Gluten-free party food – these are the recipes to do it

Gluten-free party snacks

Catering for a gluten-free party basically means choosing from two kinds of snack:

1. baked goods made with gluten-free flour
2. recipes that don’t use ingredients with gluten anyway.
   

Examples of gluten-free foods are vegetables, dairy products, fish, meat, nuts, rice and corn. But be careful before buying processed snacks like crisps as they often include gluten in the form of emulsifiers, flavourings or binders.

Food without gluten

The key to gluten-free catering is therefore to choose natural, untreated ingredients and foods with gluten-free labels. Luckily this doesn’t cut out all the classic finger food options. Guests with gluten intolerance (coeliac disease) can also happily tuck into nuts, popcorn, and combinations of tomato and mozzarella or ham and melon.

Recipe for home-made breadsticks

Gluten-free finger food at its best: home-made breadsticks are a winner at any party. These gluten-free variations easily hold their own against their classic counterparts.

Ingredients

• 250g gluten-free flour, ideally a bread mix
• 20g fresh yeast (or half a small pack of dry yeast)
• 1/2 tsp. salt
• 1/2 tsp. sugar
• 2dl lukewarm water
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• additions depending on taste: Parmesan, rosemary
  

Method

1. Put the flour and salt into a bowl, mix and form a well.
2. Crumble the fresh yeast into the well, sprinkle with sugar and pour a little warm water on top. Leave to rise until the mixture of water, yeast and sugar forms small bubbles.
3. Add the rest of the water plus the olive oil and knead everything into a dough.
4. Divide the dough into three pieces, kneading a little Parmesan into one and rosemary into another.
5. Roll out the dough pieces to a thickness of approx. five millimetres, cover, and leave to rise for 15 minutes.
6. Cut the dough into sticks approx. one centimetre wide and twist.
7. Lay on a sheet of baking paper and bake in the oven at 220 degrees for around ten minutes.
   

Gluten-free bread

A variation of the breadsticks recipe can be used to make quick and easy gluten-free bread.

Ingredients

• 500g gluten-free flour, ideally a bread mix
• 20g fresh yeast (or half a small pack of dry yeast)
• 1 tsp. salt
• 4.5dl warm water
• 2 tbsp. rapeseed oil or sunflower oil
  

Method

1. Put the flour and salt into a bowl, mix and form a well.
2. Crumble the fresh yeast into the well and pour a little warm water on top. Leave to rise until the yeast and water mixture forms small bubbles.
3. Add the rest of the water plus the oil and knead into a dough.
4. Put the dough into a bowl, cover with a cloth and leave to rise in a warm place for 45 minutes.
5. Form the dough into a ball, place it on a baking tray lined with baking paper, and leave to rise for another 30 minutes.
6. Bake in the oven at 220 degrees for around 50 minutes.
   

Party food recipe from Russia: buckwheat blinis with salmon

Since buckwheat is not a true grain, it doesn’t contain gluten. But, as buckwheat flour has such a strong taste of its own, it’s often a good idea to mix it with a neutral, gluten-free flour. However, if you like the taste, then go ahead and make the recipe with pure buckwheat flour!

Ingredients

• 250g buckwheat flour or half buckwheat flour / half gluten-free flour
• 20g fresh yeast (or half a small pack of dry yeast)
• 2.5dl butter milk
• 2 eggs
• salt and pepper
• crème fraîche
• smoked salmon
  

Method

1. Put the flour into a bowl and form a well.
2. Crumble the yeast into the well and add a little lukewarm buttermilk. Leave to rise for about ten minutes.
3. Then add the rest of the buttermilk, eggs and salt.
4. Mix well and leave to rise for approx. 30 minutes.
5. Heat a pan with butter or oil and cook the blinis by adding the mixture in spoonfuls of around 1-2 tbsp.
6. Season the crème fraîche and dollop onto the warm blinis.
7. Top with smoked salmon and serve.
   

Gluten-free party snacks: bruschetta

A traditional recipe that can be easily prepared without gluten. Use gluten-free bread.

Ingredients

• gluten-free bread
• olive oil
• garlic cloves
• 300g cherry tomatoes
• basil or oregano
• salt and pepper
  

Method

1. Quarter the tomatoes, remove the seeds and dice finely.
2. Finely chop the basil and oregano.
3. Place the tomatoes and herbs in a bowl and mix with the salt, pepper and olive oil.
4. Cut the bread into slices and rub with halved garlic cloves.
5. Heat the olive oil in a pan and fry the bread slices on both sides.
6. Spoon the tomato and herb mixture onto the bread slices while still warm.
   

Another Italian classic: tapenade

Tapenade is similar to bruschetta, but the topping is olive paste rather than tomatoes.

Ingredients

• 150g stoned olives (green or black)
• 1 garlic clove
• 1 anchovy fillet (preserved in oil)
• 1 tbsp. capers
• 3 tbsp. olive oil
• pepper
  

Method

1. Peel the garlic and place in a blender with the olives, anchovy and capers.
2. Blend while gradually adding the olive oil.
3. Keep blending until the mixture is creamy.
4. Season with pepper and serve on toasted (gluten-free) bread.

Vegetable snack: crudités with dip

This is a must-have at any party and is loved by almost everyone, young and old alike.

Ingredients

• cucumber
• carrots
• red and yellow peppers
• crème fraîche
• salt
• chives
  

Method

1. Cut the vegetables into sticks. Finely chop the chives.
2. Mix the crème fraîche and chives in a bowl and season with salt.
3. Serve the crudités with the dip.