There is a gluten-free bread served here in Ecuador called Pan de Yucca. It is most often sold in bakeries alongside the yogurt. It’s also sold in the frozen food section of the “big grocery store”. A quick google-search, and I was able to find the recipe on the Food Network website. The recipe is super easy–which I appreciate–and, it is pretty tasty–which the kids appreciate.
I have altered the recipe a bit from the one at Food Network. Below is the recipe I use.
Pan de Yucca
1 C yucca starch (in US, tapioca starch)
1 tsp baking powder
2 C queso fresco (any soft white cheese will do/mozarella)
2 whole eggs
Stir together the yucca starch and baking powder. Add the queso and eggs. Mix until combined. (I use my Kitchen Aid for this step.) If your mix is still very wet, add more starch a little at a time until the mixture begins to form a ball of dough. Sprinkle starch on a clean surface, and roll your dough onto it. Knead for a couple minutes until smooth.
From this step, you could do several different things. You could form balls of dough like it’s sold in the freezer section in Ambato. You can roll into balls and then somewhat flatten into ovals like the Food Network recipe. You can form into crescents (moons) like we’ve seen done in local bakeries. Or… you can do what we’ve done, and use it as a gluten-free pizza crust!
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| Press the dough into a greased baking pan. |
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| I pre-bake the crust at 350* for about 20 minutes, or until it begins to get bubbly, golden. I remove it from the oven, add sauce, cheese and toppings, and then put back into the oven until the cheese is melted. |
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| I wasn’t quick enough with the camera. This is all that was left by the time I got back to the kitchen with the camera.
This recipe is definitely a KEEPER! It’s easy to make, fairly inexpensive as far as gluten-free breads go, and the ingredients are fairly easy to attain the US. We also form this into flatter ovals when we need a sandwich bread.
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