Technical field of application

The present invention concerns the food industry.

In further detail, the invention relates to a vegetable-based dough, a leavened food product obtained therewith, and a preparation method for preparing said vegetable-based dough.

State of the art

Increasing attention to health also entails healthier and more wholesome food choices, focusing on the consumption of food which is less refined, correctly balanced, low in preservatives, plant-based and rich in vegetables, suitable also for individuals with food intolerances. Many vegetables have functional characteristics known to the scientific world and are used in healthy diet plans.

Vegetable-based doughs are known for the production of leavened food products such as, for example, pizzas, flatbreads or pasties, plain or filled.

Said doughs with vegetable ingredients normally comprise:

- cereal flour;

- vegetables;

- fats;

- water;

- a raising agent;

- salt. The vegetables present in traditional doughs are dehydrated, namely without water, and usually reduced to flour.

Said vegetable flour, combined with cereal flour, is hydrated by the addition of water; water is therefore an essential ingredient in the dough kneading process, triggering hydrolysis, namely breakdown of the proteins and starch and rising due to transformation of the sugars by the raising agents.

The water can be dosed in varying amounts determining the resulting consistency of the dough: in fact, water has the function of making the dough kneadable and modifying its consistency according to the desired format of the end food product.

In order to facilitate amalgamation of the dough, additives and thickeners are often added necessary for the kneading process and consistency of the end product, especially in mixtures in which gluten- rich flours or natural thickening elements like eggs, for example, are lacking.

The dough is processed at positive temperatures, usually at ambient temperature: a temperature around 24°C is the ideal temperature for enabling cereal and vegetable flours to incorporate the water.

The vegetable-based doughs of known type have some limits and drawbacks connected substantially with the use of vegetables in the form of flour.

The vegetables are not fresh but undergo a process to remove the water naturally contained in them, via a process of drying/dehydration and transformation into flour; therefore during the kneading process to produce the end product, it is necessary to add a part of water and reincorporate it in the product.

In addition, the organoleptic result of the dough is not satisfactory: in terms of appearance and taste, the correct presence of the vegetable is not perceived in the end product.

Not being able to see the vegetable can be limiting for the consumer who associates the vegetable content with an added value for the food product.

As mentioned above, to give the dough structure and prevent it from falling apart, it is necessary to use a number of ingredients, namely additives and thickeners, which are not liked by consumers who consider them to be unhealthy.

Presentation of the invention

The object of the present invention is therefore to overcome said problems and produce a vegetable-based dough for the preparation of a leavened food product which is healthy, rich in chopped vegetables, free from non-nutritive ingredients and water, pleasing to the eye and pleasant to the taste, and preferably gluten-free.

A further object of the invention is to improve a production method allowing processing of the raw materials to obtain a vegetable-based dough which is nutritive and has excellent nutritional and organoleptic properties.

These and other objects are achieved by a vegetable-based dough for the preparation of a leavened food product according to the main independent claim.

Further preferred formulations of the vegetable-based dough according to the invention are described in the remaining dependent claims.

The invention also concerns a leavened food product obtained with said vegetable-based dough, plain or filled, and a food preparation comprising said dough that can be used for producing other richer and more complex food products.

The invention also concerns a preparation method for said vegetable-based dough.

The vegetable-based dough subject of the present invention, the leavened food product comprising it, and the preparation method thereof offer numerous advantages.

The dough subject of the invention uses as its main ingredient fresh or frozen chopped vegetables which are not powdered or reduced to flour or freeze-dried. The dough does not require the addition of water as it uses the water naturally occurring in the vegetables.

The chopped vegetables already contain water: kneading and mixing of the ingredients therefore determines the release of water by the vegetables to the other dough ingredients.

It has been surprisingly found that the work temperature is a critical element and must be such as not to allow the vegetables to dry out, preserving the quantity of water inside them which must be released gradually into the dough during the process phases. If the work process phases are carried out, as for traditional products, at ambient temperature, around 24°C, the chopped vegetables release their water too rapidly, making it impossible to subsequently process the final mixture.

The preparation method correctly exploits the characteristics of the raw materials and the interactions between them, balancing the starches, oils, proteins and vitamins already naturally occurring in the ingredients, without the need to add additives and the like, while obtaining a stable dough in terms of form and composition.

Furthermore, the vegetable-based dough according to the invention is a product free from thickeners, colouring agents and preservatives, vegetarian and, in a particularly preferred variation, also gluten-free.

The chopped vegetables present in the food product are pleasing to the eye of the consumer.

Furthermore, the presence of vegetable pieces gives the product greater consistency which induces the consumer to chew with greater satisfaction and with the food remaining in the mouth for longer, thus benefiting digestibility.

Brief description of the drawings

These and other characteristics and advantages of the invention will become clearer from the more detailed description provided below, with the aid of drawings that show preferred embodiments, illustrated by way of non-limiting examples, where: - Figures 1 and 2 show, in a partially sectioned axonometric view, two leavened food products comprising a vegetablebased dough according to the invention.

Detailed disclosure of preferred embodiments of the invention

According to the invention, a vegetable-based dough 1 , in its more general composition, comprises:

- flour;

- vegetables;

- fats;

- raising agent.

Said flour comprises flour derived from cereals, or flour derived from legumes, or starch, or a mixture thereof, and the vegetables consist of fresh or frozen chopped vegetables 2.

The size of the pieces can be chosen by a person skilled in the art based on the desired end result in the food product and the type and structure of the food product itself.

In a preferred composition, said fresh or frozen chopped vegetables 2 comprise cabbage, cauliflower, broccoli, Brussels sprouts, spinach, carrots or a mixture thereof. Cabbage, cauliflower and broccoli are preferred. It is clear to a person skilled in the art that based on the desired flavour, other vegetables can be selected, which can be used individually or in combination as required.

As regards flour derived from cereals, a preferred selection comprises gluten-free flour. Even more preferably, said flour derived from cereals is a mixture of rice flour and light buckwheat flour.

With regard to the legume flour, chickpea flour is preferably used.

The preferred starch with binding function is tapioca flour.

The fatty part of the dough is guaranteed by the presence of olive oil, sunflower oil, vegetable margarines, used individually or in combination.

The raising agent is preferably brewer’s yeast, but alternatively baking powder, mother dough or lactic acid bacteria could also be used.

In a preferred composition, said vegetable-based dough 1 further comprises:

- milk of animal or vegetable origin;

- egg mixture;

- food thickening gums, for example guar gum or xanthan gum;

- salt in a variable quantity according to the flavour and sapidity required in the end product.

A particularly preferred version of said vegetable-based dough 1 comprises the following ingredients:

- chopped vegetables 2 in the amount of 23-54%;

- rice flour in the amount of 11 .2-26.2%;

- chickpea flour in the amount of 9.8-22.9%;

- light buckwheat flour in the amount of 1 .7-3.9%;

- tapioca flour in the amount of 5.3-12.3%;

- one part fats in the amount of 3.9-9.2%; - raising agent in the amount of 0.5-1 .2%;

- salt;

- milk of animal or vegetable origin in the amount of 0.6-1 .5%;

- egg in the amount of 2.8-6.7%;

- food thickening gums in the amount of 0.6-1 .3%.

The above percentages are expressed as percentages by weight of the individual ingredients relative to the total weight of the dough.

In further detail, an example of an improved recipe for a vegetable-based dough 1 is given below, expressed in percentages by weight of the individual ingredients relative to the total weight:

- chopped vegetables 2 in the amount of 34-42%;

- rice flour in the amount of 17-21%;

- chickpea flour in the amount of 15-18%;

- light buckwheat flour in the amount of 2.5-3%;

- tapioca flour in the amount of 8-10%;

- one part fats in the amount of 6-7.2%;

- raising agent in the amount of 0.7-0.9%;

- salt;

- milk of animal or vegetable origin in the amount of 0.9-1 .2%;

- egg in the amount of 4.2-5.1%;

- food thickening gums in the amount of 0.8-1 .0%.

It will be evident to a person skilled in the art that, since the vegetable-based dough is particularly suited to the preparation of a leavened food product, and hence in the bread-making sector, it is particularly subject to the influence of external factors such as, for example, temperature and humidity; for this reason, it is impossible to provide a recipe with precise percentages by weight of each ingredient. The ranges provided, calculated on the basis of practical experiments, guarantee optimal results of the vegetable-based dough in all conditions.

With particular reference to Figures 1 and 2, two leavened food products 10, 20 are illustrated comprising the vegetable-based dough 1 described above. Both the leavened food products 10, 20 illustrated are bakery products, but alternatively said vegetable-based dough 2 can also be used as an ingredient for more complex food preparations, to be cooked also by frying.

In detail, Figure 1 shows a filled pasty 10, namely a bite of vegetable-based dough 1 with a filling 11 , leavened and cooked. The chopped vegetables 2 can be clearly seen in the dough.

Figure 2 shows a slice of pizza 20 made with the vegetable-based dough 1 described above, leavened, garnished with topping 21 and then cooked. Also in this case, the chopped vegetables 2 in the pizza base can be clearly identified, both visually and, due to the consistency, advantageously also in terms of flavour.

A preparation method for preparing a vegetable-based dough 1 as described above comprises the following work steps:

- providing fresh or frozen chopped vegetables 2;

- providing a kneading machine;

- arranging said chopped vegetables 2 inside said kneading machine and maintaining them at a temperature of -3/-4°C; - providing flour and a raising agent and adding them to the chopped vegetables 2 inside said kneading machine;

- operating said kneading machine in an anticlockwise direction for a period of time t1 to obtain a mixture;

- providing fats and adding them inside said kneading machine to said mixture;

- operating said kneading machine in a clockwise direction for a period of time t2 to obtain said vegetable-based dough 1 ;

- checking the consistency of said vegetable-based dough 1 and maintaining it at a temperature of approximately 1°C, with a precision of +/- 5°C.

The same method could also comprise the step of providing egg, milk of animal or vegetable origin and food thickening gums, to be added inside said kneading machine during the step of adding said fats.

Salt can be added to the chopped vegetables 2 together with the flour and the raising agent.

By way of example, to produce approximately 60 kg of vegetable-based dough 1 , starting from a quantity of chopped vegetables 2 of approximately 22 kg, and using a traditional kneading machine of known type, the first step of mixing flour, chopped vegetables 2 and raising agent is performed in an anticlockwise direction at speed 1 and for a time t1 of 60 seconds.

The second mixing step with the addition of fats, egg, milk and food thickening gums for a time t2 is carried out in two time periods t2' and t2", where t2' has a duration of 320 seconds with kneading machine operated in a clockwise direction at speed 1 , and t2" has a duration of 200 seconds with kneading machine operated in a clockwise direction at speed 2.

The chopped vegetables 2 can be either fresh or, easier to manage in industrial production, frozen, advantageously using the IQF method and kept until the moment of use for preparation of the dough 1 in a cold room at -20°C.

The IQF (Individually Quick Frozen) process entails individual freezing of the chopped vegetable pieces: in this way, numerous chopped vegetable pieces separate from one another can be seen in the vegetable-based dough 1 , and the taste and consistency thereof can be appreciated in the leavened end food product.

The entire production chain of the dough 1 is carried out at a temperature ranging from -5°C to +5°C, thus guaranteeing that the vegetables maintain their organoleptic properties, do not disintegrate and at the same time retain the correct quantity of water necessary to amalgamate all the other ingredients.

As mentioned above, the vegetable-based dough 1 thus dosed and obtained is gluten-free and incorporates vegetables as the first ingredient, namely the chopped vegetables, but also legume flour for example; it is characterized by a low carbohydrate content and a high protein content; it is very versatile as a dough: as a leavened food product, for example in the form of a pasty (Fig. 1 ) or pizza (Fig. 2), it is suitable for preparation and completion by the consumer with cooking in the oven, microwave or fryer.

A production method of a leavened food product, for example a pasty 10 or a pizza 20, comprising the vegetable-based dough 1 as described above comprises the following work steps: - once the consistency of the vegetable-based dough has been checked, proceeding with formation of the food product by extrusion, lamination or pressing according to the type of product to be obtained;

- leaving the formed vegetable-based dough to rise;

- baking the leavened food product so as to provide the end consumer with a product that only needs to be heated up, in the oven, microwave or fryer, prior to consumption.

The leavened and cooked food product can be advantageously frozen in order to prolong conservation.