This week as part of our blog series for lunches + snacks + treats I'm going to share Richard's favourite treat.
Pesto and Crackers - YUM
When I first realised that crackers don't really fall in the clean eating guidelines I was pretty disappointed. I love crackers! They are simple always there and easy to throw some sort of topping on. So I was quick off the mark trying to find a recipe that would work. My usual rules of fast and foolproof applied. I started reading and all the recipes were very similar give or take a spice or two. Except they also said they you had to roll them out and let them sit ---Blah I thought too hard. So I didn't for ages.
Finally I decided to give them a go. Oh my - hands down simple simple simple - don't be afraid by the rolling and honestly they are so so yummy. Much nicer than store bought ones and they only take a few minutes to prep. I have tried a number of recipes now- some that incorporate coconut flour and others with oats - but none are as nice as this basic one that I have adapted from here.
- 2 cups ground almonds
- 1/2 teaspoon Pink Himalayan salt
- 2 tablespoons poppy seeds
- 2 tablespoons sesame seeds
- 2 tablespoons water
- 1 egg white
- 1 tablespoon macadamia nut oil
Method
- Mix the almond meal, salt, poppy seeds and sesame seeds together.
- Add in all the wet ingredients and mix with a wooden spoon.
- Preheat oven to a moderate heat.
- Put a piece of baking paper on the bench and turn the contents of your bowl out on to it.
- Flatten it down roughly with your hand.
- Add another piece of baking paper over the top and with a rolling pin (or use a glass if you don't have a rolling pin).
- Roll the mixture out into a rectangular shape. You can vary the thickness to be as you would like. (It doesn't rise so what you see is what you'll get when it's baked)
- Move your rolled out dough to a flat baking tray. Run a knife through it to mark the crackers. (I have forgotten to do this a few times and you can do it after but it's better before)
- Sprinkle with more salt if you like.
- Bake for 10 minutes. Turn the oven off and leave for 10 more minutes to harden and brown up a little more.
- Break into crackers and store in an airtight container. The longest we have had ours is about 4 days they get eaten.
Along with the crackers I make pesto. It's so easy in a food processor.
- 125 grams pine nuts
- 2 big bunches of basil from the farmers markets
- 4 garlic cloves crushed
- 100 grams grated parmesan cheese
- 1/2 cup cold pressed olive oil
- 1 lemon juiced
Place it all into the food processor and process. This makes two cups which I split in half and put half in the freezer into a small Tupperware freezer mate. Freezes and defrosts beautifully. Don't forget to pop over to Mel's blog to see what she has in her lunchboxes this week.
