Gluten-Free Baked Stuffed Shells

Italian Dreams

There isn't a speck of Italian blood in me. Allegedly. No blood lines (even faint ones) to trace back to Italy's flavor and culture rich boot. I claim no Italian grandmother with deft, gnarled hands who could roll out ravioli dough in her sleep. No puttering, gardening grandfather who offered me my first taste of a sun warmed tomato straight off the string-tied vine. We didn't have lasagna on our Thanksgiving table. Or baked ziti. My mother never mixed me an almond infused Italian soda after a rough day at school.

So why is Italian food- forever, for me- the ultimate comfort food? Hungry, angry, lonely, tired- what do I crave? (Besides a bottle of wine? Darling those days are gone.)

Spaghetti slick with garlicky olive oil. Bubbling hot lasagna. Fresh baked focaccia. Bruschetta. Risotto. Baked stuffed shells.

All heaven.

The tough part is- living gluten-free AND dairy-free can seriously crush your Italian gilded comfort food dreams.

Back in the day, there were no gluten-free lasagna noodles or stuff-able GF pasta shells (not in my neck of the woods, anyway). Though times have changed, pasta-wise- thank goddess. Most supermarkets now carry gluten-free pasta in all shapes and sizes. And if you cook it just right (in salted water, till al dente) and immediately drizzle it with extra virgin olive oil- most of it tastes mighty good. And if you are among the agriculturally evolved among us who can digest milk, your cheesy world still glitters with buttery glory (cream, butter, and cheese go a long way to improving the flavor of gluten-free recipes, let's be honest). But.

If- like yours truly- you have to live without the salty flavor punch of Parmesan or creamy tang of fresh goat cheese, comfort food can turn into one big, ho-hum yawn. Vegan cheese is no substitute (yes, I've tried them all). Unless your concept of cheese involves an aerosol can, plastic-shiny slices in peel-away shrink-wrap or orange powder you added to hot milk (no offense to corporate giant produced fake foods, or anything). In that case, processed oil with pea protein vegan cheese might remind you of something seemingly related to the cheese family.

I can't get past the funky sock odor and poly-vinyl texture.

Maybe because I was lucky. I had two years of Home Economics class. I cooked my own whole milk white cheddar sauce for baked macaroni and cheese (the first thing I learned to cook, at 13, stirring a white roux with flour and unsalted butter). Post honeymoon I shaved velvet slivers of golden Parmesan from precious wedges of Italian Reggiano, thanks to two weeks in Italy. And I spoon-stuffed pasta shells with a classic blend of ricotta and shredded mozzarella thanks to an armful of hippie-vegetarian cookbooks.

So, yes, there are days I miss dairy food. Especially in winter.

And thus, began experimenting, inventing ways to make up for the loss of genuine cheesy goodness. The first part was easy. I turned to organic soft tofu for a ricotta substitute (my mainstay for years as a vegetarian goddess). I may as well admit I not only tolerate tofu, I love tofu. And lucky for me, this fermented bean curd stuff loves me, too (I know this is not the case for everyone- and for those of you with a milk allergy AND soy allergy, I truly feel your pain).

For the topping I use a blend of Italian seasoned bread crumbs (I use Udi's gluten-free white sandwich bread processed into crumbs with extra virgin olive oil, garlic, and herbs) and almond meal (almond meal has a soft, powdery mouth feel faintly reminiscent of grated cheese) with sea salt for a salty-cheesier taste.

The latest version (created back in West Hollywood) was a winner- and we've been making it ever since. The family loves it. Even the gluten-eaters.

All I know is there is never a scrap left over.

Which as any cook knows, speaks volumes


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Roasted Acorn Squash Risotto

A delicious acorn squash risotto that is vegan and gluten-free.

 Stir it Up, Little Darling

Looking for a perfect fall side dish? Or a vegetarian knock-your-socks-off bowl of creamy goodness? Risotto might fit the bill. This is one of my all-time recipe favorites. In fact, it was the first dish I turned to eight years ago when I discovered I had to live gluten-free.

Way back then (insert hazy slow-mo flashback) I would add freshly grated Parmesan to the cooked risotto. Shaved Reggiano, to be exact. But these casein-free dairy-free days I enjoy this risotto strictly vegan. No cheese. And guess what? I don't feel deprived. Seriously. The flavors hold their own without the whole moo cow cheesy thing.

In fact, this risotto is so creamy-good and comforting I only think one thing as I taste bite after velvety bite: How could anything so simple taste so unbelievably good? Well, that, and, Who the heck needs cheese or butter, anyway?

The trick to a tasty risotto- with its signature texture- is to stir it during cooking. No cheating in a rice cooker. No covering it and setting it on low heat, praying to the Risotto Gods, hoping it will produce a tender-yet-firm-enough bite boiling away in it's sad, ignored little pot. You need to tend these pearly grains. Coax them. Sweet talk them. It's all about foreplay.

Risotto needs attention to bloom properly.

So that means a commitment on your part. But it's only a twenty-two minute commitment. You can handle that, right?

I guarantee, it's worth it.

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Gluten-Free Pasta Frittata Recipe with Goat Cheese

Tasty gluten-free pasta frittata.

Pasta Frittata Magic


Have I got a simple and flavorful Mediterranean inspired gluten-free pasta frittata recipe for you. It is perfect for the upcoming weekend. Throw it together for a lazy brunch, or a languid late summer picnic. But first, a logistical update. We are back from LA, safe and as sound as two people can be jetting from the oxygen saturated beach of Santa Monica to the rarefied (read- bone dry nosebleed inducing) air of Northern New Mexico. My "of a certain age" skin is not decidedly not happy. My razor textured Floyd's cut now looks like a highlighted squirrel on a tequila fueled bender. And to add insult to follicle injury, there's a technical snafu that despite daily phone calls, shameless begging and patient (I assure you) correction of our physical street address (corrected three times by three different customer service representatives eager to assist you). That's right.

No Internet.

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Vegetarian Puttanesca for Two

Easy pasta putanesca- gluten-free with rice spaghetti.

Oh, you paint, too? is the faint, flat interest we get, we artist's wives who paint. Inevitably followed by, Isn't that difficult? In fact, I assure them, it couldn't be easier. (Try being married to a real estate agent who sprays Sun-In in his hair, I want to say, but don't.)

The scene is my husband's art opening and I play my role with decorum, clutching my plastic cup of Australian Chardonnay.

Do you compete? Darling, this question says a lot more about you than than me. No, I always answer, trying not to audibly sigh. We mutually admire. Then comes the big one. The favorite question.

Does he influence your work? (The subtext being, of course, he is the man, after all.)

I influence his, I answer, slugging down the last warm drop of wine. They will smile their awkward smile at this and wobble toward the grapes and brie. The word tedious comes to mind.

I catch my husband looking at me through the peanut nibbling crowd. He raises an ironic eyebrow. I laugh. A sparkled perfumed woman leans in to him for a kiss on the cheek. He is polite. I will tell him later he smells like Bloomingdale’s.

At home he will make me an ice cold vodka martini. We will kick off our shoes and eat spaghetti to Chet Baker. So what's on your agenda for tomorrow? he will ask. Maybe painting, I will say with a yawn. Or blogging. I'm not just an Artist's Wife, you know. 

Nope, he always says. You're the cutest girl ever.

Yeah, I remind him, You're lucky I'm a new-school feminist.

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A Vegan Basil Mint Parsley "Pesto"

Clean. Raw. Pesto!

We're getting so close to our departure now I can taste it. The house is swept and cleaned, boxes and bags are packed. Anticipation is hanging in the desert air. You can almost hold it in your cupped open hands. The hardest part will be trying to sleep Saturday night. I told Steve, If it's 3 AM and we're lying side by side in the dark listening to the whir of the ceiling fan, just waiting, can we get up and go? 

Why not? he responded.

This earned him some extra bonus points.

Not that he needs any. His bonus point status is pretty high to begin with these days. We've had an exciting week. I'm so proud of him. His first script sale, an independent movie titled The Canyon just released its first trailer. If you'd like to catch a sneak peek at the movie, see The Canyon trailer here. You'll see why I fell in love with Yvonne Strahovski and Will Patton when we visited the set.

So what does all this California dreamin' taste like? I decided it tastes like basil and mint with a bite of parsley. 

Green. Earthy. Alive.

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A Creamy Sauced Gluten-Free Pasta

Artichokes and a creamy sauce make this pasta pure comfort food.

Dairy-Free Creamy Goodness

This was almost a vegan recipe.

Until I added the bacon.

Non-carnivores, I'm sorry. I couldn't resist. I was standing there (quite innocent!) in my humble little kitchen stirring this velvety dairy-free cream sauce (that I'd just improvised with some leftover sweet potato) listening to my pick-me-up when I'm draggin' 80's playist (Phil Collins, The Church, Suzanne Vega, Tears For Fears, Wham! and Simple Minds) when I remembered the smoky gluten-free and casein-free Sunday bacon Steve had cooked earlier. 

And that, as they say in Guy Ritchie land, was Bob's yer uncle. And speaking of Tears For Fears- I have one quick question. Does everybody want to rule the world? Because to me, it seems like too much work.

For those of you who are fans of my Vegan Mac and Cheese recipe and well acquainted with nutritional yeast- a fab source of those requisite B vitamins and a non-dairy sort-of-but-not-exactly cheesy nutty flavor spike for those us lucky enough to live gluten and casein-free by celiac necessity or neuro-different choice (or hope or, I don't know why it works it just does) you'll love this variation on a vegan cheese sauce theme.

The sweet potato adds body, color, and flavor (not to mention those beneficial beta carotenes). And this sauce- unlike my favorite Cheesy Uncheese Sauce- does not contain any flour. The sweet potato acts as a thickener. Which I suppose makes it more South Beach friendly, too, with less refined carbs (sweet potato is a lower glycemic carbohydrate) if you serve it over low carb pasta or roasted cauliflower.

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Gluten-Free Pasta with Homemade Ragù Sauce

Jarred sauce? Nah. Make your own ragù- it's easy.

Homemade Pasta Sauce. Si.

Before I share my new ragù pasta sauce recipe, I have a note about the blog. Gluten-Free Goddess now has a FAQ page. (Thank you, David Lebovitz for the reader-friendly blogging tip.) What took me so long? Who knows, Babycakes. I sure don't. I could blame it on my preoccupation with Mad Men. Or hot flashes. Or the simple fact that living way out here in the sand swept hills of Northern New Mexico is making me crazy. Not shooting caribou from a helicopter crazy, but. 

Crazy enough.

At any rate, now that I've come to my senses (I'm sure it's only temporary) you, Dear Reader, will find a platter of helpful links and answers to the most frequent questions asked here at the brand spankin' new Gluten-Free Goddess FAQ page. If I've overlooked anything obvious or important, I'm sure you'll let me know- won't you?

On to ragù! Up until quite recently I had never attempted a meat ragù. My red gravy of choice was always a simple vegetarian marinara sauce with plenty of garlic and basil- vegan by default (and choice). It's a recipe that I've been simmering on my stove or in my slow cooker for years. Decades, in fact. Way better than the jarred stuff. Sometimes I add ground turkey. Or free range organic beef.

Here's the recipe.

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Italian-Paleo Eggplant, Beef, Tomatoes + Mint

Gluten-free eggplant recipe with crumbled beef, tomatoes and mint.

Mediterranean Flavors

The classic Italian flavors are all here- eggplant, tomato, garlic, onion and oregano with a twist of fresh chopped mint nudging it over into Greek territory- but there's not a speck of gluten or dairy.

Mediterranean goodness on a plate.

This recipe is for those of us who miss eggplant Parmesan- a little something I threw together this week when my craving for a slab of eggplant Parm (as we called it back in Massachusetts) heated up to such a fever pitch that all I could think about was, How? How to translate a dish so fiercely reliant on a fried breadcrumb coating and slabs of melty Parmesan cheese? A dish so not gluten-free. Or dairy-free. Or lower glycemic friendly to this waist-whittling goddess.

Thin, weeped eggplant slices are brushed lightly with a little extra virgin olive oil and roasted in a hot oven- all by their lonesome. This makes for a delicate, slightly crispy eggplant slice, let me tell you. Topped with a homemade ragu of Italian tomatoes, browned ground organic beef with onions and garlic and herbs and a splash of balsamic vinegar- it's love, Mediterranean style. It is sustenance. It is flavor. And it's dairy-free.

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Christmas Penne (Arrabiatta)

Christmas Penne Pasta Love

The last meal of our two-week honeymoon in Italy was in Rome- on the way to the airport. And I'll never forget it. It was penne tossed in a spicy red sauce. My first Arrabiata.

Here's my gluten-free version- a simple and fast recipe perfect for Christmas (in all its red and green glory) or a simple midweek supper. 

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Gluten-Free Stuffed Peppers with Ground Turkey

Peppers. Gorgeous.

Stuff a Pepper

How to stuff a pepper? Let me count the ways. Tonight's recipe is easy on the gluten-free budget- with a ground turkey filling. Spice it up with chipotle or make it Italian style with basil and oregano. It's all good.

This week has been sunny, cloudy, wet and windy here in the desert. All mixed up. Spring is definitely in the air. Flocks of cranes and geese echo their cocktail party conversation off the walls of Black Mesa, flying north. I hear them as I type. They are a noisy gaggle.

We're still lighting fires in the kiva at night. And still craving comfort food. I had three gorgeous bell peppers on hand- yellow, orange and green. I knew what had to be done. I poured myself a glass of sparkling cider.

It was time to stuff a vegetable.

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Cilantro Pesto de Esteban

Kick up the usual pesto with fresh, citrusy cilantro.

One of our favorite pesto recipes doesn't have a scrap of basil in it. Nope. It's a cilantro pesto- fresh, citrusy and different. Slather on salmon, corn on the cob, or toasted gluten-free bread. Spoon a dollop into spicy Mexican soups and chili.

It's been quiet on the GFG blog but not-quite-so-quiet here in our little casita by the windswept mesa. You see, a certain gluten-free goddess has been wrestling bare handed with some nagging health issues that living gluten-free hasn't squashed so far (what's up with that?). I'm contemplating a post about it because I suspect what I'm going through isn't exactly unheard of. In fact, I'm willing to bet many gluten-free readers will be able to relate. 

And Babycakes, you know I'm always one to share. But I'm not quite ready to write about it. I'm still in the thick of it- but finding some help, at last. And the past two days have been better. And so, I thought I'd grab my camera and share a new pesto Esteban just whipped up after a quick trip to Wild Oats in Santa Fe today.

Cilantro Pesto de Esteban

Cilantro, it turns out, is not only a cool accompaniment to hot and spicy dishes and coconut milk sauces, it may be good for you. Cilantro is full of antioxidants and (perhaps?) helps the body to detoxify. Folklore has it aiding the liver in detoxification efforts. What's not to love about that?

Ingredients:

1 cup fresh cilantro leaves- we bought 1 large bunch of cilantro
1 large garlic clove
1/4 cup toasted almonds
1 roasted red pepper
2 ounces Asiago cheese, grated - for vegan and GF/CF, try nutritional yeast
3-4 tablespoons extra virgin olive oil, as needed

Instructions:

Place the cilantro, garlic, almonds, red pepper and Asiago in a food processor bowl; cover and pulse until finely chopped. Begin adding a drizzle of extra virgin olive oil and pulse to combine. Add enough olive oil to make a paste. 

Taste test for seasoning or texture adjustments.

Karina's Notes:

• Serve a spoonful of cilantro pesto as a flavorful spike to soups and chili, stir-fries and hummus.

• Slather it on your favorite rice pasta.

• Use it as an appetizer spread with cream cheese and rice crackers.

• Schmear it on a brown rice pizza shell and top it with spicy vegetables and shredded jalapeno pepper cheese.

• Spoon it on a split baked potato and crumble goat cheese on top.

• Use a spoonful to make a salad dressing: just add olive oil, lemon juice, sea salt and fresh ground black pepper; whisk till combined.

• And don't forget quesadillas - this pesto would be fab on a grilled corn tortilla with sliced fresh tomatoes and shredded cheddar or goat cheese.

Okay, now I'm getting hungry. When's lunch?

Gluten-Free Vegetarian Lasagna

Gluten-free vegetarian lasagna - Italian comfort food.

This a hearty vegetarian lasagna recipe spiked with a touch of hot pepper heat and unexpected dots of sweetness from the golden raisins. And the best part? It tastes even better the next day. So plan ahead.

It is wild and windy here by the mesa. Spring has sprung. The skies are thick with sheets of rain, gray and pitted with bursts of hail that hammer our flat casita roof then disappear beyond the mesa as quickly as it came. Low churning clouds obscure the distant peaks of the Jemez. The young jack rabbits are hiding. Even the ravens are tucked away from sight today.

We have been kindling fires in the kiva to warm us. And I have been conjuring comfort. In the form of vegetarian lasagna.

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Karina's (Easy!) Roasted Vegetables on Broiled Polenta

Easy Vegetarian Comfort Food

I'm still shaking off the February blahs, so bear with me, intrepid g-free campers. Please accept this super easy recipe as a tiny gift. Make this celiac-friendly dish on a busy weeknight when you're cranky and tired or feeling lazy or simply and utterly couldn't be bothered to crack open a cookbook (never mind, actually venture far afield and shop for groceries) because all you really want to do is kick off your Rocket Dogs and sink down into your favorite viewing chair with a bowl of salted popcorn to watch Downton Abbey.




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