Gluten-free recipes from the kitchens of top Irish restaurants

To mark the release of Peroni’s gluten-free beer, Peroni Nastro Azzurro Gluten Free, we asked three chefs to share a gluten-free recipe of a dish from their menu. Martin Montgomery selects a winter-warming one-pot wonder currently being served up at The Exchequer, Dublin. Head chef at Charlotte Quay, Dublin, Killian Durkin chose a light main of pork belly and kohlrabi, while pastry chef, Aoife Noonan picks the Italian-style pistachio cake from Luna's dessert tray.

Martin Montgomery

Head chef at The Exchequer restaurant in Dublin and has worked in Coppinger Row in Dublin, both The Kitchin and Kyloe in Edinburgh and No 27 Talbot Street in Belfast.

“This recipe is a real winter warmer, one pot wonder that we have on our menu at the minute in The Exchequer. It is so easy to replicate at home. With the lamb shanks cooking in that sauce, it releases all that flavour along (with the flavour from) the tomatoes and rosemary. It just shows you how you can create that flavour without having to use any flour. The shank to me is like a lamb stew and the bone (in the shank) adds even more flavour. Make sure to sear it off in the pan first which seals in all the flavour. Keep the shanks submerged in the liquid as it can sometimes rise up. If the liquid is reducing down too much add a little water to it. This recipe is tried and tested so after that slow cook in the oven it will be melt your mouth. On a cold, wintery evening it is the perfect dish.”

Braised lamb shanks with root vegetable, tomato and rosemary

Ingredients

(Serves 2)

• 2 lamb shanks
• ½ large onion, diced
• 2 garlic cloves, sliced
• 125ml red wine (although most wines are gluten free always check the label for ingredients)
• 2 tbsp sunflower oil
• 1 litre water
• 700g chopped tomatoes
• 1 bay leaf
• 75g unsalted butter
• 1 tbsp red wine vinegar
• 2 tsp caster sugar
• 2 sprigs rosemary, finely sliced
• Root vegetables, turnip, celeriac, carrot diced
• 2 tbsp olive oil
• Salt to taste

Pre-heat oven to 200C

1. In a roasting tray add the root vegetables with olive oil and shake to make sure all the vegetables are coated, season with salt and cook in the oven for 40 minutes until cooked.
2. Sear off the shanks on a very hot pan until browned all over, remove and keep to the side.
3. Over a medium heat in a large pot sweat off the onion and garlic until softened.
4. Pour in the red wine and reduce by two thirds. Add the water, chopped tomatoes, bay leaf, rosemary and bring to a simmer.
5. Add in the seared lamb shanks and cover with baking parchment. Put the pot in the oven for 2 hours until the lamb is tender and almost falling off the bone.
6. Take the pot out of the oven and remove the shanks and with a ladle skim off any fat from the surface.
7. Put the pot back on the heat and add the cooked root vegetables. Reduce until slightly thickened. Whisk in the butter and add the red wine vinegar and sugar.
8. To serve, pour the sauce with root vegetables over the shanks in warm bowls.

Killian Durkin

Head chef at Charlotte Quay in Dublin. He is formerly of La Mère Zou, and Thornton’s, Marcel’s, Dillinger’s and the Mermaid Café all feature on his CV.

I find this quite a light dish, the brining of the pork gives a great flavour. It is easy to do and looks great on the table at home. Kohlrabi has a mild cabbage flavour. So, if you look at it as a pork, cabbage and mustard dish, it is easier to understand. It is a classic flavour pairing done slightly differently.

Pork belly, marinated kohlrabi, braised mustard seeds, pomegranate, yoghurt

(Makes five portions)

For the brine

• 2 litres of water
• 200g salt
• 100g sugar
• 10 coriander seeds
• 1 bay leaf
• 5 black peppercorns

1. Place all the ingredients in a pot over medium heat.
2. When the sugar and salt has dissolved, remove from heat and chill

For the kohlrabi

• 1 head kohlrabi
• 200ml cold pressed rapeseed oil
• Salt

1. Peel the kohlrabi, slice on a mandolin as finely as possible
2. Salt the slices and marinade in the oil

For the seed mix

• 50g yellow mustard seeds
• 1 pomegranate
• 50ml pomegranate molasses

1. Place the mustard seeds in a pot of water, bring to the boil and simmer until cooked
2. Cut the pomegranate in half and tap the seeds out into a bowl
3. Mix both seeds together, add the molasses

For the pork belly

• 500g pork belly
• 2 litres brine

1. Brine the pork belly for 24 hours
2. Cook the belly at 140C in the oven for 5 hrs
3. Remove from the oven and cool
4. Slice into five pieces

To assemble and serve

• Colour the pork in a hot pan, dress with kohlrabi and the seed mix.
• Spoon a few dots of natural yoghurt on top. Serve warm

Aoife Noonan

Executive pastry chef of John Farrell's restaurant empire, comprising of five Dublin restaurants: 777, Super Miss Sue, Dillinger's, The Butcher Grill, and Luna. She was formerly the head pastry chef at Irelands’ only two Michelin-starred restaurant, Restaurant Patrick Guilbaud.

“This is such a gorgeous dish, it’s completely gluten free and really easy to make. It is a beautiful, vibrant green pistachio cake, this is the recipe for the one we do in Luna at the moment. It’s soaked in a honey and lemon syrup with some olive oil and we serve it with a little yoghurt mousse and candied lemon. So you have got authentic flavours of Italy, it is very Sicilian; pistachio, lemon and olive oil. The cake is the main component of the dish and the mousse and the lemon compliment it. You use ground almonds in it and it doesn’t really affect the texture. It is still very moist and that is what you want from a cake, you don’t want it to be dry. I actually really don’t like sweet desserts which sounds really ironic, but for me, I don’t like putting loads of sugar (in desserts) it’s about the actual flavour of the ingredients that you are putting in. The yoghurt mousse gives a really lovely creaminess to it and rounds it off. It’s so gorgeous, I can’t stop eating it.”

Pistachio cake with honey and olive oil syrup, yoghurt mousse and confit lemon

(Serves 10)

For the yoghurt mousse

• 125g natural yoghurt
• 125ml cream
• 30g caster sugar
• 1 leaf gelatine

1. Place the gelatine leaves into a bowl of cold water for a few minutes to soften.
2. Pour a small quantity of the cream (around 50ml) into a small saucepan and place over a medium heat. Once simmering, remove from the heat.
3. Squeeze out the gelatine leaves and add to the hot cream, whisking to dissolve, ensuring there are no remaining lumps of gelatine.
4. Put the remaining cream into a small bowl and whisk to soft peaks. Set aside.
5. Mix the yoghurt with the sugar in another bowl and slowly add the gelatine and cream mix, whisking all the time.
6. Gently fold in the whipped cream and chill the mousse for 1-2hours or until set.
7. When set, beat the mousse with a whisk until smooth and place in a piping bag. Keep chilled until ready to serve.

For the confit lemon

• 100g sugar
• 200ml water
• 1 lemon

1. Make a syrup by placing the sugar and water in a small saucepan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove from the heat and set aside.
2. Fill a medium saucepan with water and place on a high heat to boil. Fill a small bowl with ice and water and set aside.
3. Meanwhile, peel the zest from the lemon using a vegetable peeler, ensuring not to peel any of the white pith.
4. Line up the lemon strips on a chopping board and finely slice the lemon into thin matchsticks using a sharp knife.
5. Once the pan of water is boiling, drop the lemon into the pan, and blanch or boil for about 20 seconds. Remove the lemon from the water using a spoon or small sieve and place into the iced water for a few seconds to refresh and cool down quickly. Repeat this process again by placing the lemon into the boiling water for 20 seconds and refreshing in the iced water.
6. Remove the lemon from the ice water and place into the pan of cooled syrup. Place this pan on a low to medium heat and cook gently for about 20 minutes, or until reduced slightly and the lemon is soft.
7. Leave to cool in the syrup, and store in a container in the fridge.

For the pistachio cake

• 285g unsalted butter, cubed
• 285g icing sugar
• 8 whole egg
• 185g pistachio paste
• 375g ground almonds
• 110g corn flour
• 8g baking powder

1. Preheat the oven to 150C and grease a 23cm ring mould or cake tin. Place on a baking tray and set aside.
2. Put the butter, icing sugar, ground almonds, cornflour and baking powder into a large mixing bowl in a stand mixer with a paddle attachment. Beat on a slow speed until the mixture resembles fine breadcrumbs.
3. Add the eggs one by one, followed by the pistachio paste.
4. Beat until smooth, and pour into the ring mould or cake tin, smoothing the surface with a palette knife.
5. Place in the preheated oven and bake for 50 minutes. Check the cake in baked by inserting a skewer into the middle of the cake. It should come out clean.
6. Remove from the oven and leave to cool slightly before removing from the tin.

For the honey and olive oil syrup

• 30g honey
• 6tbsp water
• Zest of 1 lemon
• 1tbsp extra virgin olive oil

1. Put the honey, water and lemon zest into a small pan and bring to a boil. Once boiling, remove from the heat and set aside to infuse.
2. Strain the syrup through a sieve to remove the lemon zest. Discard the zest.
3. Add the olive oil to the cooled syrup and mix well. Pour most of the syrup over the cake and leave to soak in for 20 minutes before slicing into portions.

To serve

• icing sugar, to dust
• 20g chopped pistachios

Dust the cake with icing sugar. Place a slice of cake on the plate and pipe a few blobs of yoghurt mousse around the plate. Place a few confit lemon strips on the yoghurt mousse and on top of the cake. Drizzle any remaining honey and olive oil syrup around the plate and finish with a scattering of chopped pistachios.