When I was diagnosed with celiac disease seven years ago, the foods I missed the most were pasta, bread, pizza, and cannoli, all Italian foods of course. Since then, I have found several brands of gluten free pasta that even my gluten-eating family loves, and we make great pizza and cannoli at home. The problem has been bread. At Disney, I have been able to get my bread fix with the amazing gluten free naan at Sanaa, and the focaccia at Erin McKenna's Bakery NYC. When I am in the mood for a bagel, I have a stock of Sweet Note Bagels in my freezer. I have also been very happy with the Easter Bread and dinner rolls recipes I make, but I have missed ciabatta, French bread, and Italian bread that actually tastes like the gluten-filled bread I still remember.
Last night, we made Luce's OMG Flatbread Mix, and I was amazed by how easy it was to make, and how good it tasted. The mix is manufactured in a gluten free facility, and is dairy free, egg free, nut free and soy free. There is no kneading and no rising, and all you have to add is water. Ingredients: potato starch, brown rice flour, modified tapioca starch, millet flour, sorghum flour, gluten-free oat flour, xanthan gum, salt, yeast, sugar, baking soda, and dehydrated garlic.
You can make flatbread with the mix in a skillet or on a BBQ grill, but we chose to make our flatbread in the oven. Before I started making my bread, I preheated my oven to 400 degrees with my USA Pans 13 x 18 non-stick baking sheet in it. I used two cups of OMG (oats, millet, garlic) flour, and mixed it with 1 1/2 cups of warm water, until the flour was incorporated. After letting the mixture sit for 5 minutes, I stirred the bread as directed with 50 vigorous strokes of my spatula. According to the directions, I prepared enough mix for 8 flatbreads, but I chose to make four, because I wanted them to be thicker and more substantial.
I cut a pre-cut 12 1/2 x 16 parchment baking sheet into four rectangles, one for each piece of bread. I dusted the parchment sheets with the white rice dusting flour included with the mix, then divided the dough equally between them. I used the spatula I mixed my bread dough with to spread out the dough on the parchment sheets, leaving about 1/2 to 1 inch on each side, before sprinkling the top of each piece of dough with a little bit more of the dusting flour.
I took my baking sheet out of the oven while I was shaping my bread. I then carefully flipped all four pieces, dough side down, onto my baking sheet. I left the parchment paper in place, and put the baking sheet on a rack in the top third of my oven. After 18 minutes, I removed the parchment paper, and flipped each piece of bread over to bake for 14 more minutes, for a total baking time of 32 minutes. Allow the bread to sit on the baking sheet for 10 minutes before serving.
Sadly, it was pretty dark last night in our house with our crazy rainy season weather, so I didn't get a great picture of the bread we made, but it definitely looked and tasted like gluten-filled bread, and reminded me of ciabatta. My entire family loved it with butter on top, or some Caprese Salad. For the first time in seven years, I felt like I had the bread I love best back in my life, because it's easy to acquire, easy to make, and tastes great. I already ordered three more bags.
You can read more about Luce's Gluten Free Artisan Bread Mixes on their website here. Shipping is inexpensive, and the order I placed last night has already been shipped. If you happen to live in my hometown of Pittsburgh, you can find Luce's mixes at Soergel's in Wexford.
June 29, 2015 Update
The second time I made flatbread with Luce's OMG Flatbread Mix, it was not pouring outside, so I got a better picture.
On Saturday, I made this recipe with Luce's New Italian, which I bought in bulk, instead of the flatbread mix. My whole family thought it turned out great, but we were split on which mix we liked better. If you buy the mixes in bulk, they do not come with dusting flour, but I just use Cup4Cup instead, my favorite all-purpose gluten free flour.
What are your favorite Luce's artisan bread mixes?
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