The Big Book of Wheat-Free Cooking: Includes Gluten-Free, Dairy-Free, and Reduced Fat Recipes

1.5kg/31b 5oz pumpkin with top and bottom sliced off, quartered, peeled, seeds removed, and the flesh coarsely chopped

1.5 litres/6 cups allergy-free vegetable stock (bouillon) or 2 teaspoons allergy-free vegetable bouillon powder dissolved in boiling water

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

Creole seeds

1 teaspoon paprika

½ teaspoon ground cumin

½ teaspoon mixed spice* (#litres_trial_promo) (pie spice)

60g/⅓ cup pumpkin seeds

175g/1 cup canned or frozen, unsweetened, sweetcorn kernels, drained or defrosted

Gently cook the onion in 1 tablespoon of oil in a large pan over a low heat until soft, but do not let them brown. Add the garlic, cumin seeds, thyme, bay leaves, nutmeg, allspice and chilli and stir together for 1 minute. Stir in the pumpkin, cover with the vegetable stock (bouillon) and bring to the boil over a medium heat. Simmer the soup for about 40 minutes, or until the pumpkin is soft.

Prepare the Creole seeds. Mix the paprika, ground cumin, mixed spice (pie spice) and the remaining oil together in a little bowl and toss the seeds in the mixture. Fry them in a non-stick pan with the sweetcorn for about 3–4 minutes until dark brown at the edges.

Leave the soup to cool and then purée in a blender until smooth. Transfer the soup back to the pan, reheat and season to taste with pepper. Stir in the hot Creole seeds and sweetcorn and serve immediately.

Pumpkin Soup with Creole Seeds

Summer Cooler Soup

This soup is a triumph for those of us who prefer ‘no-cooking’ recipes for summer dinner parties. When you are feeding just a few people, halve the quantities, keep the leftover soup chilled, then fill a thermos with some and take it to lunch with you over the next day or two.

Serves 8

1 head crisp celery, carefully trimmed of leaves, root, blemishes and all tough fibres then coarsely chopped

1 litre/4 cups organic, pure tomato juice

1 large firm cucumber, peeled and coarsely chopped

700ml/2¾ cups organic, fresh or bottled carrot juice

1 small bunch spring onions (scallions), very finely chopped

1 large garlic clove, crushed

Chilli sauce* (#litres_trial_promo) or minced chilli in vegetable oil

Juice of 1 lemon (or according to taste)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

15g/½oz fresh parsley, finely chopped

Purée the prepared celery with the tomato juice in a blender, at the highest speed, until smooth. Pour it into a big serving bowl. Purée the cucumber with the carrot juice until smooth and add to the tomato and celery juice mixture in the bowl.

Sprinkle the soup with the spring onions (scallions), garlic, chilli and lemon juice and then stir and season to taste with salt and pepper.

Cover and chill until needed. Serve the soup chilled in soup bowls and sprinkle with the parsley.

Coconut and Tomato Soup

I made this by sheer accident one evening when I was rooting around the store cupboard, having run out of immediate ideas for dinner. As we love anything Thai or Indian, this seemed a rather good blend and has been made on many occasions since. The good news is that it can be served either hot or cold.

Serves 4

1 large onion, finely chopped

1 tablespoon cold pressed extra virgin olive oil

2 teaspoons ground cumin

1 teaspoon ground coriander

1 teaspoon mixed spice (pie spice)* (#litres_trial_promo)

1 litre/4 cups organic, pure tomato juice

3 teaspoons allergy-free vegetable bouillon powder

400ml/14fl oz can reduced-fat coconut milk (Blue Dragon)

Sea salt and freshly ground black pepper

7g/¼oz fresh coriander (cilantro) leaves, chopped

Optional

A little minced chilli in oil or a chilli sauce* (#litres_trial_promo)

Cook the onion in the oil with all the spices and chilli until softened, over a fairly low heat so that the onion does not brown. Increase the heat to medium, add the tomato juice and bouillon powder and stir occasionally while it is simmering. After about 20 minutes remove from the heat, stir in the coconut milk and leave to cool before puréeing in a blender until smooth.

Reheat the soup over a medium heat for about 10 minutes, seasoning with salt, pepper and more chilli if necessary. Serve with a sprinkling of fresh coriander (cilantro). Alternatively, transfer the soup to a bowl, cool, cover and chill until needed.

Pasta and Bean Soup

We often have this soup as a meal in itself. It is a healthy, warming winter lunch or Sunday-night supper for all the family. The Italians have all sorts of pastas that could be used for this dish, but it will be just as authentic if you use wheat-free macaroni, or you could break up some wheat-free tagliatelle. This soup can be frozen.

Serves 4–6

2 × 400g/14oz cans borlotti beans or 455g/1lb dried ones, soaked for 12 hours