I met Peter and Kelli Bronski during last year’s Gluten-Free Summit in Denver and knew instantly that I liked them. When I saw their cookbook, I really liked them. The book, Artisanal Gluten-Free Cooking is wonderful. Featuring their own gluten-free flour blend and over two-hundred and fifty eclectic recipes, this is a book that will not gather dust on your shelf. The pages will be dog-eared and splattered with Belgian waffle batter and homemade cocktail sauce before you ever put it down for the first time.

Every recipe offers a new exploration of homestyle cooking, with a touch of class. Of course, they cover all the traditional foods that people who are on a gluten-free diet want to cook— things like pasta, muffins, scones, pizza, and cake— but they offer so much more than bread recipes made with gluten-free flour. How about tostones or Costa Rican Slaw? Have a hankering for crab cakes? Maybe slow-cooked tilapia in spicy tomato broth? And if all this talk about delicious food is making you thirsty, don’t worry, Peter and Kelli included a chapter specifically designed to keep you hydrated with yummy liquid concoctions like Cupid’s Arrow and White Sangria. And an artisanal cookbook wouldn’t be a cookbook without desserts. I told you I liked these guys!

The interview

I recently spent some time with Peter and asked him about his gluten-free journey and how they managed to squeeze so many great recipes into such a small package. Peter is just an all-around great guy who loves sharing his knowledge and helping people— and it’s always a pleasure to talk with him. To listen to the interview (11 minutes), click here:

No Gluten, No Problem

And here’s a shameless plug for their blog: No Gluten, No Problem. It’s good. Check it out.

Lasagna Anyone?

Who doesn’t love lasagna? I couldn’t stand the thought of showing you the cover of the book and not giving you the recipe for that amazing lasagna. Thank you Peter and Kelli for sharing the delicious recipe.

Mediterranean Lasagna

For the Bechamel:

3 tbsp salted butter
4.5 tbsp Artisan GF Flour Blend
3 cups milk
Salt, pepper and ground nutmeg to taste
1.5 cups whole milk ricotta cheese

For the spinach filling:

1 tbsp olive oil
2 garlic cloves, minced
6 ounces fresh baby spinach
Salt and pepper to taste

For the tomato-pepper-mushroom filling:

1 tbsp butter
1/2 medium onion, small dice
1.5 cups sliced button mushrooms (about 4 ounces, or 5 medium mushrooms)
1/2 cup sun-dried tomatoes, thinly sliced
1/2 cup roasted red peppers, thinly sliced

1/4 cup pine nuts, dry roasted
8 ounces mozzarella cheese, shredded
Pasta Dough, formed into 4 thin sheets of lasagna

Instructions

1. To make the béchamel, melt the butter in a medium saucepan over medium-high heat. Add the flour and stir to combine. Cook until frothy and bubbly, about 2-5 minutes. (The sauce should be pale, not golden.) Add the milk all at once, whisking to combine and prevent lumps from forming. Season to taste with salt, pepper and ground nutmeg. Bring to a boil, then turn the heat down and simmer for 10 minutes. Remove from the heat, stir in the ricotta cheese, and set aside.
2. To make the spinach filling, heat the olive oil over medium-high heat in a medium non-stick skillet. Sauté the garlic until fragrant. Add the spinach, season with salt and pepper, and use tongs to turn the spinach until all leaves are wilted. Remove from the heat and set the spinach aside.
3. To make the tomato-pepper-mushroom filling, melt the butter over medium-high heat in the same skillet used for the spinach. Add the onions and sauté until translucent. Add the mushrooms and sauté until soft. Add the tomatoes and peppers and sauté for 2 minutes. Remove from the heat and set the filling aside.<
4. To dry roast the pine nuts, heat a clean, dry non-stick skillet over high heat. Add the nuts, and gently toss or stir until lightly golden, about 1-2 minutes.
5. Preheat the oven to 375 degrees.
6. To assemble the lasagna, spread a thin layer of the béchamel sauce in the bottom of a greased 9×9 baking pan. Add a sheet of lasagna noodle. Spread half the tomato-pepper-mushroom filling across the noodle, spread one quarter of the remaining béchamel sauce over the top, and sprinkle one quarter of the mozzarella cheese. Add a second sheet of lasagna, spread all of the spinach filling and one third of the pine nuts, spread one quarter of the béchamel, and one quarter of the mozzarella. Repeat the pattern for an additional tomato-pepper-mushroom layer. Lastly, top with the fourth lasagna noodle, the remaining béchamel and mozzarella cheese, and sprinkle with the remaining 2/3 of the pine nuts.
7. Bake for 40 minutes in the preheated oven, until the cheese is golden on top. Cover with tin foil, and bake for an additional 15-20 minutes.