It is not only people with gluten intolerance who need a varied diet. Sometimes people also abstain from gluten because of stomach upsets. A gluten-free diet does not mean that the choice is monotonous; you can prepare practically any recipe as a gluten-free variant. Of course, this also includes a delicious pizza.

What is gluten-free pizza dough made of?

Ready-made gluten-free dough is usually made from various ingredients with the addition of agar-agar, xanthan gum (a thickening agent), starch and powdered pulses. When mixed and baked, the starch and gelatine form a bond that holds the dough together, but is very easy on the stomach and well tolerated by people with coeliac disease.

There are ready-made dough mixes for preparing pizza dough at home, which are used in the same way as for conventional baking with flour. However, you can also make your own gluten-free pizza dough completely and easily at home.

Is gluten-free pizza dough healthier?

There is no doubt that gluten-free dough is healthier for people who suffer from gluten intolerance. For people without an intolerance, allergy or other stomach upset, it doesn't matter from a health point of view which dough you use, provided you use wholemeal flour for conventional pizza dough. Some believe that gluten-free is generally better for everyone, as the stomach doesn't have to work as hard. 

Gluten-free pizza dough recipe

Ingredients for gluten-free dough:

1 1/2 cups brown rice flour

2 tbsp milk powder

1 tsp baking powder

3/4 tsp salt

1 tsp xanthan gum (available from Amazon, for example)

1 1/2 tsp dry yeast

1 tbsp sugar

1 cup of warm water

4 tbsp olive oil

Instructions for gluten-free pizza dough

Mix together the rice flour, milk powder, baking powder, salt, xanthan gum and sugar. Mix half a cup of the flour mixture with the warm water, sugar, 2 tablespoons of olive oil and the yeast, cover and leave to stand for half an hour.

Using a hand mixer, mix the yeast mixture with the dry mixture until a smooth and sticky dough is formed. Now leave the dough to stand for a further half hour, preheating the oven to 250 degrees.

Spread the remaining olive oil on a pizza tin and flatten the dough with wet fingers. 

Now you can bake the pizza dough for 8-10 minutes until the dough is firm. Then top the pizza as desired and finish baking.

Make your own brown rice flour

You don't necessarily have to buy ready-made rice flour; if you have a coffee grinder or moulinette, you can grind brown rice until it is fine enough.

Preparation Mate Latte

Prepare about 250ml of Mate tea in the usual way. Strain the tea after brewing.

Stir sweetener into the liquid to taste.

Froth the milk with a milk frother and pour onto the tea drink. Serve the drink immediately without stirring.

Drinking mate in the calabash is a sign of friendship and hospitality. After preparing the drink, the host drinks the first fill of the calabash to be sure that the drink is perfectly prepared. Afterwards, the calabash is refilled with hot water and passed on to the next guest in an anti-clockwise direction, with the drinking straw facing the person. 

Everyone drinks the entire contents of the calabash, because you only share the container and not the liquid. You drink as fast or as slowly as you like until the calabash is empty. Then you hand it back to the host, who fills it up again and passes it on to the next person. This is repeated until the tea loses its taste. 

Preparation of the mate in the calabash

Fill the calabash 2/3 full with dried mate leaves. Shake it gently so that the tea stays on one side and leaves space on the other side.

2. the drinking straw is placed in the calabash with the filter end first.

3. put a little cold water on the empty side of the calabash and then tilt it so that the dried leaves can absorb the water. This preserves the aroma and properties of the plant.

Boil the water and let it cool to about 70 degrees. Now fill the water into the calabash up to the rim. Use the drinking straw to suck out all the liquid and add fresh water. This ensures that the guests only get the drink when the mate has reached its optimal taste and is not too strong.

Afterwards, the calabash is refilled with water for each guest. The latter drinks it empty and hands it back to the host. While drinking, the drinking straw should not be moved too much so as not to disturb the leaves.

6. a calabash can be refilled about 15 to 20 times.

Easy recipe for children from 4 years. The children can help to prepare the chocolate balls themselves. The finished chocolate balls make a good gift.

Ingredients for chocolate balls

Butter biscuits

Chocolate sprinkles

Colourful sprinkles

Cocoa powder

Sugar

Quark or mascarpone

Utensils

Spoon

Bowl

Mug

Tray

Cellophane paper

small gift basket

Preparation

1. crumble the shortbread biscuits.

2. mix the biscuit crumbs with the quark or mascarpone, cocoa and sugar until a firm mixture forms.

3 Shape the mixture into small balls.

4 Cover the balls with chocolate sprinkles and coloured sprinkles.

5 Wrap the finished baubles in cellophane paper and pack them in a gift basket.

Store in the refrigerator until ready to eat.

Chai or masala chai is a tea blend of black tea, spices, milk and sugar and is a popular drink in India. There are many different variations of chai as well as recipes that adapt to western tastes. Here is a collection of the best masala chai recipes.

Instructions for fresh chai

You can buy ready-made tea blends, but they are nothing like freshly brewed chai made from loose tea and spices. 

Put the milk, water and spices in a saucepan. Bring to the boil and simmer over medium heat for 10 minutes. Mix in the sugar and tea and simmer for another 5 minutes. Strain through a sieve and serve.

Assam or Darjeeling are best. For a good chai, the quality of the tea is less important than the strong aroma.

Kashmiri Chai

Ingredients for 4 cups

1 teaspoon loose tea

4 cardamom pods

1 half cinnamon stick

a pinch of saffron

4 cups water

1 cup milk

2 tablespoons finely ground almonds

Honey or sugar to taste

Spicy milk chai

Ingredients for 4 cups

4 teaspoons green tea

6 whole cloves

1/2 teaspoon ground ginger

1 teaspoon cinnamon

1 cup milk

4 cups water

Sugar

Masala Chai

Ingredients for 4 cups

4 teaspoons loose tea

1 piece ginger

3 cardamom pods

3 whole cloves

1/2 cinnamon stick

2 cups water

1 cup milk

Sugar

Vanilla Chai

Ingredients for 4 cups

3 cups water

6 whole cloves

1 cinnamon stick

1 vanilla pod

1 cup milk

1 tablespoon honey

1 tablespoon loose tea

Spicy Chai

Ingredients for 4 cups

1 tablespoon loose tea

1/2 cinnamon stick

8 cloves

1/2 teaspoon nutmeg

Black pepper, ground

1/2 teaspoon aniseed

1 tablespoon sugar

3 cups water

1 cup milk

Too much milk in the fridge to use up in time? Try turning the milk into delicious, self-righteous cottage cheese.

For every litre of milk you need a quarter cup of clear vinegar, half a teaspoon of salt and 50ml of cream.

Pour the milk into a large pan and heat up. When the milk starts to steam, remove the pan from the heat and stir in the vinegar. Stir slowly for two minutes. The milk will now start to curdle and form lumps. Cover and leave to stand at room temperature for half an hour.

Drain the lumps of milk in a sieve lined with cheesecloth and allow to drain thoroughly. Fold up the cloth and rinse under cold water until all the lumps have cooled. Knead with your fingers. Once cooled, squeeze dry as well as possible and place in a mixing bowl. Add the salt and break up the lumps. Stir the cream into the cottage cheese just before serving.

Tartar sauce goes well with fish dishes and seafood and as a dip for chips. The sauce tastes best when prepared a few hours before eating, but can also be eaten immediately. Tartar sauce can be kept in the refrigerator for up to three days.

Ingredients for tartar sauce

250ml mayonnaise
1 tablespoon vinegar marinade
1 tablespoon finely chopped onion
2 tablespoons lemon juice
Salt and pepper

Preparation

In a small bowl, mix the mayonnaise, vinegar marinade and onions together well.
Mix in the lemon juice.
Season with salt and pepper to taste.
Chill in the fridge until ready to use.

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Cauliflower has quite a delicate flavour and therefore needs to be cooked properly to bring out its best benefits. This is how to cook delicious, tasty cauliflower.

When buying cauliflower, make sure that the heads are firm, have a healthy, creamy white colour and do not have any blackish spots. If you keep the cauliflower for a few days, it should be stored in a cool place so that it does not wilt. Cauliflower should also be cooked in an open pot with a small amount of water. Cooking with a lid can bring out the strong cabbage flavour, which is not to everyone's taste.

The cut cauliflower heads are dipped in ice-cold salted water and then filtered out. The cold salted water is heated on the hob. As soon as the water boils, the cauliflower is added and simmered over a low heat. If you cook cauliflower for too long or over too high a heat, the beautifully shaped heads will disintegrate and lose their flavour and colour. After about 5 to 10 minutes, use a fork to check how soft the cauliflower is. The fork should be easy to insert without splitting the cauliflower. Remove the cooked cauliflower heads from the water and drain.

1st variation: Cauliflower with tomato sauce
To make the tomato sauce, melt three tablespoons of butter. Mix in three tablespoons of flour, salt and pepper using a hand mixer. Mash the peeled and cooked tomatoes and stir into the roux. Heat and simmer until a thick sauce is formed. Pour the tomato sauce over the cauliflower and serve hot. The colour contrast between the white cauliflower and the red tomato sauce is a feast for the eyes.

2nd variant: Cauliflower with cream sauce
Prepare the roux as for tomato sauce (3 tablespoons butter and 3 tablespoons flour). Stir in 250ml milk and about 200ml of the cauliflower stock. Bring to the boil and simmer until the sauce thickens. Season with salt and pepper to taste. Pour the finished sauce over the cauliflower and serve.

3rd variant breaded cauliflower
Beat two raw eggs and season with salt and pepper. Roll the cooked cauliflower heads in the raw egg. Then dust with flour or breadcrumbs and fry in plenty of olive oil on both sides until a golden crust forms.

New York pizza is famous for its thin crust, here is a recipe suggestion for the pizza dough.

Ingredients for pizza dough
One packet of dry yeast
200ml lukewarm water
1/2 teaspoon sugar
approx. 500g flour
2 tablespoons olive oil
1 teaspoon salt

Preparation
Mix the lukewarm water with the dry yeast, sugar and about 100g flour in a mixing bowl and leave to rest for 20 minutes.
Now add olive oil, salt and a further 300g of flour to the pre-dough and stir with a wooden spoon until a dough forms.
Knead for about 10 minutes, gradually adding more flour until you have a soft, elastic dough. Do not add too much flour, just enough so that the surface does not stick.

Shape the dough into a ball and place in a large bowl. If necessary, drizzle the surface with a few drops of oil to prevent it from becoming dry. Cover the bowl and leave to rise in a warm place for two hours until the dough has doubled in volume.

The dough can now be used to make the pizza dough.

Rhubarb deserves a better reputation and a starring role in sweet dishes. Often rhubarb is only added to desserts as a garnish to strawberries, but the appetising reddish stalks can do much more. Here are some ways to enjoy rhubarb.

Rhubarb is actually a vegetable, but is usually used like fruit because it is quite sweet. Rhubarb is very rich in vitamin C and fibre. Even after cooking, it keeps its beautiful colour and makes the dessert look very pretty and appetising. It is 95% water and cooks very quickly. Usually you remove the leaves and cut the stalks into small pieces, which are cooked in a pot with a little water in just ten minutes. Afterwards, you can sweeten the rhubarb as you like and season it with vanilla or cinnamon.

Mix the softly cooked rhubarb with the same amount of whipped cream or quark and serve in a chilled glass. It looks nice if the cream and rhubarb are stirred in only briefly, but not completely mixed, so that the dessert is two-coloured.

Boil the rhubarb pieces with a little more water and then strain through a sieve. Sweeten and chill the strained rhubarb juice and either drink straight or serve with a shot of sparkling wine.

Pour some cream yoghurt into a bowl, top with rhubarb puree and garnish with a handful of pistachios.

Instead of apple pieces, you can add pre-cooked rhubarb pieces to a sunken apple pie for a delicious rhubarb pie.