Being a Dairy-free & Gluten-Sensitive Italian

It is officially Fall, which means it is officially pumpkin spice latte season and wearing a sweater in the morning to regret it later season. It’s warm apple cider and crumb pie season. It’s falling leaves and colorful sidewalks season. It is officially my favorite season. As F Scott Fitzgerald once said, “life starts all over again when it’s crisp in the fall.” 

With that, I felt it was the perfect time to begin my introduction to being a dairy-free, gluten-wary Italian. Roughly three years ago, I began slowly but effectively cutting out dairy for my own health purposes, and since then, it has been an upward battle. I began by cutting out milk, then yogurt, ice cream, and lastly, but certainly the most difficult, butter. Butter is the most difficult for me because it is genuinely in almost every dish at every restaurant, recipe, store, etc. It was not easy, but I have certainly survived, and now I live to share that knowledge with others. 

I am not gluten-free, but I often eat gluten-free foods because of my brother’s intolerance and because many dairy-free/vegan foods and products are also gluten-free. It is definitely a learning curve when beginning the journey to being dairy-free and limiting my gluten intake. 

So, I began slowly but surely. I found that I very much enjoyed almond milk, and now I almost exclusively drink oat milk or lactose-free milk. I also cook mainly with lactose-free milk unless coconut milk is called for. For Fall, I’ve been putting oat milk in my cup first with a pump of pumpkin spice and a pump of hazelnut and then mixing that before adding my coffee. I finish it with a dash or two of cinnamon, and it has been my go-to coffee creation recently. 

As for daily meals and things of that nature, it’s not very difficult to eliminate or find good dairy-free alternatives for things. I use dairy-free butter, scarcely because I prefer olive or avocado oil when cooking, but it is helpful with baking. I eat dairy-free yogurt, particularly So Delicious yogurt, because it really is so delicious. 

Most importantly, I’ve been eating Carlino’s chocolate sorbetto because it is vegan. Everyone who knows me knows that ice cream was one of my favorite things in the entire world, and cutting it out of my diet truly destroyed a piece of my soul. My sister came to my rescue with this sorbetto. For the past week or two, I have been scooping chocolate sorbetto in a bowl with crushed pretzels, and it has been my favorite way to end an evening.

A fun tip that I’ve learned is that Parmigiano is a cheese that my body tolerates! Due to its pasteurization and aging process, Parm is easily digestible and doesn’t cause me any pain, which is an absolute game-changer, so if you don’t think you can cut out cheese entirely, Parm is the way to go. If you’re not vegan, I’ve found that goat cheeses are also easier on the stomach and don’t cause the same problems as cow’s milk. Obviously, it’s a learning curve for everyone individually. 

As for gluten-free products and foods, I’ve found some delicious gluten-free pastas that are hardly distinguishable from regular wheat pasta. The brand that I stick to primarily is La Fabbrica Della Pasta Senza Glutine; senza glutine meaning without gluten or gluten-free. All of their pastas are amazing and super easy to cook. If you are someone who enjoys granola in your yogurt like I am, Bola gluten-free granola is super tasty. 

Most importantly, for any Italian, is bread. My brother and I searched high and low for good gluten-free bread, and it wasn’t easy. Canyon is a good brand found in most grocery stores, but we recently started making our own homemade gluten-free bread. The recipe for homemade focaccia bread can be found on the bag of the flour we used. It is called Caputo Gluten free Flour or Farina Senza Glutine. While it is the recipe for focaccia, we used it for a bread loaf, and it turned out just as great. I will include the recipe down below!

Overall, my love for food has only grown with my appreciation for newer products and ingredients created to supplement old favorites. Stay tuned! I will continue to share more dairy-free products and recipes in the future.

Your friend,

Nadia Carlino 

Milk alternatives, vegan chocolate sorbetto, Parmesan, La Fabbrica Pasta, Caputo Gluten Free Flour, and many more gluten-free and dairy-free/vegan products can be found in our Ardmore and West Chester markets. 

Recipe Gluten-free Bread:

Ingredients:

• 1000g or 8 cups of Caputo Flour

• 950 g or roughly 4 cups of water

• 20g or 4.8 tsp of Yeast

• 50g or roughly 2 tbs. of oil 

• 25g or roughly 1 tbs of salt

Instructions: 

Knead all ingredients till a smooth and homogenous dough is obtained. Lay the dough in a lightly oiled baking loaf pan, cover with a damp cloth and let it rise for approximately 40 minutes. Remove the cloth and bake at 425* F for approx 35-40 min. Let sit, then cut and enjoy!