard popularized by the Catalan chef Carme Ruscalleda is light, tangy and refreshing. Naturally gluten-free and very quick to prepare, it is lighter than classic lemon curd and an ideal summer dessert.
Tuscan slow-cooked green beans with tomato and basil
This is a signature dish of the late great Mario, the multitalented father of Tina who used to be one of our amazing instructors at our cooking classes in Italy. You may say that you like your green beans to be firm and crunchy, but after tasting this dish you may also appreciate their sweet, melt-in-the-mouth quality when slow cooked.
Sicilian orange and fennel salad with black olives
The most refreshing of winter salads, this sounds a little odd, but is wonderful!
Tuscan minestrone with cavolo nero and beans
The distinctive taste of this soup comes from the cavolo nero ("black cabbage"). This has recently been popularized by chefs such as Jamie Oliver and is now available in many farmers' markets.
Guinea fowl with walnuts and grapes: a Tuscan harvest recipe
This is a great dish for the autumn, with the nuts adding texture and the just-harvested grapes adding a smooth sweetness.
Artichoke risotto (risotto ai carciofi)
The best types of rice for making risotto are: Arborio, Carnaroli and Vialone nano. These have round grains and are starchy, becoming creamy when cooked.
Baked fennel with oranges and olives
Baked Fennel with Oranges and Olives is a light, fragrant, and incredibly simple dish to prepare. Inspired by the classic Sicilian fennel and orange salad, this version takes the same refreshing ingredients and transforms them in the oven, deepening their flavors. The sweetness of the oranges, the subtle anise notes of the fennel, and the briny kick from the black olives come together beautifully in this elegant side dish.
Asparagus and sausage pasta sauce
A quick spring pasta sauce of asparagus and Italian sausage, made creamy by blending part of the asparagus with olive oil. No cream needed. Ready in 30 minutes.
Peperonata: Italian sweet and sour stewed peppers
This dish is even nicer the day after it has been made and is delicious warm, cold and at room temperature!
Eggplant caponata: Sicilian sweet and sour eggplant, without deep-frying
Easy Sicilian eggplant (aubergine) caponata: a sweet and sour dish with celery, olives, capers and tomato. Lighter, make-ahead and best served cold.
Crostini with roasted peppers and goat cheese
Crostini are little appetizers that you can invent yourself depending on what’s in season and what ingredients you happen to have around. We often serve these crostini (which are red, white and yellow) alongside our green salsa verde crostini. A pretty combination!
Arugula pesto: a fresh, peppery pasta sauce in 10 minutes
Creamy fennel and saffron soup
A silky Tuscan soup of browned fennel and saffron, light and golden, made with just a handful of ingredients. An elegant first course for autumn.
Lemon pasta sauce: zesty, buttery and ready in 25 minutes
Crunchy pan-fried Brussels sprouts with hazelnuts and chili
They key to enjoying them is not to overcook them! This recipe keeps them crunchy and tasty.
Biancomangiare: Sicilian almond milk pudding
This dessert has clear Arab origins and is traditional in Sicily, Sardinia and the Val d'Aosta. It is generally made with cow's milk but in the Sicilian county of Modica it is made with almond milk.
Baked fennel with orange and pomegranate
Soft-baked fennel with orange and fresh pomegranate seeds: a colourful, easy autumn side dish from our Tuscan cooking school.
Creamy artichoke soup with potato and toasted hazelnuts
This is an adapted version of a traditional Jewish-Italian Purim dish.
Light asparagus and ricotta pasta sauce
Asparagus is available for only a very short season. We love it and try to eat it in as many ways as possible before the long wait for the next harvest.
Creamy panna cotta set with agar-agar, with fresh fruit sauce
The secret to a good panna cotta is achieving something that sets, but is still wonderfully creamy. Experiment with agar- agar quantities since they do vary!
Sweet and sour baby onions in balsamic vinegar (cipolline in agrodolce)
Your guests will be fighting over these tangy onions! Remember to provide plenty of bread to mop up the delicious caramelized sauce coating them. At our cooking school in Tuscany, this side dish is one of the biggest hits!