The dough has a lovely crispy texture. I have also made crackers and breadsticks with it. And the fresh basil adds so much flavour to the filling. I’m already looking forward to next summer when I will be baking this tart again and again

This recipe for Basil Tomato Tart is vegan, gluten-free and oil-free. Tahini is the ingredients that works as an alternative for oil. This can be replaced with other nut- or seed butters.

For the topping you can use any kind of tomato. On the photos you can see the heritage tomatoes that we grew in our garden this year. So yummy!

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Basil Tomato Tart (Vegan, Gluten-free, Oil-free)

Perfect for summer – this vegan and gluten-free Basil Tomato Tart is full of flavour. Perfect as a side when having BB or as a lunchbox snack. For a 28cm tart form.

Course Baking Savoury

Diet Gluten Free, Vegan

Keyword Basil, gluten-free, Tart, Tomato, vegan

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 45 minutes minutes

Servings 10 Portions

Ingredients

For the dough:

• 150 g rice flour
• 70 g almond meal (or ground sunflower seeds)
• 2 tsp psyllium fiber husk, ground
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1/2 tsp baking powder
• 40 g tahini
• 160 ml mylk or water

For the filling:

• 70 g cashews (or blanched almonds, or macadamias)
• 200 ml water
• 3 tsp rice flour
• 2 tbsp yeast flakes (optional)
• 1/2 tsp salt
• 1-2 pinches chili powder
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 big bunch fresh basil
• 1-2 handful fresh tomatoes

Instructions

• For the dough, mix all dry ingredients in a bowl. Blend the tahini and water in a separate bowl.
• Pour the tahini mixture into the bowl with the dry ingredients and stir to combine until it forms a ball. Cover the bowl with a damp kitchen towel and let rest in the fridge for approx. 20 minutes.
• Preheat the oven to 190°C (top-/bottom heat). Spread the dough in the tart form, pulling it up the sides as well. Prebake it for approx. 10 to 15 minutes or until it browns very lightly.
• In the meantime blend the ingredients except the fresh bail in a highspeed-blender until smooth.

Please let me know what you think about this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! And if you remake this recipe, please share the picture with me on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook.

But I felt like creating a sauce that is not only vegan and gluten-free but also free from soy and nuts. Since I am a huge fan of sunflower seeds, I had to try a sauce with those. And yes, they make a beautiful base!

This sauce is rich and flavourful, with just the right amount of herbs and spices. Feel free to add heaps of other vegetables (egg plant, zucchini, capsicum, you name it)

Please note: there is a bit of soaking involved in order to make this recipe. Please make sure you plan in the additional time.

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No-Meat Sunflower Seed Bolognese Sauce (Vegan, Gluten-free, Soy-free, Nut-free)

This sauce is rich and flavourful, with just the right amount of herbs and spices. Feel free to add heaps of other vegetables (egg plant, zucchini, capsicum, you name it)

Course Bolognese, Sauce

Cuisine Italian

Diet Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword Bolognese, No-Meat, nut-free, Sauce, soy-free, Sunflower Sead

Servings 4 portions

Ingredients

• 150 g sunflower seeds soak them in filtered water for at least 6 hours, then rinse and drain
• 10 sun-dried tomatoes (without oil soak in filtered water for at least 3 hours, the drain
• 1 teaspoon coconut oil or 2 (instead of 1) tablespoon water for oil-free option
• 1 onion finely diced
• 1-2 carrots finely chopped
• 2 teaspoon dried oregano and/or dried basil & thyme
• 1-2 garlic cloves minced
• 2-3 teaspoon ground paprika
• 700 ml (approx.) bottle passata (pureed tomatoes)

Instructions

• Heat a medium sized pan with coconut oil or water. Cook the diced onion until golden brown. Then add carrots and cook for another 5 minutes.
• In a blender or food processor, pulse the sunflower seeds to crumbles. Add to the frying pan.
• Then chop or pulse the soaked sun-dried tomatoes and add to the frying pan. Sprinkle with dried oregano and stir through well.
• When it has cooked for a few minutes, add minced garlic and ground paprika. Stir well and then pour in passata. Rinse the passata bottle with a little water and add to the frying pan. Bring to the boil. Done

Notes

Enjoy!

Please let me know what you think about this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! And if you remake this recipe, please share the picture with me on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook.

I call this recipe a roasted cherry tomato pasta soup & sauce, because it actually works brilliantly as soup as well as a simple pasta sauce! And all that while being vegan, gluten-free and low-fat

If you are interested where I got my beloved heritage seeds from, you can check out Koanga Institute, based in New Zealand, they are my go to herb, vege and flower seed supplier

Best results with high-speed blender.

For 4 portions you’ll need:

1kg cherry tomatoes
a few fresh thyme sprigs (alternatively 1 teaspoon dried thyme)
a few fresh basil leaves (alternatively 1 teaspoon dried basil)
1-2 garlic cloves (optional)
salt & pepper to taste
1/2 to 1 cup water (depending on how thick you like it)

Preparation:

1. Preheat oven to 200°C (top-/bottom heat).

2. Line baking tray with baking paper and place cheery tomatoes, thyme and basil on it.

3. Bake for approx. 20 to 25 minutes, until some of the tomatoes are slightly browned.

4. Transfer tomatoes to high-speed blender. Remove thyme leaves of stalks and add as well basil leaves, garlic cloves and water. Then blend until smooth. Season with salt & pepper to taste.

Enjoy!

Please let me know what you think about this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! And if you remake this recipe, please share the picture with me on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook.

So here you have zucchini fritters that are not only vegan but also gluten-free and low-fat. They are super easy and quick to make and can liven up any dinner table, picnic blanket or barbecue

With only 7 ingredients and delicious summer flavours of sun-dried tomatoes and fresh basil, you will love this quick dish

Note: Sun-dried tomatoes are slightly salted, therefore I haven’t added additional salt.

For approx. 3-5 fritters you’ll need:

1 cup (150g) grated zucchini
1/4 cup (40g) corn flour
1 teaspoon psyllium fiber husk
3-4 roughly chopped sun-dried tomatoes (oil-free, soak them in water for a few hours and drain)
a few fresh basil leaves, chopped
1 garlic clove, crushed (optional)
1/4 cup water

Preparation:

1. Mix all ingredients except the water in a medium sized bowl.

2. Add water and mix well. It might seem a little too watery at first but the corn flour should soak up enough fluid to form the perfect batter.

3. Preheat non-stick frying pan. Using a piece of kitchen towel, grease it lightly with oil of your choice (if necessary). When heated up, scoop even portions of batter into the frying pan and fry on low heat each side until golden (approx. 10-15 minutes).

Enjoy!

Please let me know what you think about this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! And if you remake this recipe, please share the picture with me on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook.

I’ve been using sun-dried tomatoes for quite a while now. They can add some zing to many dishes. But they almost take the lead role in this dish. Combined with dried basil and oregano it creates a delicious pizza flavour.

Please note: I have baked the sweet potato without peeling until it became soft enough so that you can easily scoop it out of the peel. Depending on your oven this should take about 40 minutes. Let cool down properly.

For 1 small bowl you need:

10 sun-dried tomatoes (without oil)
3/4 cup water
2/3 cup baked, golden kumara/sweet potato (about one medium sized)
1 cup cooked cannellini beans
2 garlic cloves
1 teaspoon dried basil
1 teaspoon dried oregano
1/2 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper

Preparation:

1. Let the tomatoes soak in the water until they are softer.

2. Transfer to a high-speed blender or food processor. Add remaining ingredients and blend to a fine cream.

3. Transfer into serving bowl and let rest a while in the fridge before serving.

Enjoy!

Please let me know what you think about this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! And if you remake this recipe, please share the picture with me on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook.

Well, in my pantry this happens particularly to lentils. Somehow I have a love hate relationship with them. Once they are cooked though, I love them!

So I’ve motivated myself to use those forgotten ingredients again. And this is what happened as a result! A no-meat ball that is absolutely delicious! I haven’t tested them on my favourite omnivores yet but I will let you know what they said about them

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No-Meat Ball & Tomato Sauce (Vegan, Gluten-free, Soy-free, Nut-free, Oil-free Option)

Well, in my pantry this happens particularly to lentils. Somehow I have a love hate relationship with them. Once they are cooked though, I love them! So I’ve motivated myself to use those forgotten ingredients again. And this is what happened as a result! A vegan and gluten-free no-meat ball that is absolutely delicious! I haven’t tested them on my favourite omnivores yet but I will let you know what they said about them

Course Main

Cuisine German

Diet Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword Balls, Lentils, Meat-free, No-Meat, oil-free, soy-free, Tomato

Servings 4 people

Ingredients

For the no-meat balls:

• 150 g brown lentils (soak them for at least 12 hours and the cook and drain them)
• 1/2 onion diced
• 45 g buckwheat flour
• 2 tablespoon tahini
• 1 tablespoon fiber husk
• 1 1/2 teaspoon dried thyme
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 1 teaspoon cumin
• 1 teaspoon freshly ground black pepper
• 1/2 teaspoon garlic powder

For the sauce:

• 375 ml passata (pureed tomato)
• 1/2 onion diced
• 2 teaspoon ground paprika
• 1 teaspoon dried thyme
• salt & pepper to taste
• 375 ml water
• some cooking oil I prefer coconut oil or water, if you want to go for the oil-free version

Instructions

• Preheat the oven to 190°C. For the meatballs, mash the cooked and rinsed lentils in a medium sized bowl or pot. Then add the remaining ingredients and mix well.
• Line the baking tray with baking paper. Form the no-meat balls with your clean hands and place on the baking tray.
• Bake for approx. 10-15 minutes, then flip and bake another 10-15 minutes, until golden brown and relatively firm.
• While the balls are baking, heat the coconut oil in a medium sized frying pan and cook the diced onion until golden brown. If you don’t want to sue oil, cook the onion in a few tablespoon water until tender.
• Add paprika powder and mix well. Then quickly stir in the passata and cook for about 15 minutes, until is has thickened up considerably.
• Add the remaining spices and the water and mix well. Bring to boil again and let simmer for a few more minutes.
• When the balls are finished, add them to the sauce and gently cover them with it, don’t let them cook in the sauce. Serve with some freshly chopped herbs like oregano or basil

Notes

Enjoy!

Please let me know what you think about this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! And if you remake this recipe, please share the picture with me on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook.

She showed me how to make gnocchi. I was intrigued! She paid a lot of attention to the smallest detail in order to make it perfect. Even the tomato sauce was more labour intensive than I was used to. But of course, the result was absolutely delicious also!

Since living in New Zealand on a gluten-free diet, I have not had any gnocchi in years. So I decided that it is time, to refresh my memory and make my own! Only this time without gluten.

I’m sure this lady would roll her pretty eyes if she could see the not quite so impressive result, hee hee hee But I gave my best and am pretty pleased with the result! Nothing beats good old home-made cooking!

Make sure you use some floury potatoes, like agria, and fiber husk. These are the essential ingredients in this dish!

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Vegan & Gluten-free Gnocchi

One of my favourite pasta dishes – gnocchi all vegan and gluten-free. Make sure to use starchy potatoes. If you cook them one day prior you will have best results.

Course Main

Cuisine Italian

Diet Gluten Free, Vegan, Vegetarian

Keyword dairy-free, Gnocchi, Potato, Tomato, without egg

Prep Time 30 minutes minutes

Cook Time 5 minutes minutes

Cooling time up to 12 hours hours

Servings 2 portions

Ingredients

For the gnocchi:

• 500 g starchy potatoes (approx. 5 medium/large)
• 100 g rice flour
• 50 g potato starch
• 1 1/2 tablespoon fiber husk ground
• 1/2 teaspoon salt
• some flour to dust the surface I prefer rice flour

For the tomato sauce:

• 1 bottle passata
• 1/2 small onion
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 tablespoon coconut oil
• 1 teaspoon thyme
• 1/2 teaspoon coconut sugar
• salt & pepper to taste
• 1 handful fresh basil leaves

Instructions

For the gnocchi:

• Peel and cook the potatoes in a pot of water until soft. Drain the water and mash the potatoes as fine as possible. Let cool down a little.
• Add buckwheat flour, fiber husk and salt. Mix well.
• Dust the surface with some rice flour. Take some of the dough into your (clean) hands and roll it finger-thick. Then cut it into approx. 1 inch long pieces. You can also make them bigger if you like.
  
• Pick up one piece at a time and smooth the corners. Then place it in your palm, holding it slightly facing downwards. Take a fork and and press it into the gnocchi. Then press the fork and pull it at the same time downwards. The gnocchi should roll with the fork and you will spread the fork imprint onto it (you can skip this step but it helps to make the sauce stick to the gnocchi). Keep dusting the surface until all gnocchi are prepared.
  
• Bring a big pot of water to boil. In the meantime prepare the sauce. You want the sauce to be ready when the water starts boiling. Because once it boils, things will go at a pretty good pace
• Once the water boils, pour the gnocchi into the pot. Reduce the heat and avoid the water coming to a boil again. They will start to float onto the surface when they are done. This will happen pretty quick so be prepared to scoop them out of the pot asap!

For the tomato sauce:

• I recommend to have the sauce ready when the water for the gnocchi starts to boil. Peel and chop the onion into fine cubes. Peel and mice the garlic into a small bowl.
• Heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan (I prefer my wok for this). Cook the onion until they start to turn golden brown. Add thyme and cook it for a few more minutes, stirring constantly.
• Add the passata, stir well and bring to boil. Add salt and pepper to taste. While it simmers, pluck the fresh basil leaves into small pieces. Then switch off the stove and add the minced garlic as well as the basil leaves.
• When the gnocchi are starting to cook and float to the surface, scoop them out of the pot straight into the tomato sauce, stirring them very gentle. Serve immediately.

Notes

Enjoy!

NOTE: I prepare the garlic prior to cooking because it is best crushed to activate its goodness. It is also better if you add it to the dish at the end so as not to cook it to death. It will have a much stronger flavour. Since I have been preparing it this way, I’m using less because it is pretty powerful.

Please let me know what you think about this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! And if you remake this recipe, please share the picture with me on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook.

No photo could show you how flavourful this dish is!

The only thing I can do, is to beg you to try this! With only 9 ingredients it is pretty easy to make. Once you have the flavours spreading in your mouth, you’ll be very happy you went to make it!

I like my food more often hot than not, but of course you can skip the chili or sub for a less hot one.

Because I’m using sun-dried tomatoes, which are treated with salt, I don’t think you need to add any salt. With garlic and chili you have enough kick that you won’t even miss it

For 4 portions you’ll need:

1 cup red split lentils (soaked in filtered water for at least 6 hours then drained)
1 small onion
1 tablespoon coconut oil
1 teaspoon whole coriander
1 teaspoon cumin seeds
1 Thai birds eye chili, finely chopped

10 dried tomatoes, soaked in 1 cup of water
1 can coconut milk
1-2 cloves of garlic, minced

Preparation:

1. Peel and chop the onion into small cubes. Heat the coconut oil in a large frying pan (a wok works very well here) and then cook the onions, stirring well, until they start to turn golden. Then add the coriander and cumin seeds and roast them for another 2 minutes or so.

2. Add the chopped chili, soaked lentils and coconut milk to the frying pan. Stir well and let cook.

3. Blend the dried tomatoes in the water that you soaked them with until they are a fine cream. I use my high-speed blender for this. Add to the frying pan.

4. After about 5 minutes (or more) the lentils should have soaked up a lot of the fluid and start to turn soft. Turn off the heat and when the Dal has stopped boiling, add the minced garlic.

Enjoy!

Please let me know what you think about this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! And if you remake this recipe, please share the picture with me on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook.

At last I decided to try my own recipe. I knew I wanted to try it with some roughly ground up sunflower-seeds. And that really was a great idea!

It doesn’t only reduce the usual gluten-free flour but also adds a nice flavour and texture

I’ve made the pizza with some seasonal veges and cheesy cashew cream.

For 2 pizzas you’ll need:

For the dough:
/4 cup (100g) sunflower seeds (soaked in filtered water for a few hours and then rinsed)
1 cup (140g) buckwheat flour
1 heaped tablespoon fiber husk
1/3 teaspoon salt
2 tablespoon olive oil
1 tablespoon apple cider vinegar

1 cup warm water
3 teaspoon dried active yeast

some extra flour for ‘finalizing’ the dough

Tomato pizza sauce:
1 cup passata
1 teaspoon thyme
1 teaspoon basil
1 teaspoon oregano
2 garlic cloves (minced)
salt & pepper to taste

For the topping:
2 big mushrooms
1 red capsicum
2 courgettes
5-6 dried tomatoes (in oil)
approx. 7-8 olives (pitted)
2-3 garlic cloves

Cheesy cashew cream:
1/2 cup (70g) cashews (soaked in filtered water for at least 6 hours and then rinsed)
1/2 cup water
4 tablespoon olive oil
3 heaped tablespoon nutritional yeast flakes
1/3 teaspoon ground nutmeg

Preparation:

1. Mix the yeast with one cup warm water. Stir well to dissolve and place aside for approx. 10 minutes.
2. In the meantime mix the buckwheat flour with the fiber husk and salt in a medium-sized bowl.
3. Blitz the sunflower-seeds until they are relatively fine – don’t worry if some seeds stay whole.Add ground sunflower-seeds to the flour-mixture. Pour in the the yeast mixture as well as the olive oil and vinegar. If it is too dry, add a little more warm water. Mix well for a few minutes.
4. Place a damp (clean) dish towel on top and place in a warm place for approx. 1 hour to let the dough rise.
5. In the meantime you can prepare the tomato pizza sauce by mixing all ingredients in a small bowl.
6. For the cheesy cashew cream blend the cashew nuts with the water to a fine cream. Then add olive oil, yeast flakes and nutmeg. Stir well.
7. When the dough has risen enough, sprinkle the table with some flour and drop the dough onto it. Sprinkle some flour on top until it is dry enough so it won’t stick to your fingers.Knead the dough for a few minutes. If it gets too sticky add some more flour.
8. Split the dough into two parts, roll a ball, press it a little flat before placing on the pizza tray. Spread the dough evenly to the border.
9. Let then rise in a warm spot for another 15 minutes.In the meantime preheat the oven to the highest temperature it can go
10. Also prepare the veges: peel and chop the garlic. Clean out the capsicum and cut into very thin slices. Also cut the courgettes and the mushrooms into fine slices. Pip the olives and chop into rough pieces. Also chop the dried tomatoes.
11. After 15 minutes, use a fork to make some indentations into the dough so that the sauce will stick better. Scoop the pizza sauce onto the risen pizza dough and spread evenly. Sprinkle with garlic, olives and dried tomatoes. Then add mushrooms, courgettes and capsicum.
12. Place in the oven and bake for approx. 10-15 minutes. Sprinkle with the cashew cream before dishing up.
    Enjoy!

The good thing about this situation: it motivates me to make my own. It not only tastes better but you also know what it is actually made of.

So for this recipe I’ve used soaked sunflower seeds which are very healthy and good for a balanced diet. I blended them for not too long so as to leave a bit of rustic texture to it. While I’ve used dried tomatoes in oil (you can use dried tomatoes that have been soaked in filtered water overnight too) you can also use more tomato paste instead. It doesn’t have the same rich flavour though.

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Sunflower Seed Tomato Spread (Vegan, Lactose-free, Gluten-free)

For this vegan and lactose-free recipe I’ve used soaked sunflower seeds which are very healthy and good for a balanced diet. I blended them for not too long so as to leave a bit of rustic texture to it.

Course spread

Cuisine German

Diet Gluten Free, Low Lactose, Vegan

Keyword Basil, Capsicum / Peppers, nut-free, Spread, Sunflower Sead, Tomato

Servings 250 ml

Equipment

• high-speed blender

Ingredients

• 110 g sunflower seeds soak these in water for approx. 8 hours, then rinse & drain
• 10 dried tomatoes soak these in in water for a few hours as well, then drain
• 160 g passata
• 1 heaped tsp basil
• 2-3 tsp ground paprika
• salt & pepper to taste
• a few pinches ground chili

Instructions

• Start by soaking the sunflower seeds in water for approx. 8 hours, then rinse and drain. Also soak the dried tomatoes for a few hours. Then drain.
• Then simply blend all ingredients in a high-speed blender until smooth. Store in an airtight container in the fridge. Use within a few days. It also tastes great with different herbs and spices.

Notes

Enjoy!

Please let me know what you think about this recipe, I’d love to hear from you! And if you remake this recipe, please share the picture with me on Pinterest, Instagram or Facebook.