Can I Make The Sweetcorn Chowder With A Gluten-Free Alternative To Semolina?

Our answer

Nigella's Sweetcorn Chowder With Toasted Tortilla Chips (from NIGELLA EXPRESS) is an express version of a chowder soup that uses frozen corn kernels. Rather than thickening the soup with potatoes or a traditional flour roux, the process is made more speeedy by using semolina (also known as semolina flour) instead. The semolina is blended with the corn, garlic and spring onions (scallions) and then cooked with hot vegetablle stock or broth. As the soup simmers, the semolina will swell and thicken the soup.

Semolina is ground durum wheat but is coarser than regular flour and has a slightly grainy texture. It is often added to pasta doughs and some breads, or cooked into puddings. Nigella also uses it for her Mock Mash. However semolina is not gluten free. For a gluten-free alternative we would suggest using fine polenta, or you can probably use the quick-cooking polenta (that takes 3-5 minutes to cook), as polenta thickens in a similar way to semolina. However, we would mention that we have not tried it ourselves, so are unable to guarantee the results. Also if the dish has to be gluten free then we suggest checking the packaging of the tortilla chips, as not all brands are gluten free.