Honestly Healthy

The Tig Archives 08 / 11 / 2014

When you spend your summers at Le Boudin Blanc, enveloped in the melange of smells that only French food can seduce you with – le beurre blanc browning in a pan, the crisp baguette being pulled from the oven, the sizzling escargots and simmering coq au vin – let’s just say, you don’t necessarily think of Alkaline eating. But when you meet Natasha Corrett, whose website and magazine, Honestly Healthy, teaches you to eat well and to eat…well, deliciously – suddenly you get it. Natasha grew up in the aforementioned holy grail of French cuisine in London, honing her skills for cooking and flavor profiles. As an adult, when she wanted to introduce the UK to the concept of Alkaline eating, she was able to do so without sacrificing flavor; she understood the craft of cooking and the importance of wellness, so the launch of her much lauded Honestly Healthy was a no brainer. Natasha has since written two best selling books “Honestly Healthy Eat With Your Body In Mind The Alkaline Way” and “Honestly Healthy for Life.” She also has a fantastic food delivery service in the UK called “Fridge Fill.” She is clearly on a roll. A gluten-free roll.

Tash and her team shared an absolutely delicious recipe with The TIG that you must make. Why, you ask? Well A – I think any hostess would appreciate you showing up at her door with this stunning little tart bursting with flavors of the season; B – the word “gallette” is chic and makes me smile; C- it’s gluten free and absolutely delicious. A couple things to note: I know how daunting is to see things like “xanthan gum” or “gluten free flour” on an ingredient list — I feel your pain more than you know, because I was always the girl who would shun these recipes. But here’s the thing – you buy it once, you have it in your pantry and it’s done. It becomes one of your nouveau staples and you never have to bemoan it again. So just run to the store and make it happen.

Also, for my American friends – I am purposely keeping this recipe in grams, and you will hate me now but thank me later. First off, just like with kilometers, we need to get with the rest of the world and learn the metric system. We’re a tad belated. Secondly, when it comes to gluten free baking, not all flours have the same weight – so one cup of one gluten free flour may not yield the same amount as another…but the weight will always be consistent. And in baking, unlike cooking, exact measurements matter. Buy a baking scale and never fret over this stuff again.

Cheers to being an ever so chic, gluten-free baking, metric system loving, maker of gallettes. This one’s a crowd pleaser, and it’s finger licking good.

Gluten Free Peach & Redcurrant Gallette

Ingredients

For the Pastry:

  • 200g gluten free flour
  • 1tsp xanthan gum
  • 1/4tsp nutmeg, freshly grated if you can
  • 30g coconut palm sugar
  • 100g vegan butter
  • 1/4tsp Himalayan pink salt

For the Filling:

  • 70g berries (redcurrant, blackcurrant, raspberries or blackberries work well)
  • 280g peaches
  • 1tbsp coconut palm sugar

Instructions

  1. Pre-heat your oven to 175°C
  2. Start by making your pastry. Combine all of the ingredients in a bowl and mix until they come together to make a ball of dough. Wrap the ball of dough in the clingfilm and put it into the fridge to chill for at least half an hour.
  3. While your pastry is chilling, prepare your peaches by removing the stone and cutting them into 0.5cm half moons and tossing them in the coconut palm sugar.
  4. On a flat surface (in as cool a place as possible) lay out a large piece of parchment and place the pastry in the middle. Lay out some clingfilm over the top of the pastry and roll the pastry out between the parchment and the clingfilm into a rough circular shape until the dough is about 0.5cm thick.
  5. Get a pan that is around 25-30cm in diameter. Remove the top layer of clingfilm and lift the pastry with the parchment into the pan, pushing the dough together where any holes may have appeared. The pastry may be going up the sides a little at this point.
  6. Next arrange the peaches in the centre of the dough – I like to arrange the pieces in neat spiralled (concentric) circles until you reach the centre. Make sure you leave around 4-5cm of dough at the edges so that you can fold this over the top.
  7. Once you have laid out the peaches, sprinkle the redcurrants (or other berries) over the peaches and fold the outer edges of the pastry over the top, creating overlapping folds as you work around the edges.
  8. If you would like a shine to your pastry, you can brush it with egg wash (a mixture of 1 egg whisked with 3tbsp of rice or almond milk), but you can omit this phase if you want more of a rustic look. Lastly, sprinkle a little coconut palm sugar over the top and bake in the oven for 25 minutes or until the pastry is crisp and the fruit soft.
  9. Enjoy with a dollop of coconut yoghurt or dairy free ice cream.