Easy Baked Pasta – Gluten Free, Wheat Free, Dairy Free, Egg Free
This is one of my spouse’s favourite – he’s a “selective” eater by nature, and adding WF, GF, DF, to the mix while tasting like “normal” food has been quite the adventure. Thank GOD for corn noodles… even the most discriminating like them.
This easy cheese baked pasta dish is very versatile, and can be made using the regular recipe for 6 – or doubled, tripled, quadrupled, etc as necessary. We make ahead and freeze in 1 portion containers, this way there’s always “something to eat” in the house!
Easy Baked Pasta Dish Recipe:
12 oz rotini pasta corn noodles pkg – (approx 340g – roughly 2-3 cups uncooked-we use Prairie Harvest San Zenone’s penne, or fucilli /rotini)
1 lb ground beef (Veg – see option below)
2 large onions diced or sliced
2 garlic cloves pressed
2 cups zucchini coarsely chopped (or grated, can use spinach or kale)
1 jar garlicky pasta sauce of your choice (approx 750g or 3 cups of your own homemade)
1 Tablespoon fresh basil (must be fresh – this is the key to the whole thing)
1/2 cup fresh dairy-free parmesan cheese grated
2 cups shredded rice cheese ~ Italian style -we use from Galaxy Nutritional foods (or marble cheese or mozzarella or goat mozzarella)
Boil the water for the pasta
Add the pasta & cook el-dente (not too much -you want it a little under done)
In the meantime…while waiting for the water to boil…
In a deep sauce pot:
Saute- onions & garlic, place in separate bowl
brown the beef – drain off any fat if necessary, once browned add the garlic,onions, zucchini, pasta sauce, basil, and stir on med heat till bubbling and hot – then turn off the heat.
In a separate bowl – mix the cheeses (the Parmesan will help the mozzarella spread farther as it won’t stick together as much)
Method:
In a bakeware pan (9×9) layer:
1/3 of the sauce mix
then 1/2 the pasta
then 1/3 of the cheese
repeat
Bake at 375 for 45 min (or bake 1 hr if from refrigerator – put cold pasta in a cold oven and let them heat up together – start timing once the oven gets up to temperature) Tent the foil while cooking – and remove for last 10 min to get brown
It’s the Parmesan helps this to get nice and golden brown.
Can make ahead and put in refrig until needed. Can be frozen and reheated like a frozen lasagna.
We served it with carrot salad, cole slaw, fresh buns and a beautiful garden salad with red cabbage in it for colour.
PS: For the party we put 3 batches worth in each tin turkey tray – it took a little longer to cook at 1 1/2 hrs or so.
For Vegetarian/Vegan option – omit the beef – add 1 to 2 cups sautéed mushrooms to taste, or use Yves ground beef substitute.
