Monday, 5 January 2015

Gluten-free tortellini?



The first time I tried to deal with rice flour, some of the dough got stuck to the rolling pin and the day after the latter was bent forever. I could never use it again.

This is a chronicle of a partial success or that of a partial failure. But we must see the half glass full, right?

My mistake was to use cold water, the first time. I got something in between a rock and wet sand.
Today the water was boiling hot and the flour, although without gluten, managed to become somewhat sticky. I have been reading many recipes about Chinese dumplings and somewhere in the way I got this information.
I'm not sure about the cemical process, I guess the starch becomes somehow a gel and gets easier to be worked.

Yield: max 2 servings (it was an experiment!)

For the dough, I used the following:
  • 1 cup of rice flour
  • 1 spoon of potato starch
  • 1 spoon of sunflower oil
  • 1 pinch salt
  • 4/5 of a cup of boiling water

Mix the flours, salt and oil in a bowl with a fork. Then pour the water. Stir using the fork, unless you want to spend some time in the hospital with 3rd degree burns.
Once you get a somewhat sticky mass, you can try and use your hands. It will be warm.
Make a ball and cover with plastic foil to avoid it dries.

For the stuffing, I used the vegan one given previously.

Dust the board and, with a rolling pin, make a sheet and cut in 3cm squares.

The dough is very delicate. I broke it straight away in the middle.
I collected the bits around the squares and made another ball, which I worked again with the rolling pin. This time, it was cold and more resistant.
So, make sure the dough has got cold before you make the sheet.
6/10 of a millimeter, as required for traditional tortellini, was too thin a thickness. I managed to close them, but I had less problems with a part that was a couple of millimeters. 

The tortellini I made look extremely delicate on the board. I wonder how to cook them. I guess steaming them would not destroy their delicate skin, or maybe they could be deep-fried. I wonder what happens in the broth.

Next time, I will be more precise.





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