Gluten-free sundried tomato and parmesan bread

OK so I know you saw the title and thought I'd gone soft, especially since the last post was a vegetarian one and now we're going gluten-free. Don't worry my friends, the meat will return in a big way in the next post but, given that I was in the company of someone who is allergic to gluten at the weekend and didn't want her puking up everywhere, I decided to indulge in some gluten-less baking.

This one was actually a bit of a result due to the fact that the person in question was adamant that gluten-free baking is terrible and that I was wasting my time in even attempting to make this. 'Relax', I said, 'for I am an awesome cook.'

To be quite honest I had no fucking idea if this recipe was going to work out or not, but God loves a trier. You can imagine my glee when the person in question ate her pre-cook criticism as well as half of the loaf when it came out, yes you guessed it, awesome. 

In all fairness this could well have been beginner's luck and she does know a lot more than me when it comes to gluten-free cooking (since I bloody love gluten) but either way, we were both happy with the outcome. So, my friends, keep this in the back pocket in case you ever encounter someone who will run a mile if they so much as see a standard loaf of bread.

How it's done

This is really simple and surprisingly tasty. The making part only takes around 15 minutes and then you can just leave it in the oven for an hour to work it's magic, pleasing your allergic friend with it's gluten-less aroma.

• 200g gluten-free white flour
• 1 teaspoon salt
• 3 teaspoons gluten-free baking powder
• 284ml whole milk with a squeeze of lemon juice
• 3 eggs
• 1 tablespoon tomato paste
• 2 tablespoons olive oil
• 50g sundried tomatoes (the ones you get in the jar with oil)
• 50g grated parmesan cheese

So this is extremely simple. Get the oven on at 180C (or 160C if you have a fancy fan oven). Stick the flour, salt and baking powder in a bowl. In another bowl, throw the milk, eggs, tomato paste and oil, and mix. Add the wet ingredients to the bowl with the dry ones and mix. Then throw in the chopped sundried tomatoes, and half of the parmesan and stir. Add all of this to a loaf tin which you have greased with butter, throw the rest of the parmesan on top and then cook for an hour. 

Once the hour is up, pull it out and be sure to stick a knife in the middle - if it comes out clean then you're golden. Let it cool before tipping it out and serving to your allergic friend.