Let the Mourning Cease

When you go gluten-free, you have a period of mourning for all those familiar glutenously wonderful things you grew up with: caramel rolls, homemade bread, and pasta. I’m told that Wheatfield’s makes a delicious cinnamon roll, though I haven’t tried it yet. I haven’t actually missed bread that much – not enough to try to make some anyway. If I need toast, I use Udi’s. Pasta was the real issue. I felt a tantrum coming on…

I am inept at cooking rice pasta. It turns into a clump of goo and I’m pretty sure that’s not what anyone intended. Corn pasta didn’t have quite the right texture. It’s all about texture for me. A food can taste great but if it has a weird texture – no thanks! This Ancient Harvest combination of quinoa and corn pasta is perfect! It has to be cooked a bit longer but the texture is just like wheat pasta. Even better than wheat pasta, this reheats to the same texture (not sticky) it was when it was originally cooked. Perfect for taking leftover’s to work.

The pasta in the picture today is linguine. I use the elbows to make macaroni and cheese. I serve the linguine with a meat sauce made with my favorite marinara sauce: Newman’s Own. I cook the hamburger with garlic, then add 2 tsp each, basil and oregano to the marinara and let it simmer for a little while.

I make garlic drop biscuits to go with it instead of garlic bread. Just add some garlic salt or powder to the mix. If I’m being super-duper fancy (and have some leftover calories), I’ll add some shredded cheddar. In this case, I wait to add the garlic until the end when I brush it (and butter) over the warm biscuits when they come out of the oven. Red Lobster biscuits anyone?

Let the mourning cease…this pasta is fantastic! It’s one of my favorite meals. I hope you enjoy it!

p.s. Nutrition facts are easy for this meal because they're right on the packages