Chicken Tetrazinni

*This dish requires a lot of prep but it is so worth it, at the very least for Thanksgiving and Christmas. :) *

2 tablespoons GFCF margarine
1 med. chopped onion
1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1/2 red bell pepper, chopped
2 cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 1/2 tablespoons GFCF flour mix
1 1/2 cup GFCF milk
6 oz. GFCF spaghetti, cooked
2 cups cooked chicken, diced
1 1/2 cups Daiya Cheddar Style Shreds, divided
GFCF cream of mushroom soup (see recipe below)
GFCF cream of celery soup (see recipe below)
2 oz. chopped pimentos, drained
3 tablespoons Galaxy Vegan Parmesan Topping
Salt
Pepper
Garlic Salt


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GFCF Cream of Mushroom Soup

6 baby portabella muchrooms, chopped
1 tablespoon GFCF margarine
2 teaspoons extra virgin olive oil
1/2 cup GFCF milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon GFCF chicken boullion powder or paste
salt
pepper

Season mushrooms with salt and pepper and saute in margarine and extra virgin olive oil over low heat until done. Add milk, cornstarch, and boullion. Increase heat to boiling, whisking constantly until thickened. Remove from heat.

GFCF Cream of Celery Soup

1 stalk celery, finely chopped
1 tablespoon GFCF margarine
1/2 cup GFCF milk
1 tablespoon cornstarch
1/2 teaspoon GFCF chicken boullion poweder or paste
salt
pepper

Season celery with salt and pepper and saute in margarine over low heat until tender. Add milk, cornstarch, and boullion. Increase heat to boiling, whisking constantly until thickened. Remove from heat.


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Preheat oven to 350 degrees. Saute onion, celery, bell pepper, and garlic seasoned with salt and pepper in margarine until tender. Add GFCF flour and cook over med-low heat for 1 minute, stirring constantly. Stir in milk and cook over med-med/low heat until thick and bubbly, stirring frequently. Season with garlic salt. Stir in chicken, pasta, and 3/4 cup cheddar shreds. Mix well. Add GFCF cream soups, pimentos, parmesan cheese, salt and pepper and mix well. Pour into lightly greased 8 x 8 baking dish. Sprinkle remaining 3/4 cup cheddar shreds evenly over top. Bake for 25 minutes. Serves 6-8.

Spaghetti Carbonara

I apologize in advance to all those who are soy-free. The spaghetti pasta I use is made with soy, potatoes, and rice. I tried this dish with corn pasta and rice pasta and I did not like it. The parmesan cheese used in this recipe is also made from soy.


1 12 oz. pkg. Bionaturae GF Spaghetti -- alternate pkg. photo
1 med. onion, finely chopped (I prefer a sweet onion for this recipe)
2-3 cloves garlic, finely chopped
4-5 slices GFCF bacon, uncooked, cut into small pieces
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 tablespoon GFCF margarine
2 eggs, beaten
salt
pepper
garlic salt
1 tablespoon Galaxy Foods Vegan GFCF grated Parmesan cheese (our container is purple)

Beat eggs in a small bowl. Set aside.

Into a large skillet or dutch oven, place chopped onion, garlic, bacon pieces and 1/4 cup olive oil. Season with salt, pepper, and garlic salt. Cover and saute over very low heat, stirring occasionally. Do not allow the garlic to brown.

In a medium saucepan cook pasta in salted water, adding 1 tablespoon margarine, for 13 minutes, stirring occasionally. Drain but do not rinse. Immediately pour the pasta into the pot of onions, garlic, and bacon. Then, immediately drizzle the beaten eggs over the top of the hot pasta. Cover for 2 minutes. Stir and then cover for another 2 minutes. Remove lid and continue stirring, if necessary, until the eggs are cooked. Sprinkle parmesan cheese over top and stir. Season to taste with garlic salt. Serves 4

~ This is another one of those dishes that I was resigned to never having again until I tried it with the soy-potato-rice pasta and a drastically reduced portion of the Vegan brand Parmesan cheese. I think I went wrong all those times before by using the same amount of Vegan Parmesan cheese that I was using with real Parmesan cheese. The Vegan Parmesan cheese seems so much more concentrated to me, but I digress, I am not a big fan of soy cheese. ~

Spaghetti With Tomato Based Sauce

2 large (or 4 small) cloves garlic, finely chopped
1 med. onion, chopped
1/4 cup extra virgin olive oil
1 28 oz. can diced tomatoes
2 8 oz. cans tomato sauce
1 6 oz. can tomato paste
12 oz. GFCF spaghetti noodles, uncooked
GFCF margarine
salt
pepper
garlic salt

In large skillet, saute onions and garlic seasoned with salt, pepper, and garlic salt in olive oil over low heat until onions are translucent. Do not allow the garlic to brown. Add tomatoes, tomato sauce, and tomato paste and blend well. Heat until mixture is bubbly. Reduce heat to low, cover and simmer for 45 minutes, stirring occasionally.

After 25 minutes, bring water for the spaghetti to a boil. Add salt and 1 tablespoon GFCF margarine. Add spaghetti, return to boil stirring well, and reduce heat to medium and cook for 15 minutes, stirring frequently to keep pasta separated. Drain spaghetti, rinse with hot water, and drain again. Into the empty but still hot pan, add two tablespoons GFCF margarine, 1 tablespoon garlic salt, and pepper. Add cooked spaghetti and toss well until margarine is melted. By this time the sauce should be ready, so add the buttery and garlic-y noodles to the sauce. Mix well, cover, and simmer for 5 minutes. Serves 4-6.

{I have never liked spaghetti sauce from a jar so I created my own sauce when I was in high school. This is the GFCF version of that recipe. I don't enjoy herbs, but feel free to add your favorites, and just consider this a base. We stopped including browned ground beef in our spaghetti a long time ago, but feel free to also use that in yours. I would suggest 1/2 pound for this recipe. I have tried using both brown rice spaghetti pasta and the rice/potato/soy spaghetti pasta in this recipe but lately I find myself using a combination of both. The extra sauce really helps disguise the taste of the GFCF pasta (vs. non-GFCF pasta). The package directions for the pasta call for a cooking time that is half the cooking time I use, but I never liked al dente pasta, even when it was not GFCF, and I certainly don't like al dente GFCF pasta. Feel free to adjust the cooking time of the pasta according to your preference.}

GFCF Pastas

Today I would like to take a minute and share my thoughts about GFCF pastas. I would love it if you would share your thoughts about it, too. I am not sure I have this GFCF "thing" down when it comes to pasta (or bread), to be honest.

First let me say (probably again) that I love, love, love pasta. There is hardly anything better to me than pasta simply cooked in chicken broth, or just cooked pasta tossed with butter and garlic salt. It's like bread - just add butter --> HAPPY.

The first GFCF spaghetti style pasta I tried was made from corn and I used it in a spaghetti carbonara recipe. It did not taste good and it seemed to dissolve in my mouth. Other than the dissolving thing, perhaps this pasta would be better in something like a chili-mac recipe? Corn + Chili = Yummy.

The second pasta I tried was organic brown rice pasta, in elbow macaroni style, with chicken and chicken broth. At first there was a distinct very slight bitter taste but it was gone the next day when we ate more as leftovers.

I tried the organic brown rice in spaghetti style in traditional spaghetti and it was just simply gross. I did forget to toss the spaghetti in (gfcf) margarine and garlic salt before I added it to the sauce. Maybe that is where I went wrong? A nice Italian lady told me organic brown rice pasta is the pasta her family prefers.

Lastly, I tried the rice-potato-soy pasta, spaghetti style, again in traditional spaghetti. I did toss it with gfcf margarine and garlic salt before I added it to the sauce and it was pretty darn good. Not exactly like non-gfcf pasta, but much better than corn or brown rice pasta. I found this pasta at Kroger - the brand is Bionaturae: http://www.bionaturae.com



I would love to know what you guys think about all the different gfcf pastas and combinations with different foods for different recipes that you have tried.